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Just JoJo: Birthday Edition — Redefining Legacy Beyond the Spotlight
00:37:42
Short Description Turning 36 isn’t just another year—it’s a checkpoint. In this special birthday edition, JoJo Simmons opens up about growth, fatherhood, and redefining what legacy means beyond fame. From faith and family to business and...
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Transcript17 lines
- [00:00]
JoJo Simmons
Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.
- [00:02]
Dana
Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?
- [00:05]
JoJo Simmons
Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you teach me. So Dana.
- [00:12]
Dana
Oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
- [00:24]
JoJo Simmons
Wow, impressive. Let me try. T mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
- [00:31]
Dana
Nice. Je free.
- [00:32]
JoJo Simmons
You heard them.
- [00:33]
T mobile is the best place to.
- [00:35]
T-Mobile Representative
Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on.
- [00:37]
JoJo Simmons
Us with eligible traded in any condition.
- [00:40]
So what are we having for lunch?
- [00:42]
Dana
Dude, my work here is done.
- [00:44]
T-Mobile Representative
The 24 month bill credit on experience beyond for well qualified customers + tax and 35 device connection charge credit send and balance due. If you pay off earlier, Cancel Finance Agreement. IPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs 1099.99 and new line minimum 100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oklahoma Speed Test Intelligence Data 1H 2025 Visit t mobile.com so.
- [01:01]
JoJo Simmons
Much negativity out there, so many negative comments, so many negative conversations, so much clout chasing and I'm doing everything to grow this for good podcast. I pray and I hope that we continue to be able to bring you guys intentional, great conversations that you guys can relate to and you guys can really learn from. I, I pray that we, we keep on growing as a community and as a people because I, I need the, I need the high balls guys. I need, I need the community to, to, to stay on here with me, man, because we really doing something special over here. It's great to come from a legacy, but what legacy means to me is the impact that you leave. When you leave the earth is the impact that you left with people. I'm appreciative that I'm a part of a legacy. Run dmc, you know, Fat Farm, Def Jam, all these great things that my family has done in the past. But is it what I want to be seen in the world, connected to for the only thing I've done? Not necessarily. You don't always have to be where you want to be in life, but you do have to start going where you want to go. I won't lie, not where I want to be, but I'm going where I want to go. And that's all that really matters. What's good everybody? It's your guy, Jojo. Simmons. And welcome back to the For Good podcast, where we focus on the good, never the bad, where we're measured by what we do, not what we have. Today's episode is a special one. It's my birthday. What was my birthday yesterday? And there's no guests, just me. I want to take a little time to reflect on my journey so far and what it really means to find purpose beyond the spotlight. From growing up on Runs House, to carving out my own path, to building a legacy, rooting in an impact, I've learned a lot about identity, growth and staying true to myself. So today I want to share some of those lessons with you. Let's get into it, everybody. This is a special Just JoJo episode. What's up, everybody? I appreciate you guys tuning in with me. I know that you guys are used to seeing me with a guest, and it's been a while since I've done some just JoJo stuff, but had to step back, reassess, see how I kind of wanted to do this. So I said, nothing better than coming back with a just JoJo with my birthday on the horizon. My birthday was yesterday. I turned 36, and I told my team, you know, instead of a guest this week, let's just chop it up with me. Let's talk about my growth. Let's talk about, you know, me turning 36. And I asked the team to put a. Put together a few questions to ask me. So I'm going to bring up these questions in a while and ask myself these questions that my team wants to know about me. So I will bring that up. But once again, welcome to the Just JoJo segment.
- [03:27]
Thank you.
- [03:28]
The birthday edition. And thank you for all the birthday love I've gotten through social media and all the platforms that I'm on. I really do see every last one of your words and love, so I definitely appreciate that. Let's get into it. Question number one. So it says on my birthday, how do I feel about where I'm at in life right now? Compared to where I thought I once be, I'm pretty. I wouldn't say. I wouldn't say I'm satisfied where I'm at in life right now? But I'm saying I would say that I'm. I'm proud of myself. I would say that me 10 years ago is proud of me. Me 20 years ago is super proud of me. I don't know if this is where I thought I would be in life. You know, a lot of different things that I wanted at a younger age that I no longer want and I no longer deem as success. So I'm unsure if this is where I'd be. I know that a younger version of me would probably think I'm super lame, you know, married guy with two kids and a wife, and that's all he really worries, you know, worries about. That's kind of. That's kind of my swag. So I wouldn't say that I knew that I'd get my shit together one day, right? But I don't know if I know that this is where I'd be in life. You know, I find it funny. I was talking to a friend of mine, and now that I do this podcast stuff and I do interviews and I talk to people. When I was younger, I wouldn't say my first official job because my first official job was in the church, but my first official job of, like, when I kind of dropped out of college, was globalgrind.com for my uncle. And they very much so pushed me towards journalism. They made me the head of the music page, and they put me in a lot of positions to have the opportunities to interview a lot of artists if I could probably find the old footage. I've interviewed people like Tyga. I've interviewed people like Frank Lucas. I've interviewed Wiz Khalifa, I've interviewed LL Cool J, interviewed a lot of big names, Ludacris, Rick Ross. I interviewed a lot of big names. And it's funny because when I was younger, I just couldn't see that for myself. I wanted to be a rapper, I wanted to be an entertainer. I didn't see myself being an interviewer, a journalist, a host, I guess you would say, right? So I laugh now, today, because now look at what I'm doing, which I love to do, is being an interviewer, being a host, being a podcaster, being somebody that's constantly speaking in front of the camera. So, no, I don't know if I would think I'd be here if I told my Global Grind self that, because I was chasing other things. But it's funny how the universe and God works where he's trying to put something in front of you, and you're constantly trying to push it away, but he's constantly bringing it back in front of you and telling you this is what you're supposed to be doing. So I don't know if this is what I thought I'd be. But I'm proud of myself and I'm happy that I. That I am here at this moment in life. Although I have plenty More work to do. Second question. What lessons from my younger self have stuck with me and shaped me who I am today? Definitely, you know, get up every day and work hard every day. You know, as a kid, I can be real. Like, I was one of those kids in school that I didn't study much sometimes, and I kind of was just like, I winged it a lot. And I thought that, you know, I was pretty good at winging things and passing. But whenever I didn't prepare myself for things, I always failed or I just didn't do good or didn't succeed and what I was trying to do. So what I realize is every day I wake up with intention to work hard no matter what. It's what I'm doing. I want to make sure that I'm bringing value to anything that I'm doing. And I'm never feeling dormant or stagnant or stuck where I'm not feeling like I'm doing enough. You know, I think that is probably something that I grew up with. You know, maybe underachieving at times in life made me super insecure to no longer underachieve and to make sure that every day that I try to overachieve. So I'd say that, like, what I learned in life is you just got to work hard. Nobody's going to hand you nothing. Nobody's going to hand you shit in life. Nobody's going to give you nothing. Nobody's supposed to give you nothing in life. No matter whatever opportunities you may have or help you may get, that's not obligated, that's not an obligation for somebody to do that for you. So when I do come across those opportunities or when I do, when I can step back and say I appreciate the family and the legacy that I've come from, it's because I understand the opportunity, but it doesn't defeat the fact that I need to work hard every day. And that's something that my dad always instilled in me. Like I said from school times when I wasn't passing those grades or I wasn't doing right in school, it's like, yo, you can't play around with life because it gets harder from here. School is the easy part. The hard part is the world and how you implement your actions for school and classes, how you're going to implement your actions for the world and your job and, you know, whatever you do in the future. So I think that the biggest thing for me is working hard and never taking my foot off the gas is what I learned as a kid. That I still implement today. Let's get into the third question. When you think about legacy, it's funny, I was just talking about legacy. When I think about legacy, what does it mean to me beyond fame or my family name? I get this question a lot, and it's an interesting question. You know, I think that legacy is important. You know, a lot of people, when they. When they think about me, my siblings, they think about legacy, and they think, okay, you guys come from a legacy. But what they do need to understand is we're all trying to build our own legacies. So, like, yeah, it's great to come from a legacy, but what legacy means to me is the impact that you leave when you leave, right? When you leave the earth is the impact that you left with people. So I personally. Great. You know, I'm appreciative that I'm a part of a legacy. Run dmc, you know, Fat Farm, Def Jam, all these great things that my family has done in the past. So never want to say that this isn't something that I'm proud of. Of course I'm proud of it. But is it what I want to be seen in the world connected to for the only thing I've done? Not necessarily. Yeah, I'd love for people to remember, okay, he was part of that family. But what I want people to understand more is not only was he part of that family, but he branched off and made his own legacy a part of that family. So no matter if you try to connect my legacy to the legacy that was built before me, it's all good. But as long as the impact that I leave is something that I personally did, that's what legacy means to me. Something that I can personally leave behind. That they say when they think of the Simmons family, don't just batch us all in together and say, well, the kids were there and they were on this TV show. They say, oh, Rev Run did this. Russell Simmons did this. JoJo Simmons then grew up and grew out and did this. Right? I want them to be able to add me to the legacy while also creating my own legacy within that legacy, if that makes any sense for people that get it. Like, I speak about it a lot because it's very true. It's like, yes, the legacy I come from is amazing, but the legacy I'm building is going to be even better because of the legacy that I come from. Let's get into the next question. I love that legacy question, though, honestly. It's a great question. What was it growing, Growing up? What was it like growing up in the spotlight and how did I begin carving out my own identity outside of Run's house? I mean. Yeah. Another question I get a lot. What was it like growing up in the spotlight? Obviously, a lot of pressure, a lot of eyeballs on me, you know, very little room for mistakes growing up in the spotlight. So there's pros and cons. The pros are you can use that spotlight to your advantage and use that platform to influence people. You can use that platform to make. Make money. You can use that platform to advocate. You can use that platform to do so many different things. But in the same sense, when you just want to be a person and be a human and go food shopping or just cry one day or go through or have a bad day, it's hard to have that bad day. It's hard to walk through a supermarket and be a normal person. Sometimes when you are a known person, when you are in the spotlight, no matter if you're Beyonce big or C list, D list celebrity, if you're known and people know who you are, and every day you walk outside and you know that you're going to be not bombarded, but spoken to, or you may have. Be having a bad day and you just. Just not feeling that day, and you're just not allowed to have that. When you're a person that's in the spotlight. And that's something that I learned is you constantly have to be on go mode because that is. That is part of your business. That is part of who you are. Once you become part of that spotlight and you become a Persona that people love, respect, and honor, you got to kind of take the good with the bad. But when it comes to the second part of the question, how do I. How did I, you know, start, you know, carving out my own identity? I think it's this. I think it's. It's this podcast. I think it's three is for the, you know, my creative studio. I think it's, you know, obviously my own, you know, you know, record label, production company, that. Which is obviously still in the field of where my family came from, but it's my own identity. This is mine. This is something I created. No, no, no. Backing from my family. Three is four. Same thing. Got this with my two guys from high school, and we kind of. We did this and kept building this and same with this for good concept. It's like all of these things are ways to carve my own identity for you guys to see that I'm a businessman, I'm an entrepreneur. I know a lot of jokes were said with me growing up of, oh, me wanting to be a rapper and me wanting to do this. And I was just trying things. That's what life's about. It's about trying things that you love and that you're passionate about. But what I truly found out that I'm truly, truly passionate about is being a businessman, is being an entrepreneur, is being in the. Is being in these offices, being in these meetings, helping these deals close. That's what really makes me and really makes me keep going in life. So that's how I carve my own identity, is coming into these rooms and saying, thank you for the respect for what's been done before me, but please respect what I have going on now through my own hard work. That's how I'm carving my identity. Even me being in cannabis. You wouldn't think the Rev son Jojo, the one that got arrested on this TV show for weed, would still double back on cannabis and advocate for the people in the space. Show up for the people in the space, make sure that the people are learning about education in cannabis and understanding the holistic sides to it in the wellness sides to it it. Right? So that's how I carve my own identity, doing things that my family has never done, but also still following the blueprint of the entrepreneurial spirit to always be in the forefront and advocate and try to be successful. And that's kind of how I look at carving out my own identity and my own legacy. Here we go. What were the moments? Were there moments where I felt pressure to follow a certain path? And how did I find the courage to take. To take on my own? I can never say that I felt pressured to start following certain paths. I think a lot of people would ask that question because I rapped, and they're like, well, did you ever feel the pressure of being like Minnie Run or Lil Run or wanting to be like Run dmc? No. I just looked up to my dad, you know, still do. You know, like, growing up, if that's what you see, that's what you want to be. You know, like Bronny James want to be LeBron. And I'm sure Michael Jordan's sons, they've played basketball, too. They probably want to be their father, because that's what you see as a successful man in your house is your father and what your father is doing, you want to be just like him. They're successful. They're out there killing it. They're looking cool. They look. They're doing great things and you want to be that. So I never say that I felt any stress trying to follow a path, but the stress came on trying to fill the shoes or trying to match the energy of what he brought, which could never happen, you know, in my opinion, it could never happen. It would never happen because the times were just different and he was able to trailblaze and pioneer the rap game. So the pressures come from the stress of really people putting expectations on me because of who my dad is. Right. But no pressure to actually, like, nobody was like, you have to do this because of this. I always wanted to do that. I always wanted to be, you know, baby run. You can see old pictures and old videos of me performing in London with my dad at 10, 11, 12, you know, nine. So never felt pressures and to find the courage to do things on my own. I mean, I just never let stuff get to me. Of course people, they say bad things and have said bad things about me, especially my music back in the day, but I just never let it get to me. Because if you let. What I learned at a very young age is if you let people's opinions determine your work, then what are you doing it for? You're not doing it for you, you're doing it for them. Then that's just a problem. You know what I mean? So I, I just, you know, courage, courage sometimes looks like courage when it's really just somebody super scared inside saying fuck it and going for it. That's what courage is most of the time. That's what courage is. You think these guys are so, oh, he's so courageous. He's so racist. No, he's just saying, well, what other option do I have? Either lay down or stand up. And that's always been my mindset on life, is I'm a stand up, I'm a stand up. I'm going to do what I got to do. No matter what the opinions are on me, no matter what people are saying about me, I'm going to stand up and I'm going to do everything I can do in power to win. And it's not to appease the people or the crowd or the applausers. The winning is for me. The winning is for my wife, the winning is for my kids. The winning is for what's going on here. It's not for anybody to say, oh, cool, yeah, great job, George. You're doing such a good. Thank you for that. But that's not what the winning is for. That's not what drives me to Say, oh, oh, yes. They're so happy that I'm winning, because as soon as I'm not winning and they say I'm a loser, then that's gonna affect me the same way. I can never let that affect me. So that's how I came up with the courage to do things on my own is. Is not caring what people are saying, because what other options do you have? You either win or you lose. I choose to win. No matter if I. No matter if I've lost millions of times, I choose to wake up every morning and try to win. That's just what it is. So that's how I come up with the courage is, man, these other people talking about me ain't gonna pay my bills, and they damn sure ain't gonna take care of me. So I'm not worried about it. Let's get to the next question. I hope that. I hope I didn't get too passionate there, guys, but I had to, you know, had to keep it real. Here we go. What's been the hardest part of building my own lane, and how did I push through those challenges? I would definitely say the hardest part of building my own lane, especially with, you know, my production company, who's House Entertainment, the creative studio, production company, three is four. And everything else I do is. I would say the hardest part is getting people to believe, you know, in a position that I. That I'm in, and I would speak for my siblings as well, is like, because of the legacy we speak of that we came from, a lot of people don't want to give us as many chances as you believe they would. Right? A lot of people don't want to give us those chances. A lot of people want us to prove ourselves, which is warranted. We should have to prove ourselves. But sometimes even when we prove ourselves and we bring the value to the room, we're still getting the door shut on our face. Just because they're like, no, we want you to work harder. You have to come take it. Because they feel, hey, your family was already in the door. They should be able to walk you in and get you whatever deal that you want, but that. It just isn't like that, right? So the hardest part is getting the help. Sometimes when you need the help and you're trying to build your own path and your own legacy in your own lane, right? It's getting the help from these people that can help you. You know, automatically they think that we already have the help because we came from where we came from. But, hey, if we're reaching out and we're trying to work. We trying to work, we're trying to collab, we're trying to build something on our own without using the name and the connection of what has been done before us. So that's the hardest part is getting people to really work. Like, we can get in the rooms. Getting in the rooms are, are relatively easy, but staying in the rooms are harder, especially when, you know, you have people just not wanting to work with us as easily. So, you know, that's what I would say is the hardest part. But, you know, I love those challenges. How do I push through those challenges is, you know, following up every day and I keep it real. I'm transparent with these people. Like, I've had these conversations with other partners and people like, hey, just want you to know, this is not JoJo Simmons, the run south star, the growing up hip hop star. This is JoJo Simmons, the entrepreneur. And however way we can collab, I'm just trying to win. I'm just trying to build my companies. I don't want you to think I'm coming here to be no big celebrity. I don't. You think I'm coming here to try to, like, flaunt my ego or come here and say, I'm a big guy, I'm a big dog because of all the things I've done in the past, or flaunt my last name? Man, take my last name away, take away my reality TV accolades, take away all of that and just see a man trying to build a company with some employees that he's trying to make sure that he takes care of. You know what I mean? And that's how I kind of. That's how I kind of push through those challenges. Just keeping it real with people and being super transparent about what's going on in my life and what I'm doing right now. It's like, don't. I know it's hard not to see me in that light of. That's JoJo Simmons, and that's cool, but, like, no, look at it like, that's Joseph Simmons. That's why I go by Joseph Simmons, because take me serious. You know, I'm seriously an entrepreneur. I'm not that same kid you saw running around with, you know, my brothers and sisters, that same guy you seen on Growing Up Hip Hop. I'm this entrepreneur that's really building things. So that's why I tell people, just, just take, take me serious and take what I got going on serious, because I'm not coming in To. To flaunt anything I've done before. I'm here to. To build on the future, not. Not flaunt the past, you know, Excuse me. I had to take a sip of water. Make it to the next question, though. These are some great questions from the team. I'm gonna give them. Them a round of applause. So far, some great questions. How has my definition of purpose changed as I got older? Oh, easy. My kids. My kids are 100% have become my purpose. My kids and my wife, obviously, can't leave my beautiful wife out, but my kids have been my purpose. I still. I tell this story a lot. When my daughter was born, I knew I had. I knew I had an intention. I knew I had purpose. I knew I had to do something, not just be a good dad, but to provide and to give her everything and to make sure she never. Never feels no pain, and she never feels like she doesn't have or she has to go without. And I know a lot of people, like, why are you talking like that? You come from this family with all this money. Cool, once again. But me, as a man creating my own family, I should never expect no other man to take care of me and mine. So that's what my purpose is, to make sure I take care of me and mine. And my purpose is to make sure that I'm authentic every day and just being myself. And I've learned that through that is I just keep getting blessed. You know, I just keep getting blessed because I'm just. I wake up every day and I'm intentional, I'm purposeful. I have purpose in life. And I know that, you know, my family is my purpose. And that's. That's what, you know, back in the day, I don't. I can't say I had purpose. I could just say I was just trying to live life, trying to survive, trying to have fun. But now I can say I have a purpose. And it's definitely my wife and kids, for sure. It says, how do I balance chasing personal goals with desire to make a difference in the community? I think they go hand in hand. I think my personal goals and doing for the community go hand in hand. Cause those are my personal goals. Obviously, I have other personal goals, like going to the gym every day and making sure that I'm the best dad I could be, the best husband I could be. But I think my personal goals come with just me wanting to speak up for people and advocate and speak in spaces where people don't have, you know, voices. Right? So those are Always. My personal goal. My personal goal is to teach. My personal goal is to educate. My personal goal is to motivate. My personal goal is to push positivity. And I think that all ties in with my career. Like, what I'm doing now is what I do every day on podcasts. When I talk, I push positivity. I teach, I educate. I bring people on to educate. You guys teach, you guys talk about mental health, talk about all these great things. And those are my personal goals, is to make sure that once again, we speak about legacy and impact, is that I leave an impact and a legacy of being a giver unto people and not just taking, but giving. Right. A lot of people in life love to receive gifts, but I like to give gifts and these episodes with these people. And sometimes I want to speak on this is sometimes they say, okay, it's not a big A list celebrity or one week, you may see go from Angela Simmons to somebody you may never heard of. But I want you to understand that these are my gifts to you guys of people that have real stories that you can relate to. I know that everybody loves the big names and they love the celebrities, and then, you know, those are the people that you want to hear. But the people we bring on here truly have amazing stories and great stories. And that's why. That's part of what I love to do, is give it back to you guys and make you understand that one day you may very well be on this very podcast, for a good podcast, talking to me. And that doesn't mean you have to be a. A list celebrity to come on here to do that. So I think that my personal goals in my. My community, you know, me working in the community, it all goes hand in hand. Because even with the gym, you know, I want to push health. I want to make sure we push. I push health on my Instagram every day that I'm in the gym, whether you're running, whether you're lifting weights, you know, whether Pilates or whatever, I think it's very important to be active. So I think all my personal goals tie into what I do in my career. And that's why I think it's so easy for me to come out here and do what I do, because I'm an authentic person and I'm giving you me. Every time I'm in a meeting, every time I'm in an interview or anytime I'm on a TV show, was there a certain moment when it clicked for me that my purpose was bigger than my career? Like, I Said, you know, it's kind of the same question from before. I don't know. You know, I don't know. You know, obviously, my purpose is probably bigger than my career, but like I said, they all tie hand in hand because that's just, you know, that's just how I look at it. Like, I make sure that in my career, I make sure my purpose shows up. And I only work intentionally in my career with people that have purpose and have intention on doing good and pushing positivity. So I wouldn't say one is bigger than the other, but I would say that my purpose is what drives me for my career. I will say that. That's a good question. What mindset shift has helped me grow in the most recent years? Oh, be calm. Or in words of one of my favorite basketball players, stay mellow. Right. I think over the years, I used to always just get riled up over a lot of things. I used to get overwhelmed over a lot of things. I used to let a lot of things overwhelm me. I still let a lot of things, like, worry me. And I realized in life is like, worry less and do your best. That's kind of one of my favorite quotes that I. I don't know who made it up. I kind of just made it up in my head a couple weeks ago. But I just always tell myself, worry less and do your best, because we are truly not in control of certain things that happen to us in life. Yes, life's about choices and decisions, but sometimes things happen to us and you need to worry less because worrying more just makes it worse. And, you know, I think when you let things go and you just try to do your best, you know, good always comes out of that. So I try to worry less, and I just try to do my best. You know, that's kind of the best way. The best way I could put it is that's how my mind, you know, shift has, you know, mindset. Shift has been very big on staying out of the drama, very big on, you know, having healthy conversations with people, whether we're at odds or not. I just think that my peace has been my biggest value, an asset, I would say, over the last few years, is prioritizing my peace. So I would say that's how my mindset has shifted, is just peace trying to be peace. You know what I mean? Because that's truly. When you're the best, you is when you're at peace. How has my family and faith kept me grounded through it all? I mean, you know, you Know how that is? You know, faith is big for me. I speak about faith all the time as a churchgoing man, as a God fearing man. You know, I think faith is important because even when the discipline fades and the motivation fades, faith is what keeps people going. Because faith is, to me is something you can't see. Faith means to believe in something, although it may seem like it's impossible. That's what faith is, right? A lot of people, they have motivation. A lot of people, they have discipline. But when those things run out, they don't have faith. They say, oh, it's getting too hard. I know I'm disciplined and I know I'm motivated, but I'm no longer motivated and it's getting too hard and what if it doesn't happen? And that's, that's the faithless life, right? That's when you have no faith. No, you know, faith is just doing it every day with the, with the motivation, with discipline. Without it, it's having faith that no matter what, I'm going to get what I'm looking for out of this hard work. No matter what, I'm going to get out of this hard situation because I have faith that I'm going to be okay. And I've always realized that, like, all the things I've ever stressed about in life, I always got out of. So, like, you stress for like the first day, the first week, the first month, whatever, whatever you're going through, and then you realize month by month, year by year, you forgot everything that you used to stress about. I guarantee you there was something two years ago that I was probably stressing about that I cannot remember, you know, and that's faith to me is knowing that I've been through that already. So I have the faith to know that I'm gonna get out of it just like I did before. That's. Faith is knowing like, oh, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. No matter what, I'm good. That's faith. So that's, you know, that's what played very, you know, plays a very important part of my life is just being faithful. And obviously my family, they keep me grounded, they keep me faithful, and they're who to come home to, you know, when I'm done working, when I'm done doing everything I need to do. I love, I love just being with my family. You know, for dinner, you know, what we did yesterday for my birthday, I just wanted to sit with my two kids in my life and enjoy cake. And I got to do that, and I told them that, you know, every year for my birthday, I usually travel or do something extravagant with my wife or my family. And this year, I just wanted to enjoy the simple things, you know, this year, I just wanted to enjoy a slice of cake with my wife and my two kids and just look around the dinner table and just see what I've created with my wife and see the life that I now have at 36. It's great to me, you know, do I want a bigger house? Of course. Do we want other things? Yeah. But I'm here. I'm blessed. Kids are happy. My wife is. My wife is happy. I'm able to do what I do every day and love it. So, yeah, man, they keep me grounded. That and faith. Family and faith are super important for me every day. How do I handle setbacks or moments when I feel disconnected from my purpose? Like I said, I think the best way I handle setbacks is telling myself, I got it. I'm gonna be okay, worry less and work harder. Right? You know, Worry less and do more. You know, that's just. You know, that's just how I. How I get out of it. Like, you know, it's very easy to get startled. It's very easy to get shaken. It's very easy to get setbacks or disconnected from your purpose, you know, because a lot of things happen in life, a lot of moving parts, but you just got to keep reminding yourself that you got it. And that's what I do. It's big on the. Big on the mental health aspect of it for me. Sometimes, you know, I got to sit myself down and say, yo, like. And also, it's okay to, like, cry, or it's okay to be like, ah, fuck. Like, ah. That one hurt. But then you just got to get back up, and you got to get to it, right? And that's just kind of how I. I deal with it. It's like the same, you know, mindset I said earlier. It's like, you either lay down or you stand up. And to me, I choose to stand up every. Every chance I get. So a setback is only a setback, but it's not a. It's not a stop, right? A setback is a pause, but it's not a stop. It's not a stoppage. So I never let it stop me. I let it may let it set me back for 30 seconds, but I never let it stop me. Now, as I look ahead, what am I most excited to grow into the next year of life? You know, more Wins, obviously, I'm doing everything to grow this creative Studio three is four as well as this podcast that's produced by three is for the Forego Podcast. I pray and I hope that we continue to be able to bring you guys intentional, great conversations that you guys can relate to and you guys can really learn from. I pray that we keep on growing as a community and as a people because I need the high balls guys. I need the community to stay on here with me, man, because we really doing something special over here. I know that there's shout out to a lot of this. I say that there's not many podcasts like this, but there are a lot of great positive podcasts out there. So shout out to them that are putting in the work and trying to change the narrative of how podcasting is and how the conversations that we consume are. You know, I love a lot of those. A lot. A lot of the podcasts I've seen, the crazy ones I've seen, you know, I watch the hip hop ones, I watch them all. So shout out to everybody in the podcast space. But over here at this for Good podcast, we're really building something special for a community of people that just want to feel good and a community of people that just want to feel positive and. And a community of people that just want to be amongst people that are like minded. Like I said this before, so many negativity out there, so many negative comments, so many negative conversations, so much, you know, negativity, so much clout chasing and this is just not the podcast for that. And I hope that as we grow over the year and the years that people keep on coming and being a part of this community because positivity is needed. It's like a. Well, it's like a cleansing coming over here to the Forego podcast after watching all that, that are those other. Those other things and content that may not be positive. Once again, no shots at anybody. I watch it all and shout out to everybody that's able to make a space in this space and also make a dollar in this space. It's truly amazing. I know we're coming down to some final questions, but I'm really liking interviewing myself. By the way. I'm gonna start doing this a little bit more. Having. Well, now I'm not really interviewing myself. It's like the team is interviewing me, but I'm reading the questions. Says, what advice would I give someone trying to find their purpose beyond other people's expectations? Yeah, easy. I mean, find what you're passionate about and Go after it, you know, and that's hard sometimes in its own to say, find what you're passionate about. It's hard to find what you're passionate about sometimes, but find what makes you happy. Find. Find what? Find what? Find what to do that makes you happy. Like, whenever you're doing something and it just makes you happy to do it, then that's probably your purpose. It's probably what you should be doing, especially if it's. Excuse me, especially if it's something positive. I think that finding your purpose is finding yourself. And once you find yourself, you find your purpose. And like I said, that's easier said than done. But block out all the distractions and really just hone in and focus on the things you like. Sometimes you can sit down with yourself and get out a notepad and a pen and write all the things you don't like and all the things you do like. Right. All the things you like to do, all the things you don't like to do. And then process of elimination, look at all of the stuff you like to do. And I'm sure you'll find your purpose in that. So that's my word of advice, is finding your purpose, you know, without anybody setting you back, you know, and without anybody's other expectations. You know, people can't expect something out of somebody doing nothing. So an expectation means. Means really nothing to somebody that's building on something. So don't let people's expectations of you, you know, set you back or decide who you're gonna be. The only expectation you should have is of yourself and of the goal and the plan that you. You put out there that you want to get done. So don't let other people's expectations ever slow you down at all. Finally, and obviously, my question that I asked to all my guests on the For Good podcast, and my team is asking me, it says, quick mental health check in, because, you know, we take mental health very serious here at the For Good podcast. How am I feeling stepping into this new year of life? I'm feeling good, like I said in the beginning of the interview, not content. But I'm not upset, I'm not sad, I'm not mad. I'm very inspired. I'm very motivated for the next few years. I'm so proud of myself being in this position at 36 years old, so proud of my growth. I'll say that to myself. I appreciate everybody that gives me all the kind words to say. I'm a great father and I'm a great husband and I'm a good person. All of that stuff feels so great. And to know at this age that all the, you know, no matter the setbacks, the obstacles, the hurdles that I've been through, I stood tall and I jumped over all of them, and I've always came out shining like a diamond. And that's a testament to just never stopping, you know? I believe in myself every day, and I hope that the people watching this believe in themselves, too, because that's what this is really about. Every day I work hard. Every day I go hard. Still to this day, there's people that don't believe in me. Still to this day, there's people that speak bad on me. But that doesn't matter to me because I'm not doing it for them. I'm doing it for me. And even when I win the biggest wins ever, I still won't be doing it for them. I'll be doing it for me. So I will say that mentally, I'm feeling good. Mentally, I feel motivated. Mentally, I feel like we're gonna have a killer next year and years beyond, right? Because I know it's all in my power to do everything I need to do to get to those wins. And if I have an opportunity to have any chance of having power to control anything in my life, especially, I know a win is gonna come out of it, right? So mentally, I'm feeling great. Mentally, I'm feeling motivated, and mentally, I'm feeling ready to keep knocking things out the park. But I won't lie, not where I want to be, but I'm going where I want to go. And that's all that really matters, y'. All. So I want to leave you guys with. That is, you don't always have to be where you want to be in life, but you do have to start going where you want to go in life. That's the important part. You know, a lot of us aren't where we want to be, but some of us are not even trying to go where we want to go. So make sure that you're trying to go where you want to go. If you want to be where you want to be, or even if you're upset with where you are in life or if you're not. If you're not content with where you are in life, work towards where you want to go. I appreciate everybody tuning in to this Just JoJo birthday edition segment. Much love, everyone. Once again, appreciate all the birthday love I have received for my 36th birthday. And I will see you guys next week with a guest. Don't worry, you won't just see me next week. Although I know you guys probably appreciate these conversations every now and then. So I am, I am willing, not willing. I am ready to give you guys more of these just JoJo segments. Just leave me some love in the comments, please. If you could make sure you subscribe. I'll have my people put the subscribe thing right here. Make sure you subscribe to For Good podcast. Make sure that you tap in with this beautiful community that we are building and we've been building over the last year. And I appreciate everybody that has been tuned in. I appreciate everybody that is a subscriber to the Forgood podcast. But that's the biggest birthday gift you can give me right now is give me a follow, give me a comment, give me a like and give me a share. Much love guys. You got JoJo Simmons. This is the 4 Good podcast where we focus on the good, never the bad. Where we measure about what we do, not what we have, not what I'm checking out. It's your guy, jojo. Till next time. Peace.
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