Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey, hey, hey. This is Philip Clark here with Just say Something's weekly podcast. My name is Phil Clark, and I am the CEO here at Just say Something. And so we just left a great meeting about something new that we're doing this summer.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And I'm really excited about it. We are going to have our Youth summit this summer, July 22nd and 23rd, for our middle school students here in Greenville County. And I can't wait until this comes to fruition. We have some wonderful partners. And as always, I have a great partner here with me today on our podcast. And so we are working together with Mr. Richard Jurgen III, soon to be PhD, Mr. Richard Jurgen III. And Richard, welcome.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Philip Clark. Thank you. Just say something. Thank you for having me. It's an honor and a privilege to be on today and to be in the space.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: All right, wonderful. So you had some of your team members with you here today at our Youth Summit meeting that we have. So tell our listening audience a little bit about Richard Jurgen III and the entity that you're representing as part of our upcoming Youth Summit. Yeah.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Richard Jurgen iii and I put emphasis on the third, because my father's senior and my brother's junior. So we're doing the whole George fore.
However, I'll say this on behalf of our organization, Empowered Teens, we're thankful to be partnered with you all on this initiative along with the King's Worship Center International.
We are looking forward to seeing our youth be pushed beyond just the status quo, but at the same time, challenging them to really center themselves in Christ and have some type of identity that is going to extend beyond the two days that we're putting this event on. And so I'm thankful for the leadership and what you brought to the table.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Well, I know who to connect with. And so you and I met at an event where we were both invited to. And it's like, from the minute we connected, we've been connected ever since.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: So for real.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: So tell us, as we look at what you're bringing in, your team's bringing to this Youth Summit, fill us in a little bit. So I know we're going to do July 22nd, 23rd, we'll start out with a general session with all the middle school students engaged and involved.
You're going to be the main facilitator, but also knowing where we want to go, what we want to do with the kids while we're there, share with our listeners a little bit of what that might look like as they're sitting there, maybe with their own high or middle school kids that they may want to have attendance this two day initial youth summit.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Here's the real, real Cliff Notes version. But I'll, I'll extend some grace, but I'm, I'm going to be a little bit long winded here with this response. I think in this nation right now, as we look at the current climate of our youth and what they're being faced with, they need a voice, right? And so this platform, again, I want to be very intentional when I say this is not about me, it's not about anybody else other than the ones that we're serving. And to put them first and give them a space where they can challenge themselves to think critically amongst their peers and not be judged for what they say is the biggest thing. Like, right. And I think a lot of times you put handcuffs on young people when you don't empower them to speak and you're speaking for them on something that you don't know how, how to really grasp it because it's a different time. Right? Like, I can easily say, oh, I remember how I grew up in the 90s. And so let's just take it back to the 90s for me. But no, let's take it back. And the theme of this whole conference is take it back for our youth. Right? Like our youth, somewhere along the line have become more antisocial, have become more distant. They're dealing with anxiety at a high, at a high rate. I mean, when you look at the numbers, statistically speaking, I mean, it's, it's, it's a mad house, right, in terms of mental health. And it's, it's, it's staggering. And there's a lot of data, there's a lot of things out there, but the reality of it is is we all have some challenge. Did you know that over 70% of America has some hidden mental health illness that they don't know about?
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Being in this line of work that I am, I'm not surprised, but I have a feeling that our listeners are.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: And so when you, when that's alarming to me. So we're not just talking about the youth need this. It's an adult out there right now that needs this summit. But guess what? If we start with the youth and the youth take this back home and they take this to their parent, it's a movement, Right?
[00:05:58] Speaker A: Right. And so that's what we're hoping to form. You know, we're kicking this off in Greenville this summer and we're starting with two days Our goal is to maybe next summer, maybe it's three or four days, but it's something that our middle school students can anticipate. And oh, man, I can't wait till I get. Till I can go to the summit. Um, the other piece of it as part of this, because, you know, I didn't grow up in the 90s like you did, you young blood. I grew up in the earlier than that, in the 60s. And so I know kids today, they can't relate to me. So one of the things that we're doing for this particular summit is we're recruiting high school and college students to serve as interns and coaches as part of this particular youth summit. So our goal is, and if you're listening out there and you have a high school student or a college student as a child and you think they might be interested, then, you know, reach out to us at. Just say something at 864-467-4099.
And so I think it's important for some of our listeners to know maybe your why of your passion and why this is so important for you as a way of giving back to the community. So I'll kind of leave that open ended for you to share what you're willing to share.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Oh, man. So I tell you this, take it back to 2008 when the recession hit. And you, you know, I'm sitting there in middle school and I'm looking around at my peers and I'm questioning, does anybody know?
And what I'm thinking or what I'm asking myself, do they know is that I'm pretty dangerous because of what I'm dealing with at home.
And I remember it like it was yesterday, you know, being at the park, waiting for my father to come pick me up from basketball practice and not getting picked up from basketball practice because my dad was being taken away and put into handcuffs for vehicular manslaughter and driving technically under the influence, right? And so looking at my dad end up on the news that next morning and going to school and not knowing what to say, right? And just kind of looking around and realizing that obviously people know or people, you know, people know what's going on, right? And that day a cord broke in me, man. And I would say that that little boy that used to be innocent maybe two, three years prior to that was like, man, they take my dad, or if he doesn't make it through cancer, it's gonna be a problem out here.
And I became that problem. And the solution came to me when I least Expected it through the form of the person that to me, my dad was always my hero, still is to this day. Always has had my back. I love him to pieces.
But what I realized in that moment was I had taken on certain characteristics and traits, right, that were in the bloodline.
And so I began my activities that included gambling, selling drugs, doing drugs, skipping school, all those things in middle school, right? And that's where the trouble started, right? And I remember this one distinct day, you know, it was a Saturday group collaborative writing class that I was supposed to be in attendance at in order to graduate. And I did go to that class that day, and I wrote a paper, and that paper did not have a name on it. And I left that paper in that class with the peer that I was working on this paper with.
And I left and skipped. And I was running, running, running, running down the hallway trying to get out of the school. My buddy with me at the time, Marcus, had a backpack that has some drugs in it, and it had a gun in it, and we were gonna go and commit a robbery.
And I distinctly remember as I'm running, running, running, running, and my feet, my heart's pounding, hit the gate, I get over the gate, security screaming, we got a runner. We got a runner.
As I'm walking down this path with Marcus, and I'm thinking to myself, you know, there's no turning back now.
Here comes my father beelining down the same path, same road that I'm on. And I'm like, how does he know where I'm at? I gave the school all the wrong information.
Like this clockwork. How did he show up on time, how we got here, right? And so imagine, you know, I'm standing there with Marcus, got the drugs, got the gun, got everything in the bag, and my dad pulls up, what you think I did? I was like, marcus, I'm getting in this van. You can go left. My dad was going off on me from A to Z, right? And I was like, man, you know, this is tough. But I tell you what, Marcus ends up doing 25 to life, and I go on to become top five scholar athlete, country in the country.
And as an African American male coming from Lauderdale, not necessarily Fort Lauderdale, that was huge, right? To make that turnaround. And it would have never happened if that day wouldn't have happened. Because what happened on that day when my father took me into that principal's office, and I'm sitting there and I'm getting the download and the whole story, the friend that I was working with or the peer Comes to me and says, the teacher was reading those papers out loud, and the one that didn't have your name on it, that I knew was yours. When she got done reading it, she said, if this person would ever show up, they could be something one day.
And those words always stuck with me. And even to this day, you know, to the listener or to whomever is out there, if you just show up, that's about 90% of the battle, Right?
We could do something with the other 10% if you just show up and get in the room, right? And, man, that. That day was so powerful for me. And that's what led to, you know, me becoming a U.S. army, all American, traveling the country, going to the White House, doing all those things in high school, being challenged outside of my comfort zone, outside of my box, because I let go of what was familiar and what I knew, which was my environment, and I embraced something completely different. You know, by traveling across the trail, the rain, the railroad tracks, which is what separates the poverty in Fort Lauderdale, I had an opportunity to travel across those tracks for once and go to school with folks that didn't look like me. Maybe didn't have the same religious background as I was attending Catholic private schools, you know, and. And living a really good life that I never thought was even possible, you know, coming from my side of the tracks. And so, you know, I just thank God again for leading me before great men and great opportunities because of my. Yes, and my obedience and willingness to say, you know what? I have this gift. I have this talent, but the only way that I'm gonna make it out is if I surrendered and submitted back over to God. And so, you know, really going through the twists and turns, the ebbs and flows of life, I would say has definitely strengthened my voice.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: Well, you definitely have a powerful story, and I appreciate you sharing that with our listeners.
And, you know, hearing that and especially with that happening in middle. Middle school. Yeah, that's our target for this youth summit, our middle school, because that is a key time when they're like, who am I? What do I want to be? Where do I want to go in life?
And so it's so pivotal for them. So thank you for sharing that story.
And so if. If there's a mom or dad. Well, there's moms and dads out there listening to this. What would be your word of advice for those parents that have those middle school kids? What would be your wisdom that you can impart from where you come from?
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Don't focus so much on what you want to become in life, focus on who you want to become. So it goes from this ideation of a job to a lifestyle, Right? So I think a lot of times, you know, we. We don't realize we use this language like, you got to go to college to get a job. No, no, no, no. You don't have to go to college to get a job. You could just get a job at the high school. Right. Or you get a job whenever. Right, right. But when you start to develop the idea of what kind of life do you want to live, who do you want to become? That's strong language, right? Like, that's putting you in the position of having control over your destiny and not someone else and not a paycheck holding over your head. And so there's a $30 billion problem right now in the market called Millennial Churn. And so when you look at Millennial Churn, basically what that's saying is we don't trust millennials to stay in a job long enough to retain them and develop them. So the job market's already basically telling you, hey, we're going to replace a lot of these young people with AI. So when you think about the idea of AI controlling the future for our young people, we need some more technicians. Right. We need some more skilled laborers. We need some more folks that technically have their own business and have their own skill set. And so empowering these young minds to be entrepreneurs and leaders, the moment they step foot in front of me, that's the goal always, is work for yourself. Don't just work for somebody else, because you're going to be disappointed.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Right, right.
And that's. That's so important, especially these days.
So as we look back at our planning for the upcoming youth summit, so what are some of the things that we might need support from the community as far as what. What do you feel like some of that support looks like?
[00:18:01] Speaker B: I want to challenge the community leaders out there, not just to give from your wallet, but to give from your time. I think that as many leaders that are in different capacities, whether that's in the financial sector, whether that's in the educational sector, whether that's in healthcare, whether that's in retail, whether that's in civic engagement, whatever the case might be, if you're a leader and, and, you know, let's just say, hey, I'm. I'm willing to be a sponsor at this level or give at this level. Can you give your time at that level? Can you give your thought, your intellectual space up for a child that may not have ever been exposed to your environment. The opportunity to come into your environment and to see. Because that's worth more than money.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Right? Right.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: I'm just being honest. I mean, money is great. We all need that in order to push the vision for. He needs to provide us with the provisions. But the provisions can also look like time. Right?
[00:19:00] Speaker A: Right. And I know some people, when they see me walk in, they're like, oh, he's here for money. And I don't always want your money. I want your time. Your time can be more valuable than what money can be. So I appreciate that. So our audience, how can they find out more about you, Mr. Richard Jurgen III, and how can they get in touch with you?
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Well, you can find out more through the website richardyurgin.com and you can also text register to.
Let me pull it up.
Pause. I got to make sure we can edit it out. Yeah. So.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Register.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Hold on.
What is it?
Text register to the number 8882-6195-5588-8261-9555. That's how you can find us. Register. Send the word register in all caps. And we look forward to talking with you soon.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: All right, and so just a reminder to our listeners, we talked about our teen summit today. And so once we get that website up and ready for our middle school students to start registering for that, we'll make sure to let everybody know as that comes about. Richard, is there one piece or one nugget of something you would like to leave with our listeners today?
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Judge each day not by the harvest that you reap, but by the seed that you sow. And what you realize is that success is not measured based upon how much money you make, based on how many people you bless. So have a blessed day and continue to strive to pour back into your community and plant seeds that turn into trees.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: All right, well, on that note, we will close it. Thank you, Richard. I appreciate you and your partnership with Just say Something. And I know we're going to have a long, steady relationship between you and I and our organizations together.
So that's another episode of Just say Something's weekly podcast. Remember to, like, share, subscribe, and we will see you next week here at same. Well, kind of the same time. But thanks again for joining.
