If you’ve ever found yourself pretending to be okay when you’re not — or wearing a brave face to hide your pain — this episode will hit home.

Ashanti Branch, founder of The Ever Forward Club and creator of the Million Mask Movement, joins Meghann to explore the emotional armor we build to survive — and how taking off the mask begins with understanding where it was first formed.

From growing up in Oakland and learning to “suck it up,” to walking away from a successful engineering career to teach, mentor, and build a movement around emotional honesty, Ashanti shares his remarkable journey of transformation. Together, he and Meghann unpack what it means to reconnect with your childhood self, find empathy through pain, and create space for others to be real — especially our youth.

This is a conversation about what’s underneath our strength, the hidden stories we carry, and the courage it takes to live unmasked.

In This Episode We Cover:

The story behind The Ever Forward Club and the Million Mask Movement
How childhood expectations shape our adult masks
Living with chronic pain and learning empathy through it
Transforming anger into awareness and purpose
What every teacher (and adult) should know about young people
Reclaiming health and self-care as acts of courage
The power of community, brotherhood, and being seen

This episode aligns with the Imperfect LEVEL UP - E — Explore Childhood as Observer, a reminder to pause and ask:

What mask did I learn to wear, and what was I protecting myself from? Because when we see the story behind our mask, we open the door to rewriting it.

🔗 Links & Resources

✨ Join the Messy community on Instagram: @BecomingIsMessy

✨ Follow Meghann for more real, raw, and messy wisdom: @MeghannDawson

✨ Explore coaching, workshops & more: www.meghanndawson.com (sign up for Meghann's Messy Middle email)

✨ Shop the Messy Collection: www.meghanndawson.com/shop

🌿 Connect with Ashanti Branch @ https://everforwardclub.org/

🎭 Make Your Mask (To help young people, adults and community gain a deeper understanding of how much we have in common): www.millionmask.org

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#BecomingIsMessy #AshantiBranch #EverForwardClub #MillionMaskMovement #ExploreChildhoodAsObserver #EmotionalIntelligence #HealingInTheMess #AuthenticLeadership #MenWhoFeel #VulnerabilityIsStrength #TakeOffTheMask #ImperfectLEVELUP #MessiesUnite #TraumaHealing #YouthEmpowerment #RealTalkPodcast

The Masks We Wear: What We Hide to Survive