The Sugar Daddy Podcast
REWIND: From Tragedy to Triumph: The Inspiring Journey of Overcoming Loss and Sharing a Message of Love, with Chris Singleton
*This episode originally aired on June 1, 2023
In loving memory of Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton.
Content Warning: This episode makes reference to the Charleston, SC shooting in 2015.
In this very special episode, Jessica and Brandon sit down with Chris Singleton, whose mother was murdered in a racially motivated mass shooting in Charleston, SC on June 17, 2015. They discuss tragedy, loss, grief, recovery and triumph. Learn how Chris turned his pain into fuel, to become an inspirational speaker and best-selling author, who has shared his message of unity and racial reconciliation with NFL and NBA teams as well as Fortune 500 companies across the country. They dive into his family and financial goals, how he is achieving them, and how he is pursuing his dreams to make his mother proud. This is a powerful conversation you won’t want to miss!
To apply to be a guest on the show, visit
If you’d like to leave us a question to be answered during future episodes, you can do so at:https://www.speakpipe.com/thesugardaddypodcast
Be sure to connect with us on socials @thesugardaddypodcast we are most active on Instagram
Learn more about Brandon and schedule a free 30-minute introductory call with him here: https://www.oakcityfinancial.us
Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesugardaddypodcast
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review.
*This episode originally aired on June 1, 2023
In loving memory of Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton.
Content Warning: This episode makes reference to the Charleston, SC shooting in 2015.
In this very special episode, Jessica and Brandon sit down with Chris Singleton, whose mother was murdered in a racially motivated mass shooting in Charleston, SC on June 17, 2015. They discuss tragedy, loss, grief, recovery and triumph. Learn how Chris turned his pain into fuel, to become an inspirational speaker and best-selling author, who has shared his message of unity and racial reconciliation with NFL and NBA teams as well as Fortune 500 companies across the country. They dive into his family and financial goals, how he is achieving them, and how he is pursuing his dreams to make his mother proud. This is a powerful conversation you won’t want to miss!
To apply to be a guest on the show, visit
If you’d like to leave us a question to be answered during future episodes, you can do so at:https://www.speakpipe.com/thesugardaddypodcast
Be sure to connect with us on socials @thesugardaddypodcast we are most active on Instagram
Learn more about Brandon and schedule a free 30-minute introductory call with him here: https://www.oakcityfinancial.us
Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesugardaddypodcast
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review.
On June 17th 2015, I lost my mom in a racially motivated mass shooting where a young man named Dylan Roof, who conspired a plan to murder people in a church in hopes that he would start a race war in our country, and that's what he did. He didn't start the race war, but he took nine lives, and my mom, unfortunately, was a victim in that shooting, in that mass shooting, and so I lost my hero that day, and so, for the last seven and a half years of my life, I've devoted my life to do the exact opposite of what my mother's killer wanted to do. He wanted to divide us, and now I promised my mom and my church family I would try to unite people.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, welcome to the Sugar Daddy Podcast. I'm Jessica and I'm Brandon, and we're the Norwoods, a husband and wife team here to demystify the realm of dollars so it all makes sense while giving you a glimpse into our relationship with money and each other. We are so glad you're here. Let's get started.
Speaker 3:Our content is intended to be used, and must be used, for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based upon your own personal circumstances. You should take independent financial advice from a licensed professional in connection with, or independently research and verify any information you find in our podcast and wish to rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise.
Speaker 4:Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 2:Today we are joined by Chris Singleton, and I know it's going to be a great conversation because Chris is such an inspiration and he is just putting himself all over the country with his speaking engagements and his message about love and unity. So, chris, we are so excited to have you today.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I am grateful to be hanging with you guys, for sure.
Speaker 2:I love it. Let's get into this bio so that everybody knows who Chris is and why we wanted to have this conversation with him today.
Speaker 4:And I also feel, as though, like you know before we hop into the bio, that if the name doesn't ring a bell right off the top of your head, trust me, you know who this individual is.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, unless you live under a rock, which is Some of you might.
Speaker 2:I don't know. All right, let's get into this bio. I'm sure you will recognize the name. Chris Singleton is a former professional athlete drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2017. Following the loss of his mother in a racially motivated mass shooting in Charleston, south Carolina, in 2015, chris has now become an inspirational speaker and bestselling author, who has shared his message of unity and racial reconciliation with the NFL, nba teams, as well as multiple Fortune 500 companies across the country. He shares with over 100 organizations and over 30,000 students annually. His most recent offerings are coaching consultations and professional coaching development. He resides with his spouse and his two sons in Charleston, south Carolina. Chris, thank you for being with us today.
Speaker 4:Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And one more thing I'm also about to have my first daughter, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:Congratulations, congratulations.
Speaker 2:Oh, you all have all this time to make babies because you are just traveling.
Speaker 1:Hey, you know you got to make time for what you want. You know what I'm saying. You got to make time, no doubt that's right. I love it.
Speaker 4:I can tell you this we have one of each. Daughters are definitely different. Daughters are different.
Speaker 2:But they have like for fathers it's a special place in your heart, but they are definitely different than boys. Oh, I mean, obviously you're such a wonderful father, but I can already see that you are just going to be wrapped around her finger. It's going to happen.
Speaker 1:Absolutely no questions asked.
Speaker 2:Congratulations. When is she due?
Speaker 1:Due July 15th, but she's usually 10 to 15 days early, so we're thinking like July 1st or July 5th, because my birthday is July 5th, so we'll see.
Speaker 2:Right around the corner. Well, oh, maybe you guys will share a birthday.
Speaker 1:I know, then it becomes her birthday, only I know.
Speaker 2:Exactly, yeah, pretty much. I'm glad you already know that. Oh, I'm so excited for you guys. Congratulations.
Speaker 2:That just made me so happy. So, oh, wow, I love it. So we're going to start off. We have a lot to talk about because you are so dynamic and you have done so much in really a short amount of time, because you're not old. So we want to get into all the things that you're doing to inspire and unite people across the country, but we want to start with your first money memory. Do you have one? But we want to start with your first money memory.
Speaker 1:Do you have one? Yeah, my first money memory, I guess it would be asking for quarters at the barbershop so I can get some bubble gum. I guess you know you got the little gumball machines and so you need money to be able to do that. Because you try to do it, like why is it not working Right to do that? Because you try to do it, you're like why is it not working? And I'm thinking my first memory is asking my pops for some quarters so I can get a gumball and a gumball machine. So that's probably the first memory of money that I've ever had.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's so cute. I just got a visual of little Chris turning the silver dial right and it's like nothing's coming out nothing's working.
Speaker 4:I love it. One of the reasons we love asking that question is because we believe that the way that you interact with money as an adult is very much influenced by how it was growing up, whether or not you know you didn't have enough money in the household, or if you guys had enough money, whether or not you were having conversations around financial literacy. However, that situation you know occurred 100% filters into how you are as an adult and it's just always so interesting to hear you know people's memories and then how that equates to how they interact. You know now when it comes to money absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you know a lot of households. You you've probably heard this before, but you know you ask your mom or your dad hey, how much this costs? You go, you go and buy it. Why do you need to know how much it costs? And so as a kid, you know, in my household I didn't really know how much anything costs, and I pride myself on telling my son how much stuff is now because I want him to know hey, you know this costs a lot of money. You know $6,000 if we want to go on a Disney cruise. I want you to know how much money.
Speaker 1:that is so I have those conversations, even though he's only five.
Speaker 4:We have one planned for March.
Speaker 2:March 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so y'all know.
Speaker 2:It's going to be. Yeah, it is going to be expensive. We haven't told our kids because it's going to be like a Christmas surprise for them, but we do. We talk about money just all the time anyways, but our kids waste a ton of food and it's really infuriating. And so a lot of times, you know, we say like, hey, these strawberries are expensive, you can't just take a bite and not finish it. Or you know they have a plate full of food for dinner and they're just picking and playing.
Speaker 2:They do just enough to it to where, like putting it in a Tupperware and putting in the fridge feels disgusting you know, so then it goes in the trash and I'm always like gosh, we were wasting so much food and so we have to talk to them about that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I hate wasting food, but I am not eating after my kids.
Speaker 2:Oh, they're so gross.
Speaker 1:Oh man, it's funny you try to. You know my one year I got one and a half year old son, and anytime you let him have some of your drink you might as well just give it to him, because he's going to be back watching there. So you're like, hey, it's yours now.
Speaker 2:You got floating around, you got floaters. What is that? What just came out of your mouth? Yeah, disgusting.
Speaker 4:That's funny.
Speaker 2:I think that's a great money memory the gumball machine. Do you remember what your dad would say after you asked for money for the gumballs?
Speaker 1:No, I do remember getting it. I had to be less than five years old, but I remember getting the money and for the first time, realizing oh okay, well, that's why I wasn't working, I didn't have any money, that's why the thing wasn't working. And so he definitely gave it to me. And I think barbershop memories are something that I really hold dear near and dear to my heart. Heart because I remember those times where my dad was doing well and, you know, things were good with my family life, and so the barbershop was a good spot. We go to my Uncle Cory's you know my Uncle Cory was a barber. We go over there. We'd have some barbecue wings right after we get the haircut, and it was a great Saturday morning, you know. So I remember those memories pretty well.
Speaker 4:I definitely believe that like barbershop, especially for black men, like that childhood memory definitely holds something, because I remember telling my wife I was like I'm so ready for when our son is old enough, you know, to get his first haircut, and we're ready to go ahead and take him to the barbershop, because I wanted to build those type of memories with him.
Speaker 1:That's good. No, that's cool. I mean we have a guy that comes over our house now. He's been my barber for the last 10 years or so, and so he's been coming over to my house and my son, my wife, our one and a half year old son hasn't gotten a cut. She's like I want him to have long hair. I'm Brazilian, I want to see what his texture is going to be, all this stuff, and so I know you love that, right? I know you love it, and so she's been doing that with our one-year-old, but she finally let him get a lineup, and so my five-year-old, our barber, comes to our house, cuts my hair, cuts my five-year-old's hair, and he finally we got the video of my son getting a lineup for the first time, and it's a great memory, man, something you're going to. I cherish it for sure.
Speaker 4:I also live my, as you could tell, I live my hair dreams through my child, since my hairline has seen better days.
Speaker 2:A few weeks ago, roman, at like six o'clock in the morning, brandon was telling him to go do something you know probably go get dressed or get ready for the day and Roman, straight up, looks at Brandon and goes you're just a boy with no hair, like the ultimate diss, you're just a boy with no hair. And it was so funny, but I will say so. Roman also has started going to the barbershop and the last time somebody knew cut his hair and Brandon didn't like the cut and he said he was a younger guy. He just wasn't like personable. And Roman, who's three and a half, said next time I want Dennis back. And Dennis was the guy who's previously been cutting his hair and so even at three and a half he was like I don't like this guy cutting my hair.
Speaker 4:You know, it is he chose his barber. He chose his barber. It's his barber now.
Speaker 2:Shout out to Dennis. Dennis is the barber, and I mean, who knew that a three-year-old could be so particular?
Speaker 4:Well in the house, well in the barbershop, you know it's sacred who you go to. When you go to one guy, you have him, you stay with him and you don't go to other people in the shop. That's a big no-no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big rule.
Speaker 1:No for sure, Especially as you start to get a little older, because, you know, mess you up. You're like man, I ain't no coming back from this one, right? You know, we try to hang on as long as we can. So I'm like, hey, man, you know you might have to go light over there because it don't grow in too much in that section, you know, and he knows, because it's been 10 years, you know. So that's, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I want to mention something that you guys talked about with the food. You guys talked about with the food. For me, I think it's been like six months since we've been doing this. But my family, we sponsor 10 kids in Guatemala. It's called Food for the Hungry.
Speaker 1:It's a nonprofit and at first I was doing it because I was at church and I felt like I was called to do it. Something was telling me I need to support these kids. But then now, with my five-year-old son, who's super picky and eats half of everything, it really puts things into perspective for him. Hey, we sponsor these kids. You know, I think it's $48 a month or something like that per kid and it feeds them for the whole month. It's supposed to feed them for the whole month and it's like, man, you're throwing away this, like we're paying for kids to have food because they're really struggling where they live and where their school is at. So I think that's an easy way to kind of get it in their heads Like, hey, you know, teach them that they're privileged and blessed to be able to throw away food, you know.
Speaker 2:Right, Absolutely, we have to. We always say that as soon as we keep wanting to take them to the food bank, because Brandon and I volunteer at the food bank but they don't allow kids under five. So I guess we could take Aston now.
Speaker 2:But just to help them. You know, realize a serving and giving back is so important, you know so that we're giving back and helping but it's also so good for our soul. But then also realizing, you know, not everybody has things in abundance the way you do, and so those are definitely lessons that we want to instill. So I've made a note Food for the Hungry. We will link it in the show notes. We will look into it as well. So thank you for sharing that. We want to get into the work that you're doing, because you just talked about church and you know serving and giving back and we know that that's so much of who you are and what you do day to day. So we want to understand, for our listeners who don't know you, the background of why you do what you do and what that message of hope and unity and love really is that you share all over the country now. So can you walk us through that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so growing up, I didn't have a dream of being a professional speaker or an author or anything like that. Like most young kids that had parents that are athletes, my goal was to play professional sports, and so I played all the sports growing up, but my freshman year of college, where I was playing baseball, there was a really horrific event that happened, and at the time, this was like one of its kind. Unfortunately, terrible things have happened since then, and so, unfortunately, we've seen it happen over and over again. On June 17th 2015, I lost my mom in a racially motivated mass shooting where a young man named Dylan Roof, who conspired a plan to murder people in a church in hopes that he would start a race war in our country, and that's what he did. He he didn't start the race war, but he took nine lives, and my mom, unfortunately, was a victim in that shooting, in that mass shooting, and so I lost my hero that day, and so for the last seven and a half years of my life, I've devoted my life to do the exact opposite of what my mother's killer wanted to do.
Speaker 1:He wanted to divide us, and now I promised my mom and my church family I would try to unite people, no matter where they're from, what they look like, what their first language is, what their faith is. I'm trying to let us live in harmony. We don't always have to agree, but we can agree to disagree respectfully, and I do that in schools, I do that with corporations, do that with sports teams and I do that through literature. So that's what I do now and it's all to make my mom proud. I have this hashtag. It says hashtag can't let moms down. Which means every single day of my life, I live my life in a way that people will say man, this young man is raised the right way, and when they say that, that's a huge compliment from my parents. So that's what I'm trying to do and the story happened and now I'm just trying to do some good with it.
Speaker 2:How did that happen? Because I'm just going to be honest you turned something so tragic into something so beautiful, and you were really young when this happened.
Speaker 4:Which cause I remember, um, I remember when the event happened because, uh, you know, jess and I both graduated from the college Charleston and so we had a tie to Charleston. You know, I'd walked past that church hundreds of times.
Speaker 4:And I remember seeing you in the news and thinking I can't believe that someone that young is that poised and has such a positive message during what I could only think of as like one of the worst things that could ever happen to. You know, if it was to happen to myself, that could happen to me and I, just, I was thinking, I was like I't, I can't believe that he is able to do all this, you know, while dealing with this tragedy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you know, first and foremost, I think there's some things that are hard to describe in worldly terms and you know, I've never heard like the voice of God. You know some people were like hey, god told me to tell you this, I've never heard a guy speak in my ear before. Personally, right. But I do think there's certain instances where I can't describe how I was given strength. I can't describe how I was able to forgive my mother's killer without saying that something out of this world put that on my heart, and I know that for a fact is what happened in that instance. Because some people say, hey, this is my gift. My gift may be to play sports, or my gift may be to I'm a great artist, or my gift, I feel, was to go through immense pain and still be able to see the good in the world. My gift is getting through that pain and now trying to help other people get through it, and I know that that gift was given to me. It's something that I feel like I was born with and I had no idea that's what my true gift was in my life. I thought it was playing baseball, robbing home runs and trying to hit them. I thought that was what my gift was. But after I went through that tragedy and I forgave my mother's killer, then I realized the power of forgiveness, after it was placed on my heart, then I realized what we can do with our pain.
Speaker 1:Most people we don't share our pain. We keep it deep down. We don't talk about it, especially most men that look like you and I. We don't talk about it, we keep it suppressed and we just live our lives in hopes that it'll go away. But we have vices that we do or we use the hope that will numb the pain.
Speaker 1:And for me, I finally opened up. I started to cry in front of family members, which was new for me, because everybody said I was so strong, and I started to study. How do people get through their pain? How did I get through it? And in doing that, that's how I can help other people, and I speak from a place of experience. Most times when you meet somebody or a person that's a thought leader for lack of better words it's like well, how do you become an influencer or a thought leader? It's usually hey, they're super smart, so they got seven different degrees, they're doctors, such and such, they went to all these universities, or they're super famous and so, because they're so famous, you want to follow what they say, or they've been through it and after they've been through it it's like, hey, I can help you get through it because I've been where you're at and I'm the latter. I've been where people are and I share things that I wish I would have known when I was faced with this immense tragedy.
Speaker 2:I just remember too because, like Brandon said, we lived in Charleston and we had walked by that church a hundred times. And you know, I saw something the other day. I'm kind of pivoting. I saw something the other day that, uh, was basically like a conversation between two people and one person said did you see the about the shooting in Texas? And the other person responded which one? Right. And that's kind of the state of where we are. It's like every day there's a shooting right and there's so much talk around proper gun laws and gun safety and all of that.
Speaker 2:But when the shooting at the church happened in 2015, it really did feel out of the ordinary. It felt, oh my gosh, how did this happen, right? How did this person get their hands on on this weapon? And so I'm wondering, out of all of that, you know again, you were young and you were, like Brandon said, so poised and you just it seemed like you just went into action, that you, you were like I've got to do something, I've got to write books, I've got to channel this into something positive. I know some people are like, oh, my overnight success took 10 years, right? Because people don't see the behind the scenes or trying to grieve, figuring out how to grieve and becoming vulnerable to when you were able to actually have these conversations without breaking down and I mean you talk to thousands of people every year. Where or when did that turning point happen for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say, you know, initially I made a mistake of pretending like I wasn't destroyed by it. And the reason why I say pretending is because after I said love is stronger than hate, then the very next day I had all these social media followers. Everybody was on the CNN, I was on the Today Show, I was on throwing the first pitch for the Yankees, tom Brady's calling me to come up to the hangout with the Patriots. Cam Newton, the quarterback, is coming to my house. So all these different things are happening and I didn't give myself any time. And right after all that, the first initial wave kind of slowed down. I did an ESPN documentary called Love is Stronger Than Hate on ESPN about me and my mom, and so there's a new wave right, and I never gave myself time to fully grieve. I think when you go through true tragedy, I don't believe you move on. You can work through it, and I will never have my moms here to see my kids, so I can never move on from that, but I do have ways that I work through it now and so that's kind of what I learned.
Speaker 1:I think there was probably a year period after we did a bunch of this media stuff. After we did the Today Show, after everybody reached out after the documentary, that I finally started to say, hey, what can I do with the pain that I have? Can I start crying now? Can I show emotion, show emotion. And in doing so I started to just research.
Speaker 1:Hey, looking up different speakers that were motivational speakers on YouTube and them helping me out getting through their tough times, I would hear like, hey, you're already in pain, get a reward from it. From Dr Eric Thomas, I'd hear one of my favorite speakers ever, a guy named Inky Johnson. I heard him on a YouTube video and I said to my girlfriend at the time, my wife now and to my teammates, like hey, if I can make somebody feel like how this guy just made me feel I want to do that with my life. And of course, I was still playing baseball, but that's when it initially clicked, about a year after I lost my mom, that maybe I can share my pain to help other people get through it. After I lost my mom, that maybe I can share my pain to help other people get through it.
Speaker 2:So, okay, I think it's really interesting that you're talking about not grieving. It sounds like you didn't really have time Not that you didn't want to, but you're getting bombarded with all these opportunities and come speak here, come speak there.
Speaker 4:You also don't know how to.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, you have to really learn how to grieve.
Speaker 4:I think you know, dealing with that mental health aspect is just something that's now really being talked about and, as you said before, you know, especially within the black community, especially as black men you know, it was always. You know, keep it inside, button up, you'll be all right. And so he had to have that. It was his own steps to even figure out how to do it.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think yeah for me. Initially I used to think that my sport obviously, you know, my faith was growing for the first time because at first I was just, you know, hey, going to church because I didn't have any choice. You know what I'm saying. My mom was like boy, you better get in the car. We're going to church. And for the first time I started to read the Bible by myself. I started to pray by myself for the first time. It was therapeutic. It was therapeutic to cry during my prayers. It was therapeutic to learn that Jesus wept and I'm like okay, so I'm not by myself and feeling this pain. If our God, if our creator, has felt pain like this before in the human form, then I'm not the only person, I'm not by myself, even though I feel like I'm by myself and I also believe man.
Speaker 1:When people, we locked arms after that. Unfortunately, today what happens is something terrible happens and we're like well, I wonder what happened beforehand or what provoked this. I wonder if this is really super and it's like no, when wrong is wrong, you just lock arms and you say wrong is wrong. You shouldn't have to say well, I wonder what happened beforehand. I wonder what might have caused. No, it's just wrong and we know it is. Let's try to stop it from happening and not let this hate win. And that was big for me. But I mean, today my grieving looks like I cry, but more so now than anything. When I think about my mom, it's like a memory, it makes me smile, it took time for that, instead of being sad. When that happens, it's like hey, my mom thought this was hilarious, she hated this, and I smile about it. That's different ways that I honor her legacy. Both of my parents have passed away, so honor their legacy over the last, you know, seven, eight years. That's beautiful.
Speaker 4:So, you know, kind of stemming back. You know, since you know our, you know one of the main, the main focus of our, of our podcast, is the financial literacy aspect. And you know, unfortunately, what often happens with a tragedy is that the individual is not simply just dealing with the loss of a loved one. Sometimes, or too often, you end up having some financial issues that come with that grievance. You know. So, if you don't mind me asking, you know what was the financial situation after your mother passed?
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I'm super open when it comes to money, and I think sometimes people who aren't open when it comes to money is either they're not, they don't give, and so they're like, ah, if I tell people how much I have or how much I make, then it's like I don't give anything. So I feel weird about that, whereas for me I'm super open because I know how. You know how much me and my family give every year, and so when I first lost my mom, people were donating money to the church, but it wasn't to my family, and so it was a weird kind of time where, you know, donations were coming in, gofundmes were happening, but they were kind of for the church or for, like families, not just my family specifically, and anytime that happens it kind of gets. It's like a gray area of like well, how do we know what to earmark for the Singleton family or for this family? And so that was definitely happening. Initially, my mom had life insurance to where we each got $40,000 when we turned 18, $40,000 when we turned 21, $40,000 when we turned 25. And so I think the life insurance actually doubled Instead of it being 20, it was 40, because it was like a sudden death. Nobody knew this was happening. I don't know what kind of plans she even had, but that's what happened. And so you know, I basically had $40,000 when I was 18.
Speaker 1:What I wish I would have done if I can go back in time we lost my mother's house due to foreclosure should do what I shouldn't do, what I'm doing living in college and what I was going to do next. And so we actually owed $90,000 on our home, and it was worth about 160 at the time right, I think it was 160, 165. And an investor bought it for 90,000, didn't have to touch anything and he was able to. I believe he sold it or refinanced it or whatever he did for that 160 number. And I remember thinking at the time I didn't know. So it was like whatever, it's okay, I'm living in an apartment in college trying to get drafted. But looking back, man, I know for a fact I should have never lost that home for us. I could have asked a bunch of people to help me keep it. I could have made a way to make that happen. And the guy that was an investor he's a nice guy he said well, hey, chris, the bank has this, I'm buying it from the bank. I know that there's some washers and dryers in here. Do you guys want these? I want to make sure everything that you have valuable stuff from this home you're going to take. So we took the washer and dryer. We just didn't know.
Speaker 1:And after that happened, man, I remember reading everything I could about finance. I read real estate books and you know, fast forward some years. Me and my family, we own 20 homes now and so like that came from me not knowing anything about real estate and then literally diving head first into everything I could when it comes to having a house and having rental properties and investments. But that's kind of initially what happened. And when something this drastic happens, especially when you kind of become for lack of better words a little famous, there's a lot of donations coming in. And I remember at one point there was an organization that wrote our family a check for like a little over $100,000. And we got to split the check each way for me, my little brother, my little sister.
Speaker 1:And so I remember initially not being super worried because when I was 19 years old I thought that having $70,000 or $80,000 in your bank account, I thought it was like, hey, there's nothing to ever worry about. I didn't realize that's not a lot of money. I thought, hey, things are going to be good. I didn't know. Oh, you know what I'm saying. I thought we'll be fine and fast forward two years and I got drafted by the Cubs and I got my sign-in bonus, which was $100,000. And I took my mom's life insurance sign-in bonus and rented a house for my brother and sister to come back and live with us, and so my family was rejoined about a year and a half later, after my mom was killed.
Speaker 2:So again, you took a situation where, man, you know now, looking back, you should have been able to keep your family home, no questions asked. But you pivot and you take that and you're like now I own 20 homes and I know that that portfolio is growing and that you know real estate is big for you. Have you been able to purchase back your family home, or is that something that you want to do just to be able to say you've done?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've thought about that and that house is probably worth 370 grand or something. Now, right, you know how crazy stuff is right, and so I've thought about it. It'd be more of a sentimental value than as an investment because the numbers probably wouldn't work on that one as a rental. But my wife has talked about buying her childhood home and I probably bought that one before. We have our home that we grew up in when we first moved to Charleston, that we still own and my sister and I kind of keep that one and it's not rented out. We got a lot of work that needs to be done with it, but that'd probably be the first project we do, if we kind of keep something for sentimental value.
Speaker 4:So you mentioned your sister Is your sister, you guys in the real estate investing together.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So my sister, she just graduated from college last year and she's trying to dabble in it a little bit. Two years ago no, last year we were able to settle a case with the government and so our family got a little over a million dollars for me, my brother and my sister each, and so because we got that money, I think that the large sum for all the family members was just under a hundred million dollars, and when you break that down from like survivors, families that had a victim that passed away or, excuse me, that were taken away for our families, a little bit over a million each for us. And so I fully invested that in real estate, buying an eight unit building. My salary, my income that I make is, you know, significant, so I didn't really really want to keep a bunch in the bank or to invest a lot in stocks, because I do that annually, every year. So I just bought a building with mine and my sister bought a single family property. She rents that out right now. She bought herself a personal home and so she does a little bit in real estate, but not to the extent that I do.
Speaker 1:She's got a lot of her money with our financial advisor and very safe stuff to get an instant small return every year, but it's very, very safe. And I always tell her hey, this is the money that was given to us to make sure we don't struggle severely after we lost our moms in such a terrible way. So let's treat it as such. And she's done a great job with that, after learning from me with some of the mistakes she made before. So she's got me to look at. My brother has been on it, my little brother. He's phenomenal. He loves finance, he loves learning about money and in tragedy man, a lot of people take what they're given and they just blow it and I say I will never. I think it's my obligation and my duty to make sure that doesn't happen and I know at the end of the day, they're their own people. But the best thing I can do is lead by example and I've definitely done that.
Speaker 2:At what point did you get help right? You're clearly a DIY, or you get in the weeds. You do your research. You obviously want to learn about all the topics, but when did you say okay, I'm getting a $40,000 check. I'm getting a $30,000 check, I need help. I want to do this the right way. When did you start getting professional help for your finances?
Speaker 1:Yeah, great question. So there was a guy who wrote us a check for like maybe 50 grand and he had a big event and he said hey, chris, before I hand you this check for your family, I want you to meet with my financial advisor. I went downtown and I met with this guy At the time their assets under management was probably just under 800 million or something like that his team. I met with him and he was phenomenal.
Speaker 1:Now I'm a real estate guy, but because after I lost my, I studied everything real estate. I'm listening to every podcast, I'm watching every YouTube video and this guy wasn't that way. But he was very conservative and he was super smart and successful. So I met with him and that's when I finally started to get help. That's probably two years after my mom was killed that I started to have a professional financial advisor and ever since I mean, at the end of the day, I study finance because I like doing it. Most people don't like studying it or it's like daunting or it's kind of, you know, scary to them, yeah, but for me, I actually like it. So I always want to know what's going on and even though I had a financial advisor, I still knew where every all of my money was, as you should.
Speaker 4:As you should.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure. As a financial advisor, I always want to make sure that my clients have that. I am educating them along the way. You know, whatever you know strategies we're implementing or whatever you know products may be used, I want to make sure that they have a very good understanding of what's occurring, because I don't ever want them to be in the dark of what's going on with their money. You know, yeah.
Speaker 2:But some people, you know, some people are like oh, my financial advisor takes care of it, I don't know what's happening, I don't know where it is, and that's how you get taken. Right.
Speaker 1:For sure, and that's something I've always been fearful of, and so trust is super important. If you can't trust your financial advisor, then that shouldn't be your financial advisor, right? So that's been super important for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's been super important for me. That's been super important. But also knowing just knowing finances at more than just the surface level has been important for me in my life as well. So those things have kind of kept me straight. I keep my checks and balances. My financial advisor, my accountant are always talking to one another. Plus I love to do stuff myself, and so I'm always asking a million questions too.
Speaker 4:I love that you pointed out the um, your accountant and your financial advisor having conversations and working together, cause too often I see that if you know an individual does have a financial advisor and an accountant, they're not having conversations. And I was like all those individuals that are, you know, touching your even in the real estate aspect. You have a real estate agent that you're specifically working with. They need to be in the conversation as well, and I'm always trying to tell people they're all working towards the same common goal at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, yeah, for sure, and I'll give you one example of how important that is.
Speaker 1:This past year I'll give you one example of how important that is this past year, you know, did really well financially from speaking to companies, different organizations, sports teams, and so I had a really really high tax bill you know, over six figures for my tax bill and because we bought this eight unit building, we were able to do a cost segregation study on it and we saved about $80,000 in money that we had to pay.
Speaker 1:Now we still had to pay, I think we still paid like 70 or 75, but we saved 80 grand. And so, at the end of the day, if I didn't have everybody working together, there's no way I would have learned about bonus depreciation and cost segregation on this eight unit building that we bought, unless everybody's a team and we're working together. And I know that I should bring it up to my accountant, because certain things it's like hey, I want to make sure you know about this and that we actually do qualify, because my wife is a full-time real estate professional. So there's certain things that you have to make sure you're you're learning, you're asking questions about to make sure it will work for you, or maybe it doesn't work for you, but you want to at least bring certain things to the forefront.
Speaker 4:I would say, especially once you're, you know you're making a certain income and especially if you have multiple sources of income, you know having a great CPA is it going to cost you something 100% but they're going to, you know, save you so much money that's going to pay for their fee 10 times over.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and it's not even close. It might be 20 times over, so it's important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, this is a great segue, chris, because obviously you went from being a professional athlete to being a full-time entrepreneur and speaker and writer. Walk us through that transition. When did you realize, okay, I don't need to be on the field anymore? What did that look like and why? And what was the transition into full-time entrepreneurship like for you?
Speaker 1:right. So they gave you your signing bonus. Let's say, for my signing bonus they gave me $100,000. The Cubs gave me $100,000 and $35,000 of that is taxed. And so I got 65 grand. And so you're supposed to live off your signing bonus for your minor league contract, which can be four, six years and by year. I told my wife, four years is like my plan. If I don't get there in four years I'm going to stop playing. And so I played two years and I got released in spring training. Now, when you get released, you can go try to play for another team, you can go play for an independent team, but then again you're still in the minor leagues.
Speaker 1:By this time my wife is at home with my son, with my brother, with my sister who we're taking care of, and I wasn't making any money. I said you know what? I was already speaking in the off season providing for our family. I said, hey, I think I'm supposed to do this thing full time. I'm going to go ahead and retire from baseball. And I did.
Speaker 1:And I used to think when I first started speaking, I was like man. Once I just tell everybody I'm speaking, it's going to be good to go. My goal used to be if I can make $1,500 a week, man, I would have a great life from speaking. That used to be my goal and I sent all these emails out. Hey, chris Singleton would love to speak to your school. And I didn't realize if they bring me to speak to their school that's 800 to 1,000 kids and they'd never even heard my message before they got to really trust me to put me in front of 800 of their kids and they don't know what the heck I'm going to say, right?
Speaker 1:And so I started to try to build relationships more and people that I know that trust me and got opportunities, some here, some there, and I said the craft of speaking so much that I knew if I got one opportunity it was going to lead to more. And I was exactly right. And so for the last seven years it's just grown exponentially, from you know wanting to make fifteen hundred a week to now you know making at least fifteen thousand a week from speaking, and it's just kept growing every single year. And I say, hey, every opportunity I get, I want to steward it well and I've been blessed that now I get 30 to 45 requests a month and we pick and choose which ones I can and can't do, but I know every opportunity I get I better knock it out of the park, because I'm making my mom proud by doing so, I'm keeping my church family's legacy alive by doing so and I'm helping out any person that's going through pain or needs a message of unity that I present. That's in that audience.
Speaker 2:So fun fact Chris and I worked together on my keynote when I this was during the pandemic, I'm pretty sure and you and I would be up on Zoom late night crafting my message, crafting my keynote. It was so inspiring. I love just working with you and learning from you and absorbing. Brandon and I are such big you know we will pay for the help right. Like we are not experts in everything, most things experts in everything.
Speaker 2:So if I can yeah, most things. So if I can pay to spend time with somebody who's doing something that I'm interested in and doing it well, that's money well spent. And the time, you know, that we spent together and the money that I paid you, which you know, truthfully, it was not enough for the value that you offered. I'm sure your pricing has gone up since then. It was such a great time, right to just be sitting on Zoom with you crafting my message, learning from you, and the reason I'm saying that is because so this must have been three years ago at this point.
Speaker 2:I remember you saying because you were very transparent with your numbers that your goal was to make $10,000 a month. Right, if I can make $10,000 a month, my family will be good. Then I'm going to make $10,000 a month right, if I can make $10,000 a month, my family will be good. Then I'm going to make my mom proud, I can take care of my responsibilities. So to hear you say, from that moment, $10,000 a month to now, $15,000 a week, that's incredible. And because your business and your opportunities are coming from referrals, I think it's just such a testament to who you are and the fact that people are just drawn to you, that people will want to advocate for you. They want to put your name into those rooms where you're not currently there, right, like they are. They're really rooting for you and wanting you to have those opportunities.
Speaker 2:So I just I want to say that I'm really proud of the work that you're doing and how you've built your business and, I think, a referral-based business and that's what Brandon's in right, it's hard because you have to show up authentically and well every single time. You know like you could be getting lazy, you could be like, oh, I've got, I've got 30 to 40 requests a month for speaking and now I'm picking and choosing. Everybody's coming to me, my inbox is flooding, I can just do whatever. But the fact that you're like, no, I've got to show up every single time I step on stage or step in front of a podium or hold a mic in my hand and do a great job, I think is just shows your integrity and just the kind of man that you are. So I you know.
Speaker 2:I think it's just worth calling out that every single time you speak, you do it as if it's the first time, which is so wonderful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, and you gotta, you know somebody needs to hear that message. And not only that, but every opportunity you get will lead to more if you do what you're supposed to do. And I realized that. And so, you know, I think 2018 was my first year, finally, you know, doing six figures as a speaker. 2019, like I told you, my goal was to make 10,000 a month. And as things progress, you know, your goals will progress. And so, 2020, I released my first book and I had no idea, you know, I self-published my book, so I didn't really know a whole lot about most stuff, but I self-published and I got so blessed that people everywhere was supporting it and, you know, finally was able to do multiple six figures, was able to do multiple six figures. And as things kept growing, I realized I used to always say, man, people will be. Oh, chris, man, you need to listen to this guy, this guy makes good money, and I'll be like I don't know what the heck good money is.
Speaker 2:You know, because to me good money At one point you thought it was $70,000 for the year.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. Like man, I thought I used to think people that had the mansions were making, like you know, $100,000 a year. I'm like I didn't have way to go in that, you know, I didn't know, but I would be like I don't know what good money is. And so, you know, I started meeting people that were making you know, $50,000 a month and $100,000 a month. And you know, now I'm like wow, I didn't know what that meant. And so it's all subjective For me, my goal.
Speaker 1:I have the five things that I want to accomplish and I'm grateful. Over the last 12 years I can finally say I accomplished this one. But the first one is I wanted to make a million dollars in a year, and so for the last 12 months, from May to May, I've made a million dollars in a year. I talked to my wife about it. That's my first thing in a year. I'm going to talk to my wife about it. That's my first thing. The second thing is I want my wife to love me, my kids to love me. I don't want to lose that one chasing that first one. Third thing is I want to make sure I'm a man of faith. I don't want to lose my faith. That's who I am. That's what I'm rooted in. The next thing is I want to be a giver. I don't want to be stingy. I feel comfortable sharing how much I make, because I know how much we give and people know as well. And the last thing I want to be physically fit. That's my thing. I want to be fit and live that lifestyle and be able to chase my kids around and jump on the trampoline and dive off the thing into our pool, that kind of stuff. And so those are my five things that I cherish and I was shooting for.
Speaker 1:And in my industry, if you want to make a million dollars, you got to be on the road and at a certain point I realized, okay, there's for me in my life there's no quality of life change from, you know, making 600 to making a million. There's no quality of life change at all. But in my mind I was like I got to make because I never made a million before, and so I was like I got to make because I never made a million before, and so I was like I got to make the million and I'm just so grateful that I didn't spend my whole life chasing a million and now I realize the million ain't no different than half a million when you live in the way that I do Now. Maybe if I lived in like Beverly Hills or lived in like San Francisco, then a million dollars might not be as much as it is for me where I live and the house that we have and the way that we live our lifestyle. But I'm so grateful that I learned this at a young age.
Speaker 1:To where is making an extra $300,000 or $200,000, is that more valuable than spending an extra 20 days home or 35 days home? Or is like coaching my son's travel baseball team one day? In my mind, that's worth an extra $100,000, because I could probably make an extra $100,000 by not being at all those practices, not being at all those games. But I've already learned there's no quality of life change from $100,000. After you're at a certain point.
Speaker 4:You know what I'm saying. I love that you're saying that because I'm really big on, you know, people defining what it is and how they want to live their life. So you know, when we're sitting down talking about goals, I don't want to hear like monetary goals. To be honest with you, I want to hear what you want your life to look like. Like you said, you know, I want to be able to be at home and coach my, my son's, baseball games. I want to have, you know, be able to take these vacations. Like I don't want to hear, oh, you know, I want to make.
Speaker 4:You know some people have these goals. Like you said, I want to make a million dollars a year. But what is a million dollars a year going to do to you? How is it going to afford you to live the life that you want to live? Because what if we can live that same life, as you said, at less money? Or what if you make that money and it doesn't afford you the life because it occupies too much time? So that's why I love that you really went deep into the goals that you had, but then also realizing and having to redefine those goals to really fit within the life that you actually want to live.
Speaker 2:But I think having those grounding back to those five pillars for you, I think, is pivotal right, because you could have again, as a young person, getting a $50,000 check and be like I'm going to go buy a car or I'm going to you know. I mean, you could have just thrown it away, but you seem to have always had this real sense of maturity and this grounding that I think is lacking for a lot of people. And now that you can comfortably say, hey, I've made a million, I don't necessarily need to make a million again next year, because what's important to me doesn't require a million, right?
Speaker 2:I think it's just so mature and so wise, Because you're what 25?.
Speaker 1:I'll be 27 in a month, so almost 27.
Speaker 2:All this knowledge at almost 27 years, I mean it's you know the fact that you can live, you know, the next 60 years with this mindset of, hey, I'm working, I'm doing what I love, I'm grateful I can give back, I have what I need for my family, what we want to do, the house we want to live in. I just think it's so mature to not constantly be chasing, chasing, chasing a dollar, you know think it's so mature to not constantly be chasing, chasing, chasing a dollar, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think another important thing is, though, you know, the reason why I'm kind of built this way is because I know that it's on me At the end of the day. I don't have my parents here, I don't have grandparents, and so, like, if everything happens, if anything happens for my family, it's like okay, chris, what do we do? How are we going to be able to do this? Can we do this? And so I knew that, ever since I've been 19 years old, and so my wife, I even had to have conversations with my wife like, hey, right now we may not be able to have all the Amazon boxes that she wanted at the, you know, five years ago. You know, when things are a little different.
Speaker 1:I really my thing was, I really wanted to have 10 homes paid off by 40. Before I started, really, you know, making the money that I'm making now, that was like my thing. I want to have 10 homes paid off by 40, because my parents only lived to 45 and 46. So I started saying, okay, if my parents didn't see 50, excuse me, my parents never saw 50. My mom was killed at 45 and my dad was actually 47 when he passed away. So I'm like, if they didn't see 50, I want to make sure that if I'm lucky enough to see 50, then I'll be in the clear. You know what I'm saying. I'll be able to go to do what I want, I'll be able to hang out with my wife, we'll be able to hang out with my wife, we'll be able to have a good time. And I thought about these things because people passed away so young. So that's why I want to set my life up to where, just in case, lord willing, I live till I'm 80 something and pass away in my sleep, but just in case, I want to be able to love the life that I have when I'm 40 years old or 45 years young. So that's kind of the thought process that went behind me, thinking of this so young.
Speaker 1:Plus, I always thought about being a speaker and I don't have to think about it this way, but I did Because so many crazy things happen in this world.
Speaker 1:I used to always think, man, I hope people care about the message that I have in three years I don't know if they will. And so I've always been like, hey, I don't want to just blow this on buying a Rolls Royce and a G-Wagon for me and my wife. It's like no, we can have nice cars or whatever, but I want to make sure that the house that we buy pays for our car note. So if my car note is $1,150, which it is right now I'm driving a Range Rover it's like I have a property that's paid off that pays me over $1,150 to be able to pay for that note every single month and not stress about it. And so my thing was always okay. If I have my paid off homes, my 10 paid off homes, I'll make at least $10,000 net cash flow a month for my real estate, and at the time this isn't anymore, but at 10,000 net cashflow a month would it have paid for my life comfortably. Now it's way more than that.
Speaker 4:It's about to get a little bit more expensive with that additional.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, there's one extra human in the house.
Speaker 1:You start buying Maybe we should have, you don't need none of this stuff but you start buying extra stuff and it's like kids are going to private school. You know stuff that wasn't happening before. So all that stuff starts adding up. But that was always my thought process.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, I remember, like I said, like when the tragedy happened, you were a freshman in college and like I'm 40 now, so I was in my early 30s when that happened. I just remember seeing you, you know, on all the different outlets and I'm just like it's obviously it's one of the worst things that could happen to you, but it seems like you were built for that type of, you know, presence, cause, like you had a presence and it was very obvious early on and I it's obviously why, like a lot of the news outlets were coming to you to have these conversations because this was, it seemed as though it was something that was in you. This was just you, this was who you are. The presence you have was meant to come out in a manner where you are able to do these, you know, be a speaker of that sort and everything like that.
Speaker 4:And it was, it was just obvious very early on, as someone that's older and, um, you know, had like a few years older than you, and you know, I just remember just I'm rambling now, but I just remember thinking, I just remember thinking I'm just like he is, so, you know, wise beyond his years, at such a young age it. It was heartwarming, sad, everything at the same time. But it was just amazing to watch, see from there and see how you took that into where you're at now. It's just as a man. It's just amazing to watch what you've done with all that.
Speaker 2:Side note Brandon is not going to be a keynote speaker?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm not a good speaker Unless he goes through your training program, because that's great. We always talk about. Ted Talk. I'm like she's going to have a TED Talk. I'm not a TED Talk person.
Speaker 2:He means. Well, his heart is always in the right place. Okay, I want to be respectful of your very precious time, chris. We have two more things, and I think this portion is really good for the conversation about the relationship. Right, you and your wife you're on the road a lot. Now she's going to be at home with three kids. What was the conversation like with her about? Hey, I'm going to be on the road, I'm going to be traveling, this is going to be my new life, this is going to be my career. Did she oppose in any way? Was she always, you know, behind you? Obviously, that's a lot of sacrifice on her part, because I know, I mean, I know what it's like to be at home with a kid, right, like, let alone two, I mean, they would drive me crazy. So it is a sacrifice for the family, for you to live out your dream, right? So can you talk to us about what those conversations were like?
Speaker 2:and maybe how they've evolved over time.
Speaker 1:Now that your business has grown so much, yeah, I think initially it's hard when you have money coming in and it's like you don't want to spend it on stuff that you want. You're just trying to save it for stuff that you know is beneficial for us in the future and when there's no benefit for you immediately, it's really hard for somebody to buy into that. And so we had those conversations, those heated conversations, initially, right, but the grateful thing is, as things have grown, my wife number one she sees how impactful this message is. If I was full of you know what, there's no way she would let me do what I do, right, but she knows that I'm making a difference. She sees the messages from kids. She sees the stuff that the lives that are being impacted, which is important. And now my son sees that too, which is really cool.
Speaker 1:But also, at a certain point, I read this book called Wealth Can't Wait, and it talked about how we don't complain about the $5 coffee that our wife is spending or we're spending money on. It's like, well, how do I make an extra $50 today? And so for me, instead of thinking hey, well, should I be upset that my wife is spending $800 a month on random stuff or whatever, no, I shouldn't be upset. For me it's like, hey, how do I make sure that's not even a drop in the bucket when it comes to the money that we're investing, the money that we're saving, the money that we have coming in, and I kind of flipped my mindset on that. Also, my wife's from Brazil and she grew up, didn't have a lot, so it's not like she's going out buying a new Chanel and Prada purse every single day, right. So we'd have another discussion then. But we know what we want to spend money on, we know what we care about, and so we're on the same page.
Speaker 1:But it grew, man. It grew because initially, when you have money, it's like, hey, why don't I just buy the nicest thing that I can right now? And then it's like it's gone then. But instead, how do we invest together, have the same goals? Because if you're aligned and it's like, okay, well, we're doing this together, and then eventually, boom, we can have that and this and that one, and we wouldn't have to worry about if we can afford it or not. And I think we're finally at that space now where we're building a pool in our house. The pool is like almost $140,000 in total for all this different stuff.
Speaker 1:If you would have told me I'm going to spend 140 grand on a pool five years ago, I said, boy, you out of your mind, I'd never do that Right. So as things have grown, I've just learned so much, invested my income so that we live our lifestyle mainly from our passive income, which is almost 13 grand a month now, and we do these things. So it's like hey, income, which is almost 13 grand a month now, and we do these things. So it's like, hey, we can't afford this or we can't afford that. But it's grown over time. It's definitely grown.
Speaker 1:My wife handles all of our real estate too. So she manages all of our stuff and I know for a fact she is a million times better than that as far as like the accounting stuff. She's really good at Um, but also having contractors talking to tenants, like that stuff she's. She's got a a great, great headspace for, so she's been crushing it on that side and I buy them and after I buy them she gets them fixed up and she gets people in them and you know we treat them great, so they treat us great pulling them and you know we treat them great, so they treat us great.
Speaker 2:Talk to us about your two children's books and you have a new announcement you have written a book for adults, so we want our listeners to know about the two children's books and what those are about. We will definitely link those in the show notes as well, where you want us to buy them, and then tell us about your latest book that's coming out.
Speaker 1:Want us to buy them and then tell us about your latest book that's coming out. Yeah, so well. Now I've actually got three children's books. So I've got my first one Different a story about loving your neighbor. I got my second one called your Life Matters, and then my third children's book is called Baseball Around the World, and the announcement that I have is that June 17th, so this is releasing on today.
Speaker 1:Then today I'm releasing my first adult book and it's called Stories Behind Stances, and this is all about my mission of being united and the context of the book is that behind every single person's stance that they take is a story about why they take it. And in a world where we feel so divisive and hey, I don't know how this person could ever think this way I think for the first time we'll have a book that shares the story behind that person's belief and hopefully there'll be some empathy there. Don't have to change what you believe, don't have to change who you are, but for the first time, maybe you hear the other side of somebody's story and you say you know what? Even though I don't think that way, I understand why they do. And this book is releasing and I'm super excited about it. There's a lot of work. It's not like a children's book by any means. Thousands and thousands and thousands and tens of thousands of words, but I'm excited and I'm hopeful that people will receive it well.
Speaker 2:So is it? It sounds incredible, Is it stories from other people about all of these divisive topics Like what can we expect when we buy the book?
Speaker 1:For sure. So I'll give you two topics off the rip. One of the topics is gun control, and so I take a person's story that was deeply impacted by gun violence and you know I won't tell you who the person is, but you know if you're listening to them it's got a voice that sounds like mine, right. And then you have somebody else, that who grew up with guns, and it makes them feel safe because they feel protected. They don't want their wife to leave the house without having the gun in their car. It just makes them feel safe.
Speaker 1:And we talk about both of the stories behind their different stances how one person will probably never own a gun in their home and feels nervous around them, and the other person wants their wife and their family to have the gun at all times and make sure that people are, and we get both perspectives about how can they not view this thing the same but still respect each other. One of the topics another one that is super important and is super impactful in our time right now is immigration, and we talk about both sides of that, how maybe one person I'm giving away way too much, but let's just say on both sides you're going to be like man. I never thought about that from this way and then the other one's like man. I never even thought about that person like this, and so you'll hear it both sides of the story and hopefully there'll be more empathy, man, for people that think different than we do.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 4:I will. We will definitely be buying that book. I you know, unfortunately, nowadays people don't listen to understand, they listen to simply wait till the person's done talking to give their perspective, to simply wait till the person's done talking to give their perspective. Yeah, so, like I love the idea of the book, because you know we try to have these conversations, especially, you know, since you had brought up the, you know gun laws. I have someone that I talk to that we're, you know, kind of on, we have similar ground, but we're kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum as well. But you know we have good conversations, that you know. We might just respectfully disagree on certain things, but we hear each other out and we do it in a, as you said, you know, a respectful manner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's somebody. He works for Smith and Wesson.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he's in the gun industry, has guns, goes and shoots guns all the time, but he, like Brandon said, him and Brandon have had lots of conversations and he's actually been able to shed light on, you know, some of the misconceptions around some of the gun laws and the buyback programs. And it is just it's important to have these conversations. It doesn't mean that you have to walk away with a changed mindset or totally changing your stance. Changed mindset or totally changing your stance, but understanding the other side and having maybe a little an ounce more of empathy for that scenario, or just learning right, it's all about learning and growth and understanding. That, really, I think, is where the unity comes from. So I'm excited about that. I'm going to need that to be an audible so that we can hear you reading the book too. So if that's not on your to-do list, go ahead and add that.
Speaker 2:Chris, I want to end on a happy note because I feel like we talked about so much. We talked about the financial aspect, which was so important, um, but we also really want to honor your mother and the anniversary that's coming up, and I think anybody that knows you knows how proud she would be of you. But I remember one night when you were coaching me, um, that we talked about her tattoo and I just remember laughing so hard. I think I'm like tearing up now because you know it's such a heavy topic, but I remember I was like laughing through my tears. So I want to end on a happy note and honor your mom today and every day Can you tell us about her tattoo?
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah this is funny.
Speaker 2:I'm crying, but I promise it's funny. I'm so sorry guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, you're good, I've learned just in doing the work that I do, because it's such a deep topic and it's a deep story that every now and then you get to have a pause for humor, and this is one of my pause for humors, right? My mom. She was an ordained minister, and so, if you don't know what that means, she basically went to school for the Bible and all this stuff. So she became ordained as a minister and my mom had an embarrassing tattoo, okay, and she never told anybody, because she's also working in schools now. I want to point that out too. The tattoo is on her left ankle and it's an ice cream cone and it says two words, and the two words are sexy chocolate.
Speaker 2:Reverend Sharonda Singleton.
Speaker 1:sexy chocolate, y'all Sexy chocolate Reverend, sexy chocolate, right, oh man. But yes, that's my mom's embarrassing tattoo and yeah, I hope she is smiling down proud of her son, but all three of her kids and now her grandkids. So again, thank you for letting me in on a high note with my mom's embarrassing tattoo and thank you, guys, for having me on.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:This is wonderful. Don't forget. Benjamin Franklin said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. You just got paid Until next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We are so glad to have you as part of our Sugar Daddy community. If you learned something today, please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share this episode with your friends, family and extended network. Don't forget to connect with us on social media. At the Sugar Daddy Podcast, you can also email us your questions you want us to answer for our Pass the Sugar segments at thesugardaddypodcast at gmailcom or leave us a voicemail through our Instagram.