Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000251A
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00:01 What does it look like
00:02 to be an active leader of your community? 00:04 Stay tuned to meet someone 00:05 who can tell you just how it's done. 00:07 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:09 and you are watching Urban Report. 00:35 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:37 My guest today is Kenny Anderson. 00:39 He is the host of the television show called 00:42 "Impact with Kenny Anderson". 00:44 He is a nationally certified counselor, 00:46 has a bachelor's degree in psychology, 00:48 and the Lord has blessed him with many more accomplishments. 00:52 Welcome to Urban Report, Brother Kenny. 00:53 It's great to be here, Jason. It's good to see of you, man. 00:56 Good to have you. Good to have you. 00:58 Now, we had been talking prior to this program 01:01 when we found out there's... 01:02 We have so many connections. Yeah. 01:05 Like six degrees of separation 01:06 has become three degrees easily. 01:08 That's right. That's right. 01:11 I took a look at your bio and I was blown away. 01:16 I'm wondering where do you find the time 01:18 to get all of these things done. 01:21 But before we go into all of your many accomplishments, 01:24 and what you're doing now, 01:25 I'd like to give our viewers 01:27 a little bit of background on you, 01:29 where are you from? 01:31 From New York City. 01:32 I grew up on the Lower East Side 01:33 of Manhattan in gaudy houses. 01:36 It's funny because 01:37 when you grow up in the projects, 01:38 you don't necessarily know that, 01:40 because home is home. 01:42 And I grew up in a home with two parents 01:43 who loved us, cared for us, worked every day, 01:45 I had three sisters, 01:47 lived in a vibrant community that was really diverse. 01:50 And growing up on Lower East Side of Manhattan 01:53 was just an amazing experience, 01:55 saw lots of things, did lots of things, 01:58 and experience lots of things, that's where my origin began. 02:02 Nice, nice. 02:03 Now what college did you attend? 02:05 I went to a college in Huntsville, Alabama 02:08 that some people might know about, 02:09 it's called Oakwood College then, university today. 02:12 Okay. 02:14 Oakwood is just an amazing institution. 02:16 And I chose Oakwood 02:17 because I had two friends 02:19 that went to Bethel SDA Church in Brooklyn, New York. 02:22 They were people that some people 02:24 might know even today. 02:26 Pastor John Nixon was a little older than me, 02:29 but he was one of those people 02:31 that came back from time to time, 02:32 talking about Oakwood, and Dr. Keith Autise, 02:35 who now lives in Chicago. 02:37 Okay. 02:38 And those guys were two guys I looked up to. 02:40 I felt that if Oakwood was good enough for them 02:43 and they were pretty cool guys, 02:44 it was probably good enough for me. 02:46 And even though it was a thousand miles 02:47 away from home, 02:49 it was a daunting task to be able to move down there, 02:52 and transition in a way 02:53 that would be positive and empowering, 02:56 but it was everything 02:57 that I ever imagined it could be. 02:59 And my experience at Oakwood was second to none. 03:02 Every success that I have today, 03:04 I can attribute to the fact that Oakwood gave me 03:07 a tremendous opportunity to learn leadership, 03:11 to achieve academically, 03:13 to build a network of individuals 03:14 that I have even today that I can benefit from 03:18 in so many ways, through friendship, 03:20 advice, support, and other kinds of things. 03:22 Yes, now taking it back a little bit, 03:25 you said that you grew up in the projects, 03:27 you know, there's a lot of things 03:29 that go on in the projects, 03:30 how were you able to overcome the adversity 03:33 that you probably faced in that environment? 03:36 Well, it's the cliché now I'd say probably. 03:38 It's the one that everybody would expect perhaps, 03:41 but it was God. 03:42 I tell people that, you know, 03:44 my family was really a family that prayed together. 03:46 And families that prayed together stayed together. 03:48 We had morning and evening worship 03:50 that was an important part of our experience. 03:52 We went to church together, in fact, 03:55 I remember probably being 14, 15 03:58 before I was able to sit some place else in church. 04:01 I mean, we were literally a family 04:03 that sat in church together, 04:05 went to church on a regular basis, 04:06 but church was not just 04:08 a casual passive experience for us. 04:10 My parents demonstrated as the role models 04:13 in my home what love was. 04:16 My parents loved each other for 43 years 04:18 before my dad passed. 04:20 So they showed us a foundation of love. 04:22 They did not accept my sisters and I fussing with each other, 04:27 or cutting up in public environments, 04:30 I mean, there was always 04:31 a sense of boundaries and discipline. 04:33 So the Word of God was the foundation in our home 04:35 and that was extremely important for me. 04:37 And even in times when I may have strayed throughout life, 04:40 it was always a compass, 04:41 it was always a point of emphasis 04:43 that I can always go back to and be able to claim my roots. 04:47 Nice, so you had that example and, you know, the Bible says, 04:50 "Train up a child the way he should go 04:52 and when he grows old, he won't depart from it." 04:54 I think that's Proverbs 5:22, I believe. 04:57 That's close. I believe that's the one. 05:01 If it's not, maybe our viewers will let me out. 05:05 But, I mean, that's so true, you know, 05:07 you instill those values in the kids 05:09 while they're young, and when they grow old, 05:11 they don't, they won't depart from it. 05:13 That's right. 05:14 So it's amazing to see 05:16 what the Lord has led you through 05:18 and where you are today. 05:20 What did you major in college? 05:22 Majored in psychology. Okay. 05:24 Interestingly backstory, 05:26 I went to Oakwood as the theology major. 05:29 I actually claimed theology as a major, 05:31 got my card in the mail saying 05:33 that you're a member of the religion and theology form, 05:35 and welcome to Oakwood. 05:37 When you see my acceptance letter, 05:39 it says that I'm going to be 05:40 majoring in religion and theology, 05:44 one of those two, I knew I was going to be, 05:45 I taught I want to be a pastor. 05:47 But coming to Oakwood, 05:49 I realized that I also was interested in medicine, 05:51 and after taking bio and math courses, 05:54 I didn't do very well 05:55 but I was still thinking maybe this is what's going to happen. 05:58 But in my sophomore year, 06:00 we won the quarter system at that time, 06:02 I took psychology from Dr. Keith Wood out of Atlanta, 06:06 and Dr. Wood was just a phenomenal instructor, 06:10 I say to people all the time 06:12 that he inspired me to become a psychology major. 06:16 And once I declared psychology as a major, 06:18 the rest was history. 06:19 I kept moving forward, 06:21 I kept believing that this was something 06:22 I wanted to do, 06:24 and I began understanding 06:25 and seeing my vision and my purpose for life, 06:28 which really involved helping others become better. 06:32 Wow. 06:34 Now you were a psychology major, 06:37 but didn't you transition into teaching psychology as well, 06:40 and how did that take place? 06:41 I did, coming out of Oakwood after about a year or so, 06:45 I got my first full time job in the field at a rehab center, 06:49 worked in that area for about 10 years, 06:51 then went to another facility and did one-on-one counseling, 06:55 try to retreat hospital, 06:56 I was a counseling center director, 06:59 I worked at University of Alabama in Huntsville 07:01 for a period of time 07:02 as a student development counselor, 07:04 and it was important for me to be able to hone my craft, 07:06 but I started teaching part time as well. 07:09 And during that time, 07:10 I transitioned from practicing psychology to teaching, 07:13 which gave me a chance to do 07:14 the kinds of things in the classroom 07:17 that I had done in the field. 07:18 So being able to make practical applications 07:21 was a very important part of that, 07:22 and I absolutely love teaching. 07:24 I thought I would retire from that job one day, 07:27 but I've taught at many different institutions 07:29 in Huntsville, including Oakwood, 07:32 which gave me my first chance to teach, 07:34 and, in fact, I still teach 07:36 when I get a chance to do that, 07:38 taught a class recently for one semester 07:41 and look forward to doing that again in the future. 07:44 Nice, you need to write a book on time management 07:47 'cause you've done, I mean, you have done 07:49 so many different things, 07:52 I don't know where you'd find the time to do all of these. 07:55 Now, been a psychology major, I often wonder 07:58 if, like, do you size people up, 08:00 kind of, like, is it an automatic thing, 08:02 like, you just kind of size people up 08:05 when you meet them or when you see them? 08:07 It's not, because I tell people 08:09 that if I was doing that I have to give them a bill. 08:12 But what does happen is I say to people, 08:15 I imagine it's a lot like a mechanic. 08:18 If you're mechanic, 08:19 and you're riding in somebody's car, 08:20 and somehow that car is not running right, 08:22 you're going to intuitively sense that, 08:24 because that's what you do every day. 08:26 Yes. 08:27 As a doctor, if you see somebody 08:28 whose health is not exactly what it should be, 08:31 you're probably going to intuitively 08:33 connect to that experience. 08:35 So I think what happens with me is 08:37 I pick up on some things that people would, 08:39 maybe not normally pick up on 08:41 because that's what I've been trained to do. 08:43 I've been trained to listen with my mind 08:45 and listen with my heart in ways 08:47 that other people have not. 08:49 And so I'm not sizing people up, 08:50 and drawing conclusions, 08:52 because you've got to go through a process 08:53 in order to get there. 08:55 But I think I'm probably in touch 08:57 with some things that, 08:58 because of my training, 09:00 more so than other people might be. 09:02 Yeah, see, I've always wondered that, 09:03 because when I go to a restaurant, 09:05 I used to manage a restaurant, and when I go out to eat, 09:09 I'm noticing, like, all kinds of things, 09:11 greet times, silent service, 09:15 you know, all, the list goes on. 09:16 I can't help but to notice these things. 09:18 I was wondering about psychology and psychologists 09:22 and how that works out. 09:23 I give people a break. I don't really put them on. 09:25 I'm just kind of... Yes, yes. 09:26 So hopefully you won't send me an invoice after this. 09:29 You're good. 09:31 So what's going on with you currently? 09:35 You're dealing with multicultural affairs? 09:38 Yes, yes, absolutely. 09:40 So I taught for period of time, 09:42 and then this was after the psychology career, 09:44 and about five years ago, 09:46 I got a call from the mayor's office 09:47 in the city of Huntsville to apply for a job 09:51 as multicultural affairs officer. 09:53 It's an amazing experience, an amazing opportunity 09:56 that was created some years ago by the current mayor 10:00 who felt that it was important to acknowledge 10:02 the diversity of the community, 10:05 who felt it was important to recognize 10:06 that with all of the different academic institutions, 10:09 all of the different Fortune 500 companies, 10:11 and all the other exciting things 10:13 that are happening in Huntsville. 10:14 You have lots of different kinds of people there. 10:17 So how do we, from a municipal government perspective, 10:19 make a commitment to affirming that diversity 10:22 by having an open door policy where anybody 10:24 who has an issue of concern can be heard, 10:27 where everyone can feel like they have a seat at the table 10:30 where they're going to be at least listened to, 10:32 and we can work together to build bridges 10:34 across those differences. 10:36 And that's essentially the work that I'm engaged in. 10:38 So wherever people are, that's where I am. 10:40 And so how do you bridge that gap, like? 10:44 The first gap for me is bridge to my humanity. 10:47 I know that the cross... Okay. 10:48 At the foot of the cross is level ground. 10:51 Christ died for me, just like He died for everyone else. 10:54 I don't see people in terms of their differences per se. 10:57 I acknowledge their differences, 10:59 but I don't make differences deficiencies. 11:02 And I think that's a key in terms of dealing 11:04 with the kinds of work that I do. 11:06 A lot of times when people see somebody 11:07 who's different, their interpretation of that 11:10 is because they're different, they're broken, they're odd, 11:13 they're weird, they're unusual, they're unacceptable, 11:16 they're the other, and because of that, 11:19 there's something that's unique to them 11:21 that won't allow me to connect to them. 11:23 Well, my job involves finding out 11:25 what those differences are and finding out 11:27 how we can build common ground around those differences. 11:30 And that's really exciting to me, 11:31 because there's humanity in every single person. 11:35 If I have an accident and I have O positive blood, 11:38 I'm not concerned about a person's gender, 11:40 I'm not concerned about, 11:41 you know, what school they graduated from, 11:43 what part of the country they come from, 11:44 I want O positive healthy blood from a donor, 11:48 and it doesn't matter who they are. 11:49 So there's level ground in this abilities 11:52 that we don't often pursue consistently 11:55 to have those common ground experiences. 11:59 You come across as very passion... 12:02 Being very passionate about the community, 12:05 and what led to that passion, 12:07 and how did your faith come into play with all that? 12:10 I think the most important thing is I've been helped, 12:12 you know, everybody has had a helping hand in life. 12:15 I think about the sacrifices 12:17 that my parents made to send me 12:18 to church school very early on in the process. 12:22 We didn't have a lot of money to do that, 12:24 but they did it 12:25 because they felt that this would be an important part 12:28 of instilling in me a sense of purpose, 12:30 and a sense of value in others. 12:32 The sacrifice that they made to send me 12:34 to Oakwood was a huge sacrifice, 12:36 but it paid tremendous dividends, 12:38 because I chose a major 12:40 through which I was able to help people, 12:42 and then I was able to do that consistently. 12:45 I think also being in the community 12:47 and moving outside the walls of the church, 12:49 you know, you go to church to be inspired, 12:51 you go to church to connect with other people, 12:53 you go to church to worship the Creator, 12:56 to experience God fully. 12:59 Those are beautiful experiences. 13:01 But beyond that, that should be a transformational experience. 13:06 You should be so fired up, 13:07 not about the choir singing good, 13:09 or the minister preaching well, 13:11 or having a great Sabbath school conversation. 13:13 You should be fired up because of those things, 13:15 but then move well beyond that to say, 13:17 "Now what am I going to do in my community?" 13:19 You know, who is out there 13:21 that I can touch to make a difference in their life. 13:24 And you've got to be able to do those things 13:26 if your faith is going to be real. 13:29 If your spirituality is going to be dynamic, 13:31 and energizing, and engaging, 13:33 and so it's important for that to happen for me, 13:36 because it matters, it makes a difference. 13:39 I can't pass another person in the street 13:41 and feel, like, as if, 13:42 "That's not my issue, that's not my concern." 13:45 We have far too many Good Samaritan experiences 13:48 where with the other two people that passed. 13:51 The opportunity to help 13:53 as opposed to the Good Samaritan. 13:54 And so those lessons in life, reading about those things, 13:58 trying to understand those things, 14:00 processing those thing, 14:01 having been down and out in my own life, 14:04 and getting a helping hand, 14:07 helps me connect with people in a really, really genuine way 14:09 that causes me to be passionate 14:11 about being connected to my community. 14:14 Going to church is great, I love it. 14:16 I love being a part of the faith and the fellowship. 14:19 But once that happens, and once that ends, 14:22 I should be so fired up about touching somebody else's life 14:27 that I'm actually seeking opportunities 14:29 in my community to do that. 14:30 That is awesome, I mean, it's like the Bible says, 14:33 "Faith without works is dead." 14:34 That's right. 14:36 You know, if you're hearing these things 14:37 but you're not doing them... 14:38 That's right. That's right. 14:40 You are not doing 14:41 what you are supposed to be doing. 14:43 Absolutely. 14:44 Now, you also mentor people too, correct? 14:45 I do. 14:47 I am a member of a mentoring organization 14:50 called the 100 Black Men of Greater Huntsville. 14:52 I'm a member of the Rotary Club, 14:54 which is international mentoring organization. 14:58 I've got to mentor one of the high schools, 15:00 I've had them for couple of years now, 15:01 we start mentoring when they're juniors, 15:04 and we followed them through when they're seniors, 15:06 and just recently, 15:08 I also started my own mentoring initiative 15:10 which is called Rising Stars Mentoring Group. 15:13 And I just, kind of, solicited from the community anybody, 15:17 who wanted to, kind of, benefit from some of the things 15:20 that I've been able to benefit from in life, 15:22 and I had eight people step up and say, 15:24 teach us, show us, help us, 15:27 and so I'm working with them on a regular basis 15:29 to, kind of, help identify their strengths, 15:32 identify their weaknesses, 15:34 and how we can perhaps strengthen those things, 15:37 identify how they can create a network 15:39 so that they can become more successful. 15:41 And I told them that everything that I experience, 15:43 every person that I know, I'll make available to them, 15:46 if I think that that relationship 15:48 will be a beneficial thing to them, 15:50 and it's been a great experience so far. 15:52 So mentoring is something I'm also passionate about, 15:54 because somebody helped me get to where I am. 15:57 And I'm not always going to be here, 15:59 my legacy should be that, 16:01 my living was not in vain 16:04 that my living made a difference 16:06 in somebody's life. 16:07 And that because I live, 16:08 people now have a reason to live. 16:12 Not because I'm the person, it's because I'm here, 16:15 I've been blessed by so much, 16:17 God has been such a powerful part of my life. 16:19 His grace and mercy has continuously flowed 16:22 through my own ups and downs. 16:25 This is something I should be sharing 16:26 with other people. 16:27 Wow. 16:29 So you're giving back, you're constantly giving back, 16:32 which is so important, you know, there's a... 16:34 Unfortunately, there's a lot of people 16:35 that are, kind of, like, 16:37 there's an expression called crabs in a barrel, you know, 16:40 where they're just constantly trying to tear people down 16:43 and bring them down 16:44 when they see someone rising and being successful. 16:48 But you are pouring back into the community, 16:51 you're mentoring people. 16:53 You sit on several boards, 16:57 what else do you have going on? 17:00 Well, I have recently gotten into philanthropy. 17:03 I've established several scholarships locally, 17:06 because I believe in education 17:07 as much as I believe in anything else. 17:09 And so several years ago, 17:12 I was celebrating an anniversary 17:14 with my radio show, and I said, 17:16 "I wanted to do something more than just have a social event." 17:19 I wanted to do something 17:21 that's going to have a lasting impact. 17:22 And so the school I was working at the time, 17:24 Calhoun Community College, 17:25 I decided to do an endowed scholarship, 17:27 which was a minimum of $25,000. 17:30 So we did some fundraising, we raised that, 17:32 we've had three students go to school 17:33 in that scholarship as of now, 17:35 and we want many more to go. 17:37 So we keep adding to that scholarship 17:39 and growing that scholarship. 17:41 I look back in my alma mater Oakwood, 17:44 I decided to do two scholarships there, 17:46 a 25 scholarship, 17:47 which is a donation of $25 a month to just say, 17:51 cover books, to help students clear, 17:54 and we're raising money right now 17:55 to actually launch that scholarship 17:57 sometime in the very near future. 17:59 And then a third scholarship, 18:01 the 212-community service scholarship 18:03 is another endowed scholarship 18:05 for which we're raising $25,000, 18:07 we're right about halfway... 18:09 The halfway mark right now. Okay. 18:11 We're excited about that, 18:12 we hope to close that process by the end of this year. 18:14 Okay. 18:15 And start sending students to school next March, 18:19 when they can apply for the first time to Oakwood, 18:22 it will go to a psychology student 18:24 who is engaged in community service, 18:26 because the message for me is 18:28 we don't want to just give you a handout, 18:30 we want you to now 18:31 extend your hand to help someone else, 18:33 so help somebody up 18:35 as you're moving up that ladder as well. 18:38 Give a hand up not just a hand out. 18:41 Help people as much as you can. 18:42 Be conscientious and aware 18:44 about how your community matters, 18:47 and because at Oakwood we say, 18:48 "We enter to learn and we depart to serve." 18:51 What a powerful message to say that 18:52 we want to empower young people while they're in school now, 18:56 and making a difference in other people's lives. 18:58 So we're excited about the philanthropy 19:00 that's going on in that process. 19:02 Our radio show is still moving forward 19:04 on Oakwood university station, Second Chance, 27.5 plus years, 19:10 we're just excited about 19:12 where that process is going 19:13 and God is just making tremendous opportunities for us 19:19 to make an impact in people's lives, 19:21 and I'm so blessed by that. 19:22 Amen. Tell us about Second Chance. 19:25 What is that program about? 19:28 We started to show as I said 27.5 plus years now, ago, 19:34 and our purpose was one thing, 19:36 we wanted to focus on the fact 19:38 that God is a God of mercy, love and second chances. 19:42 So that figurative second chance was, like, 19:45 you fall down, you get back up, 19:47 you know, you forgive 70 times 7, 19:49 you assist people 19:51 wherever they have challenges in life, 19:53 because as you have been assisted, 19:57 you should be able to be willing 19:58 to be assisting someone else, helping someone else. 20:03 And so the program began with just that notion, 20:07 that we're gonna try to help people 20:08 see beyond the adversity, 20:10 and to try to help people see beyond the pain, 20:12 the failure, the difficulties in life, 20:15 and that's what Second Chance is all about. 20:16 So thematically, we focus on 20:19 providing people with information about 20:21 what's going on in the community, 20:23 and because we're on the Internet now, 20:24 we talk to people around the region, 20:26 around the nation, 20:27 and around the world on a wide variety of topics. 20:30 Every Sunday afternoon from 2:00 to 4:00, 20:32 we're live from Oakland University station. 20:35 We have people coming in and out of the station 20:37 all the time, sharing information about 20:39 how God has made an impact in their life, 20:41 or how their agency is making a difference 20:43 in people's lives today. 20:45 How an event is going to, perhaps, 20:47 raise money to be able 20:48 to help people in the community. 20:50 So the one thing throughout everything 20:52 is we want to help people, help people. 20:54 And we want to support people who are helping people, 20:56 and that everybody can find a way 20:59 to be helpful in that process, 21:00 to make a difference in somebody else's life. 21:03 Now, what stories do you have for us, 21:05 where you've seen lives touched, 21:08 where you've seen lives transformed 21:09 as a result of these give back initiatives? 21:13 Yeah, you know, it is an amazing thing 21:16 for someone to come to you and say, 21:18 "Because of something that you did, 21:20 it made a difference in my life." 21:21 I'll tell you a scholarship story. 21:23 A young lady... 21:25 We don't know who the scholarship recipient 21:26 is at the beginning of the school year, 21:28 but they have acknowledgement 21:31 luncheon at the end of the year, 21:33 where you get a chance, as a donor to meet the person 21:35 that benefited from the scholarship. 21:38 I met a young lady, 21:39 she was single mother of two kids, 21:41 attending school, working on a psychology degree. 21:45 I didn't know any of this before I met her. 21:48 And she came to me, 21:49 and was in tears sharing with me 21:52 about the impact that 21:53 that scholarship had made on her life, 21:55 because she was getting a chance to go to school 21:59 to improve the quality of her life, which in turn, 22:02 would improve the quality of life for her children. 22:05 She hugged me, she thanked me, and I told her, 22:09 you know, "I'm glad that this has helped you." 22:12 But what I walked away 22:13 from that experience thinking was that, 22:15 "I've got to work even harder. 22:17 I've got to do more." 22:19 And part of my doing more 22:20 is not just me doing more physically, 22:22 but inspiring others to do something. 22:24 Because if more people would do something, 22:26 everybody could benefit more from that process. 22:29 And so I walked out of that experience 22:32 really, really happy for her, 22:33 but saying there's still so much work to be done, 22:36 that we can't sit back 22:37 and rest on our laurels of success. 22:39 We can't say because something has happened positively today, 22:43 last month, or year before, 22:45 that we've done everything that we can. 22:47 We've got to consistently looking 22:49 for what can we do more of in order 22:52 so that more people can benefit from that process. 22:55 Yes, now where have you seen... 22:57 Okay, so you've poured into other people's lives, 23:00 tell me a story about 23:02 where they have gone 23:04 and poured into somebody else's life, 23:06 where you've seen that reciprocated? 23:08 I've seen it time and time again, 23:10 especially from the academic perspective, 23:12 because I have students that come back 23:13 from time to time and say, 23:15 and this is the best tribute that a student can give you. 23:18 I became a psychology major, or a social worker, 23:23 or a helping professional, because of something 23:25 I experienced in your classroom. 23:27 It was the service learning opportunity 23:29 that you gave us to be able to go out 23:31 into the community to work on a project. 23:33 And now in my agency, 23:35 I am doing the same type of thing. 23:37 I mean, the recruiting interns said that 23:39 they can come work for us as well. 23:41 We're launching community projects 23:44 so that we can have something for people 23:46 to do in the community 23:48 to make the community a better place. 23:50 We're launching a fundraiser, 23:52 and we want your guidance and direction 23:53 on how we might affectively go about doing that, 23:56 that happens all the time. 23:57 It's just a consistent flow 23:59 of people coming in and out of my office, 24:01 sending me emails, calling me on the phone, 24:04 either thanking me for that process 24:06 and that experience, 24:07 thanking me for inspiring in them a sense 24:10 of how it's important 24:11 and why it's important 24:13 for people to be engaged in community projects. 24:15 And so, one of the things that excites me every day 24:19 is that every time I have a new student, 24:21 a new opportunity presents itself for them 24:23 to take something away. 24:25 And in that exit interview, 24:26 a lot of them say that one of the things 24:28 that I'm going to take away from this experience 24:30 is that when I get that job, 24:31 when I'm out there doing something, 24:33 when I earn enough money, I'm going to give back, 24:35 I'm going to be a supporter of United Way 24:37 or whatever the agency might be. 24:39 It's a great thing to be able to be in an environment 24:41 where you're constantly creating that kind of energy. 24:43 Yes, yes. 24:46 You do speeches too, right? I do. 24:48 You give speeches. 24:49 How do people get in touch with you 24:51 if they want you to come, speak at their event? 24:54 Yeah, so people can call me at 256-883-3993, 24:59 and I'd be happy to talk to them. 25:01 They can also send me an email at my name 25:03 Kenny Anderson75@gmail.com. 25:06 I speak it all kinds of things, 25:08 family reunions, commencement exercises, 25:11 I come and do motivational speeches 25:14 for young people, you know, one of the... 25:16 I'll tell you real quickly one of the most challenging 25:19 groups of people to talk to are young people. 25:21 I believe it. Yeah. 25:22 I was asked to come talk to a group of young people 25:24 one Super Bowl weekend, 25:26 which is like the worst thing you can probably do. 25:27 Super Bowl weekend. 25:28 It was the day of the game. Wow. 25:30 And I walked into this huge auditorium 25:33 where there are supposed to be a bunch of kids there, 25:34 and I'm like, "How am I gonna keep their attention 25:36 for the next hour and a half." 25:38 And so what I did was, 25:39 I just put my thinking cap on quick, 25:40 I went back and changed my presentation. 25:43 I put the name of the teams that were playing, 25:45 and I came in 25:47 and asked the DJ to bring me in. 25:49 So the DJ started playing some music, 25:50 and I came and high-five the bunch of kids, 25:52 they got excited. 25:54 And then I started naming the teams, 25:55 and who's on this, who's was on that side? 25:57 And from that point, 25:58 I just had them totally engaged in the process. 26:00 And so thinking on the fly is an important thing to do 26:04 when you're talking about working with people, 26:06 that's the kind of high energy presentations we like to do. 26:09 We like to bring engagement to the process, 26:11 create interactivity, 26:13 and inspire people to do something more 26:16 than what they're doing at that moment. 26:17 And how did you get involved in public speaking? 26:20 That's a huge backstory too, I'll tell you the short story. 26:22 I did not take public speech in college 26:23 because I was too afraid to speak in public. 26:25 Okay, and a lot of people are. A lot of people are. 26:28 They fear it more than death, literally. 26:31 And public speaking people get nervous, they sweat, 26:34 they faint, they do all kinds of things. 26:36 And so, I had a job to work as a mental health counselor, 26:39 where I had to go into the community 26:41 and promote our services. 26:42 And over the course of three years, 26:44 my development director had said, "You know, Kenny, 26:47 you've gotten pretty good at this. 26:49 You should think about doing this more." 26:50 And her inspiration encouraged me. 26:53 And that's why I said it's so important 26:54 for you to have champions in your life. 26:56 It's important for advocates to help 26:58 you know what you're doing well and help you do better with 27:01 what you may not be doing well. 27:02 And because of Debbie Davis' support 27:04 and her encouragement, 27:06 I decided to launch a business 27:08 and began doing public speaking, and it's... 27:11 The rest is history. 27:12 It's been 23 years now since that happened. 27:14 Wow! 27:15 What advice would you have for somebody 27:17 that wants to get active 27:19 and involved in their community 27:20 in the short time that we have left. 27:23 Just do it. 27:24 There are so many ways that you can get involved. 27:26 I mentioned United Way earlier, 27:28 United Ways across the nation and around the world. 27:30 If you want to just simply find out 27:32 what's happening in your community, 27:34 these places have volunteer centers, 27:36 you can go out to schools, 27:37 you can go out to the faith community, 27:39 lots of churches are looking for volunteers, 27:42 you have local organizations, community based organizations, 27:45 reach out to them, 27:47 do some googling in a proactive positive way, 27:49 get that information. 27:51 Yes, well, thank you so much 27:52 for coming on and sharing with us. 27:54 And thank you for joining us. 27:55 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 27:58 Join us next time, and remember, 27:59 it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2018-04-26