Beauty in the Beast Podcast

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

Let It Breathe: Kevin Bentley on Rage, Healing & Manhood_ Ep. 22

“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

Raising Daughters as a Broken Man_DJ Hershey on Identity & Pain_Ep.21

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

Learning the Language of Emotion_ Deider Landry_Ep.20

"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

Healing Is a Grown Man’s Job_K.D. Bowe_ Ep. 19

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