I Can Pause Pastor. I Can't Pause Dad_ Greg Kirkland_ Ep. 27

I Can Pause Pastor. I Can't Pause Dad_ Greg Kirkland_ Ep. 27

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

The Weight of Anger_Anthony Coleman_ Ep.26

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.

For Years, I Couldn't Talk About My Father's Death_ Dr. Rasheed Abiola_Ep. 25

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

Most Men Slow Down After 50. He Became Unstoppable _ WINSTON WARRIOR_ Ep. 24

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

You Don’t Fit the Mold_ Ron Rimko_ Ep. 23

"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