What happens when the work you create to help other people begins changing you too?

When Beauty in the Beast began, Kyle and Malik wanted to build a safe place where Black men could speak honestly about identity, relationships, fear, healing, purpose, and emotional health.

They did not expect the conversations to expose their own unfinished work.

In this candid season reflection, the hosts open up about imposter syndrome, self-doubt, therapy, faith, business, friendship, emotional growth, and the pressure of trying to pour into others while still navigating their own struggles.

They revisit the episodes that challenged them most, the audience reactions they never anticipated, and the realization that the podcast is becoming more than a collection of conversations.

It is becoming an archive.

A community.

And a record of Black men choosing honesty over silence.

In this episode:

• Why the growth of the podcast surprised both hosts
• Feeling like a fraud while encouraging other men to heal
• The emotional impact of audience criticism and support
• How therapy helped them become kinder to themselves
• What Stevie Baggs taught them about spirituality and conviction
• The lasting impact of the Al-Tariq Miller episode
• Why lived experience deepens empathy
• Asking for help without shame
• Learning to love yourself without achievement
• Why this platform matters during a divisive cultural moment

You do not have to have everything figured out before your story can help someone.

Sometimes the work that heals others begins healing you too.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

What happens when no one who looks like you stands at the front of the classroom?

Kevin James grew up in inner-city Wilmington, Delaware, searching for examples of what his future could become. He didn't see Black professors, Black executives, or Black leaders who reflected his own possibilities. Instead of accepting that limitation, he decided to become the person he wished he'd had.

In this powerful conversation with Kyle Gaul and Malik Baraka, Kevin shares how education became more than a career. It became a calling to return, teach, mentor, and help young Black men believe there is another path.

The conversation expands beyond education into fatherhood, entrepreneurship, representation, giving back to forgotten communities, and why success means little if the next generation cannot see themselves in it.

In this episode:

• Why representation changes lives

• The emotional cost of feeling invisible

• Why Kevin became a professor

• College versus real-world preparation

• Why students should think like owners, not employees

• Returning home without losing yourself

• Building scholarships for students who are often overlooked

If this conversation challenged you, subscribe and join us as we continue creating a safe place for honest conversations among Black men.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

Success never solved Elliott Brown's deepest struggle.

Behind a thriving career was a man quietly wrestling with imposter syndrome, fear, ego, and the pressure to always have the answers.

In one of the most emotionally transparent conversations of the season, Elliott shares how therapy, fatherhood, friendship, and humility transformed the way he leads at work and loves at home.

If you've ever struggled to separate confidence from ego, this conversation will stay with you.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

What happens when being dependable becomes your identity?

Attorney, entrepreneur, and former magistrate judge Quinton Washington has spent his life helping people navigate some of the hardest moments they'll ever face.

Courtrooms.

Divorce.

Family disputes.

Business conflicts.

But behind every decision was another reality. Someone still had to carry the weight.

In this episode of Beauty in the Beast, Quinton opens up about practicing law, leading a business, raising twins, marriage, therapy, emotional resilience, and why many high-performing men quietly convince themselves they don't have time to care for their own emotional health.

This isn't a conversation about legal strategy.

It's a conversation about what responsibility costs.

In this episode:

-The emotional toll of practicing law

-What it's really like being a judge

-Why lawyers compartmentalize

-The hidden pressure of leadership

-Marriage, fatherhood, and emotional resilience

-Why therapy isn't weakness

-The expectations placed on Black men

-Learning to care for yourself without abandoning everyone else

Because sometimes...

the strongest people are the ones carrying the most.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

What happens when the man everyone depends on has no one checking on him?

Greg Kirkland has spent his life serving others.

As a pastor, choir director, entrepreneur, filmmaker, husband, and father, he's dedicated himself to lifting people up. But behind every title is a man wrestling with the same question many men quietly carry:

When does someone take care of me?

In one of the most vulnerable conversations ever on Beauty in the Beast, Greg opens up about balancing ministry, marriage, fatherhood, entrepreneurship, emotional exhaustion, and the guilt many men feel when they finally choose themselves.

This isn't just a conversation about faith.

It's about responsibility. It's about identity.

And it's about discovering that being present for yourself may be the greatest gift you can give everyone else.

In this episode:

• Why Greg says balance doesn't exist

• The hidden emotional cost of leadership

• Why pastors need grace too

• Blended families and second chances

• Living with constant responsibility

• The guilt men carry

• Why "doing nothing" is actually doing something

• How quiet moments changed his life

This conversation is about burnout, identity, fatherhood, leadership and why taking care of yourself isn't selfish.

It's survival.

Chapters:

03:15 Growing Up Between Gospel and R&B

09:00 When Music Became a Calling

14:00 Building the See-It Choir

18:30 The Pastor Who Ran From Pastoring

22:00 The Truth About Megachurches

29:30 The Genuine Article

39:30 My Dope Blend and Blended Family Life

42:00 Why Balance Doesn't Exist

46:00 The Guilt Men Carry

49:00 Who Takes Care of You?

52:00 Why He Won't Pause Being a Husband or Father

58:00 Learning to Be Alone

1:05:00 The Truth about Feeling Loved?

1:07:00 The Irony of the Worldview of Black Men

1:10:00 Give Your Pastor Grace

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #GregKirkland #BlackMenHealing #Fatherhood #MasculinityRedefined #ExecutivePastor #WorkLifeBalance #MensMentalHealth #BlendedFamily #EmotionalIntelligenceForMen #VulnerabilityIsStrength #TheDopeBlend #Brotherhood #FaithAndFamily #megachurch

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

Tony Ray is living proof that the strongest men aren't the ones who hide their emotions. They're the ones courageous enough to face them."

For most of his life...

Tony believed anger was strength.

Growing up in Miami taught him that kindness was dangerous.

Vulnerability was weakness.

Survival meant staying guarded.

So he did what so many men learn to do.

He buried his grief.

He buried depression.

He buried fear.

Until the day his daughter stopped wanting to be around him.

That moment forced him to ask a question he had spent years avoiding:

Who have I become?

What follows is one of the most honest conversations we've had on Beauty in the Beast.

Tony opens up about childhood loss, depression, divorce, therapy, fatherhood, emotional healing, and why learning to feel may have saved his life.

This isn't simply a conversation about mental health.

It's about becoming the man your children deserve before it's too late.

In this episode

• Losing his grandfather and falling into depression

• Why surviving isn't the same as healing

• The anger he mistook for strength

• Therapy and the stigma Black men carry

• Divorce, abandonment, and rebuilding himself

• The daughter who unknowingly changed his life

• Breaking generational curses

• Why healing begins when you stop trying to control everyone else

Every man has a story beneath the surface.

Beauty in the Beast exists to uncover it.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

There are moments in life that split your story into before and after.

For Dr. Rasheed Abiola, that moment came with four words:

"Your father is dead."

His father wasn't just any father.

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola was the man widely recognized as the winner of Nigeria's historic 1993 presidential election. Before he could take office, democracy was stripped away, his victory was denied, and his family was thrust into exile. Years later, Rasheed would learn that his father had died while imprisoned.

How do you carry a name the world recognizes while trying to discover who you are?

In this deeply personal episode of **Beauty in the Beast**, Dr. Rasheed Abiola shares the untold story behind the headlines. He opens up about grief, identity, family, resilience, and the quiet burden of living in the shadow of an extraordinary legacy.

Today, Rasheed is a nationally respected spine surgeon, husband, father, and leader. But long before the titles, there was a son trying to make sense of unimaginable loss.

Together we explore:

• Growing up as the son of M.K.O. Abiola

• Losing his father after Nigeria's democratic crisis

• Living with grief while building a life of purpose

• The responsibility of carrying a historic family name

• Becoming one of the nation's leading spine surgeons

• Why family became the center of everything he does

• The lessons every parent hopes to leave behind

This isn't a story about politics.

It's a story about a son.

A son who refused to let tragedy define him.

A son who transformed loss into purpose

And a reminder that while a legacy can be taken from you, your character never can.

Beauty in the Beast creates a space where Black men share the stories behind the strength. Through honest conversations about identity, healing, relationships, fatherhood, and resilience, we reveal the humanity that too often goes unseen.

If this conversation moved you, subscribe and join us as we continue breaking the myths surrounding Black men, one story at a time.

#BeautyInTheBeast #RasheedAbiola #Nigeria #BlackExcellence #OrthopedicSurgery #SpineSurgeon #FamilyLegacy #Leadership #Resilience #Purpose #Identity #BlackMenHealing #AfricanExcellence #Brotherhood #PersonalGrowth #nigeria #africa #history #viral #snowboarding #orthopedics

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

Everyone talks about finding themselves in their twenties.

Winston Warrior found himself in his fifties.

After decades of chasing achievement through corporate success, music, academia, and influence, life forced him to confront a painful question:

Who are you when the titles disappear?

The answer led him into one of the most unexpected chapters of his life.

As a member of the Silver Fox Squad, Winston has become part of a movement redefining what aging, masculinity, and confidence look like for Black men.

This isn't a story about getting older.

It's a story about finally becoming yourself.

CHAPTERS

00:00 "What Defines You When Success Disappears?"

03:41 The Childhood That Built Winston Warrior

08:15 The Pressure to Achieve

14:03 Chasing Success & Recognition

20:58 Becoming a Leader at the University of Miami

28:26 The Birth of The Dope Professor

34:55 When Everything Started Falling Apart

39:48 "People Stopped Returning My Calls"

43:15 The Fall From Grace

47:34 The Identity Crisis No One Saw

52:48 How the Silver Fox Squad Changed Everything

58:10 Why Most Men Get Aging Wrong

01:02:03 "My Best Years Didn't Happen at 35"

01:05:40 The Legacy Every Man Should Leave Behind

#BeautyInTheBeast #WinstonWarrior #SilverFoxSquad #BlackMenHealing #MensGrowth #BlackExcellence #PersonalDevelopment #PurposeDriven #MensMentalHealth #EmotionalIntelligence #Reinvention #AgingWithPurpose #Brotherhood #SelfMastery #Confidence #MasculinityRedefined #TheDopeProfessor #UniversityOfMiami #Leadership #LifeAfter50

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"I already didn't feel wanted. I didn't feel the love, ...I was never accepted. Where was I getting the acceptance at? You know what I mean? Was everywhere outside of the house.” - Ron Rimko

Ron grew up as one of the only white kids in his school and neighborhood, feeling more comfortable in Black spaces than in his own home. In this episode of Beauty in the Beast, he opens up about being dropped off at his dad’s house for a “month-long vacation” that secretly became 13 years, the depression that followed, and what it meant to be the “piece of salt in a pepper shaker” in metro Atlanta.

Ron talks about growing up with a military father who didn’t talk about emotions, losing daily contact with his mother, and having to “mentally and emotionally raise” himself. He shares how he found warmth and protection in the homes of his Black friends and their single mothers, why he felt more accepted in those spaces than with his own family, and how he learned to wear a mask around white folks just to avoid being judged.

We get into his move to small-town Ohio, the shock of Oxy-infested neighborhoods, dealing weed to try to pay for college, catching charges, and the moment in jail when his grandmother’s disappointment and a sergeant’s blunt, “You don’t fit the mold here,” forced him to choose a different life. From there, Ron walks us through basketball as his escape, the barbershop as his sanctuary, and how cutting hair for Black men showed him the weight they carry every day.

Finally, we ask Ron directly: What do you think about Black men being seen as the beast in this world? His answer is honest, emotional, and unapologetically clear: it’s unfair, unbalanced, and Black men have it a lot harder than most people admit.

If you care about race, belonging, cross-cultural friendship, addiction, masculinity, abandonment, mother wounds, and barbershop truth, this conversation is for you.

#beautyinthebeast #blackmeninamerica #barbershoptalk #whiteskinblackspaces #motherwound #maskedmasculinity #oxycrisis #addictionrecovery #blackmenhealing #emotionalintelligenceformen

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

“You cannot control your emotions. You have to control the reaction to the emotion.”

– Kevin Bentley

Kevin Bentley returns to Beauty in the Beast for a deeper, more revealing conversation about masculinity, fatherhood, emotional suppression, and what growth actually requires of men.

In this episode, Kevin reflects on the pressure Black men carry to appear confident while quietly battling fear, self-doubt, and emotional restraint. He opens up about suppressing emotions, wearing masks to survive, questioning himself as a father, and the unexpected power of hearing affirmation from his own father. This conversation explores why men struggle to talk honestly, how ego becomes armor, and why professional coaching, counseling, and intentional support are not weaknesses but necessities.

As a returning guest, Kevin brings added clarity, self-awareness, and depth—showing how growth evolves when men are willing to confront what they’ve been avoiding. This episode is not about having it all figured out. It’s about learning how to stop hiding, stop retreating, and start choosing help.

If you’re navigating masculinity, fatherhood, emotional intelligence, therapy, confidence, or the pressure to always be “strong,” this episode will resonate deeply.

#KevinBentley #BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #BlackMenHealing #MensMentalHealth #EmotionalIntelligenceForMen #FatherhoodJourney #MasculinityRedefined #TherapyForMen #BlackMaleIdentity #VulnerabilityIsStrength #MenAndGrowth #ReturningGuest #football #nfl

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

Even through the turmoil, I want them to look back and say, Dad did everything he needed to do." Hershey

DJ Hershey joins Beauty in the Beast for one of the most honest and revealing conversations on identity, fatherhood, heartbreak, and healing. From growing up under strict structure, to being baptized as a Jehovah’s Witness at 13, to discovering his gift for DJing, Hershey walks us through the emotional path that shaped his manhood.

He opens up about the sacrifices he made for marriage, the career moment he still regrets, the pain of divorce, raising daughters as a young father, and what it means to switch between his public persona and his private truth. Hershey shares how he learned self-worth, how he rebuilt after loss, and why he now lives by the mantra: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — I’m not beholden.”

This episode speaks to men navigating identity, resilience, co-parenting, emotional armor, and the journey back to themselves. If you’re exploring masculinity, healing, or redefining your purpose, this one will hit home.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #DJHershey #BlackMenHealing #MasculinityRedefined #FathersAndDaughters #EmotionalIntelligenceForMen #MenAndMentalHealth #HealingAfterDivorce #BlackMaleIdentity #ResilientMen #FatherhoodJourney #InnerHealing #PurposeAndIdentity #HonestConversations #VulnerabilityIsStrength #DJ

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"I didn’t know what I needed. I would’ve made a story up… then cried in the dark."- Deider Landry

Landry’s story is the truth behind the mask many men wear. Raised without a father, trained by sports to bury emotion, pushed into adulthood by competition and survival — he became the provider, the protector, the strong one. But somewhere in the process, he lost himself.

In this powerful conversation, Landry opens up about learning to communicate, navigating marriage, unlearning emotional habits taught by coaches, and discovering that being a man isn’t about hiding your truth — it’s about facing it.

He talks openly about what drives him, what scares him, what broke him, and what he’s finally ready to rebuild.

If you've ever felt pressure to be strong, silent, or endlessly driven…

if you've ever wondered where you fit inside the life you created…

this conversation will hit harder than you expect.

This is a story about identity, fatherhood, emotional maturity, and the quiet work of becoming whole.

Listen to the full episode. It might change the way you see yourself.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #Masculinity #BlackMenHealing #EmotionalIntelligence #Fatherhood #SelfAwareness #HealingJourney #MenAndFeelings #personalgrowth

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

I’m my primary caretaker.” - K.D. Bowe

There are moments in a man’s life when the mirror stops being glass and becomes a witness.

K.D. Bowe walked into this conversation carrying years of survival on his shoulders - the saint and the savage living in the same body, both of them shaped by a world that never asked whether he was ready.

He speaks about faith not as doctrine, but as a battlefield where the people we trust sometimes fail us in ways our souls cannot forget. He speaks about love not as romance, but as a life that died in his hands - and the burial he had to attend alone. Divorce, he says, is its own kind of funeral. And the man who walks away is never the man who walked in.

But the heart of this story is quieter. It is the moment he meets a boy he did not know he had abandoned. A small boy. Glowing. Starving. Waiting on the grown man who left him behind. When he asks, “Who wouldn’t feed you?” - the question is not for the child. It is for the man who finally sees him.

And in that moment, K.D. discovers what Baldwin always knew:

a man cannot become whole until he tells himself the truth.

From there, he rebuilds his understanding of strength - not as violence, not as bravado, but as discipline, timing, and the courage to refuse becoming the very beast the world expects him to be. “I can touch the beast,” he says, “but I’m not the beast.”

This episode is not an interview.

It is a reckoning.

A study in the soul of a man learning to love himself after the world - and his own choices - tried their best to unmake him.

Watch this with your whole chest. It might call something awake in you too.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #KDBowe #BlackMenHealing #EmotionalIntelligence #InnerChildWork #MasculinityRedefined #SelfLoveJourney #SoulWork #HealingForMen #GrowthMindset #KDBowe #divorce #preaching #pastor #church

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

“He didn’t follow me… and that saved his life.”

That’s how Al Tariq Miller begins the story no parent is ever prepared to tell.

His youngest son - six years old - watched a cartoon on YouTube Kids.

A cartoon that taught him how to hang himself.

Minutes later, Al Tariq walked past his son’s room…

and the child who always ran after him didn’t move.

He checked on him anyway.

And found his son hanging from the bunk bed.

What happened next - the CPR, the coma, the recovery, the marriage nearly collapsing, the 988 calls, the rage at YouTube, the film he made to save other children - is the kind of pain that should break a man forever.

But somehow… it didn’t.

And now he’s here, telling the world what most men bury so deep they never come back from it.

This is not content.

This is not entertainment. - it's a lifeline. A warning every parent needs to hear. And a testament to resilience, fatherhood, and the unspoken weight many men carry.

This will change the way you look at your children, your marriage, your mental health, and the world you trust them in.

This is Beauty in the Beast.

And this episode may be the most important we’ve ever recorded.

#BeautyInTheBeastPodcast #AlTariqMiller #BlackMenHealing #YouTubeKidsSafety #HangmanChallenge #MentalHealthMatters #suicideprevention #menshealth #parenting

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

“Men are forged off pain. You’ve never heard a success story without somebody saying, ‘I’ve been in a valley.’” Stevie Baggs

This conversation with Stevie Baggs Jr. will shake you awake.

You’ll feel every word. From his days as a professional athlete to his rebirth as a spiritual leader, Stevie breaks open the myth that success is about fame, money, or applause. It’s not. It’s about knowing who you are when everything’s stripped away.

He says, “Men are built off pain.” And he means it. Because when life knocked him flat — when he lost work, income, and control - that’s when he discovered his real strength. Not physical. Spiritual. He started listening inward, not outward.

He calls therapy whatever heals you - the bike rides, the quiet, the self-work. He calls crying “your spirit sweating.” And he calls self-love “the greatest love on the planet.”

By the end, you’ll realize this isn’t just about Stevie - it’s about every man who’s ever felt unseen. Every man who’s been told to suppress, to survive, to harden. Stevie invites you to remember: You are divine. You are chosen. And it’s time to stop believing you’re broken.

Baggs doesn’t just preach freedom - he lives it. His words are fire and mirror: illuminating, uncomfortable, necessary.

This episode doesn’t give you motivation - it gives you medicine.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"You can’t expect people to see you if you’re always hiding.” Michael Turner

What happens when a licensed Black male therapist breaks down in therapy himself—and redefines what strength means for men?

Episode Summary:

In this transformative episode of Beauty & the Beast, we sit down with Michael Turner—licensed therapist, trauma specialist, and one of the few nationally board-certified Black male counselors in the U.S. Michael gets real about breaking stereotypes in mental health, unpacking emotional armor, and what hypnotherapy really feels like. This isn’t just another discussion on mental health—it’s a vulnerable deep dive into how men carry their pain, protect themselves, and unlearn inherited trauma.

From decoding why Black men are seen as “unicorns” in the therapy world, to confronting cultural pressures around identity, leadership, and authenticity, this episode delivers emotional revelations and societal insights you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you’re navigating your own healing journey or just want to understand the weight Black men carry, this conversation is essential.

Key Questions Answered:

What is emotional armor, and when does it protect vs. harm?

How does hypnotherapy work, and is it safe?

What does authentic leadership look like for Black men?

How can you set emotional boundaries without guilt?

What happens when you no longer feel like you belong “back home”?

Guest Bio:

Michael Turner is a licensed professional counselor in Georgia and Florida, credentialed in clinical hypnotherapy, DBT, and trauma-focused therapy. A proud Alabama A&M alum, Michael is among the top 10% of Black male therapists in the U.S.—often referred to as a “unicorn” in his field. His mission: to dismantle stigma and make space for Black men to be vulnerable, powerful, and whole.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

“No one should be under the amount of pressure that I put myself on. The world doesn't pressure me, right? Corporate America is not pressure. I put the pressure on me. And I'm going to apply pressure every day, not only to myself, but to those around me.” _Kevin Bentley

This episode will shake you if you’ve ever pushed yourself past exhaustion just to feel “enough.”

Kevin Bentley was the 1% of the 1%-NFL linebacker, corporate exec, PhD candidate, father of five. On paper, he was unstoppable. But behind the grind was a man who couldn’t stop fighting: fighting to win, fighting to prove, fighting not to feel.

In this raw conversation, Kevin admits that success became his armor. Growing up poor in gang‑infested L.A., he decided that failure wasn’t an option. That worked-until the rage, the perfectionism, and the silence started to eat him alive. He talks openly about suicidal thoughts, therapy, and what it really costs to be the “strong one” in every room.

The breakthrough? Realizing that greatness without peace isn’t greatness at all. That true strength is crying in front of your daughters. It’s asking for help. It’s choosing to live, even when your ego tells you to keep performing.

If you’ve ever said, “I can’t stop,” this conversation will remind you that you can-and that stopping might just save your life.

Because you don’t need to die chasing greatness. You just need to learn how to live.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"They told me I was special. But what they really meant was: token special."

Episode Summary:

From the outside, Zuri Standback looked like he had it all-opportunity, intellect, and talent. But what people didn’t see was the loneliness of being the only Black kid in his school, the isolation of being gaslighted for his “uniqueness,” and the pressure of carrying the weight of representation everywhere he went.

In this powerful conversation, Zuri reveals the hidden cost of tokenism and otherness: how it shaped his confidence, his relationships, and even his career choices. He opens up about the moments when he felt completely alone, the freedom he found in Black spaces where he could just be, and why mentorship became the legacy he wants to leave behind.

This is more than a story about corporate success-it’s about resilience, identity, and the courage to turn pain into purpose. Zuri’s journey will challenge you to ask: what masks have you worn to belong? And what would it mean to finally take them off?

 Key Lessons:

• The hidden trauma of tokenism.
• Why “otherness” can’t define your life.
• The power of safe spaces and true belonging.
• Why mentorship and trust matter more than titles.

About Zuri Standback:

Zuri Standback is a professional, creative, and mentor who has lived the complexities of identity and representation in America. His story is one of turning loneliness into legacy, and otherness into strength

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"In order to live that double life, you’re not only not being honest with others-you’re not being honest with yourself.” - Monte Fowler

Monte Fowler’s story begins with absence-the absence of his father, who passed away when Monte was still young. Without the man who should have guided him through life, Monte built his own “board of men” to shepherd him. But that absence left a wound: a fear that he would live a life unfulfilled, unmaximized, and incomplete.

For years, Monte chased success while hiding behind masks, living a double life that eventually collapsed under its own weight. When the walls fell, he was left with emotions he had never confronted before—guilt, shame, regret. It was only through therapy that Monte found a way forward, vowing to live authentically and never return to the darkness that had once consumed him.

In this conversation, Monte shares the treadmill revelation that gave him his “four disciplines”-spirituality, relationships, health, and wealth. He also opens up about a single letter from a friend that brought him to his knees and forced him to confront his identity.

This is a story of pain, honesty, and transformation. For anyone living behind a mask, afraid to face the truth, Monte’s journey is a reminder that authenticity is survival-and that purpose begins when we stop hiding.

Key Lessons:

How fatherlessness shaped his fear of an unfulfilled life.

The devastating cost of living a double life.

Why therapy is not weakness but survival.

The four disciplines that changed everything.

How kindness and identity can bring us back to ourselves.

About Monte Fowler:

Monte Fowler is a business leader, mentor, and speaker whose life was defined by absence, collapse, and ultimately, rebirth. His personal transformation-from loss and double life to authenticity and discipline-has inspired his work mentoring others to live honestly, fully, and without fear.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content

"Being the only one in the room teaches you something: if you let your ‘otherness’ define you, it will always limit you.”_Phillip Nutsugah

Episode Summary:

In this deeply personal and eye-opening episode of Beauty & the Beast, we sit down with Philip, a Ghanaian-born executive, mentor, and father, whose life journey spans continents, corporate boardrooms, and quiet moments of self-reflection. From navigating the racial complexities of America to choosing family over promotions, Philip shares how identity, mentorship, and cultural duality shaped his path.

This is not just a story of career success. It’s a story of emotional courage-of knowing when to pause, pivot, and prioritize purpose. He opens up about being the "only one in the room," what it means to truly understand the African American experience, and why embracing therapy later in life became a pivotal turning point.

Whether you’re a young Black professional trying to find your voice in the workplace or someone seeking to bridge cultural gaps, this episode is your mirror-and your blueprint.

 Key Questions Answered:

• What’s the emotional cost of being the “only one in the room”?
• How do African-born and American-born Black men heal the cultural divide?
• Why did he choose to walk away from corporate ascension-for family?
• How can we redefine mentorship for the next generation?
• When is it time to seek therapy-and how do you know?

Guest Bio:

Phillip Nutsugah is a Ghanaian-born business leader with 30+ years in corporate America, a devoted husband and father of three, and a passionate mentor to young Black professionals. From USF to the executive suite, his journey blends ambition with intentional living—and now includes guiding others through that same terrain.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/beauty-in-the-beast-podcast/exclusive-content