Ever questioned the underpinnings of true freedom in your life? Join me on a profound exploration where trust, identity, and financial literacy emerge as cornerstones of liberation. With special guest Milford Adams, whose expertise spans real estate, finance, and community leadership, we unearth stories of perseverance and the role of faith in fostering resilience.
As we navigate through the challenges of home ownership disparities and historical trauma, Milford shares vivid accounts of his journey, highlighting the transformational impact of mentorship and the power of community. Our conversation takes you through personal experiences and eye-opening realities, from the stark ownership statistics in Memphis to the emotional legacies that shape Black men's health and well-being. It's a heartfelt reflection on how past legacies inform our present and the steps we can take to build a future of empowerment.
Finally, we wrap up with a heartfelt thank you for joining us on this episode, where we emphasize the growth that comes from a supportive community. By sharing our personal tales of overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams, we offer you an invitation to reflect on the significant influences that can alter life trajectories. It's a journey we take together, one where every step forward is celebrated, every challenge is faced with unwavering faith, and every listener is a cherished part of a larger narrative of freedom and success.
Ever questioned the underpinnings of true freedom in your life? Join me on a profound exploration where trust, identity, and financial literacy emerge as cornerstones of liberation. With special guest Milford Adams, whose expertise spans real estate, finance, and community leadership, we unearth stories of perseverance and the role of faith in fostering resilience.
As we navigate through the challenges of home ownership disparities and historical trauma, Milford shares vivid accounts of his journey, highlighting the transformational impact of mentorship and the power of community. Our conversation takes you through personal experiences and eye-opening realities, from the stark ownership statistics in Memphis to the emotional legacies that shape Black men's health and well-being. It's a heartfelt reflection on how past legacies inform our present and the steps we can take to build a future of empowerment.
Finally, we wrap up with a heartfelt thank you for joining us on this episode, where we emphasize the growth that comes from a supportive community. By sharing our personal tales of overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams, we offer you an invitation to reflect on the significant influences that can alter life trajectories. It's a journey we take together, one where every step forward is celebrated, every challenge is faced with unwavering faith, and every listener is a cherished part of a larger narrative of freedom and success.
All right, well, welcome to this incredible edition of Journey to Freedom. I'm so excited about doing this More than any other podcast that I've done, more than any other radio show that I've done. Journey to Freedom is just something that is. I guess it's in my bones. You know, milford, I kind of told the story. I went to an event. I went to a trust event that was based on trust and a really cool guy named David was doing it and the room had 400 people in it and he's teaching them about trust and teaching them all these aspects of what it takes to trust, how to solve with trust. How do you build trust with people you don't know? How do you build trust with the people you do know? How do you build trust within your organization? And just some incredible stuff. There was eight pillars to it. There was a two day deal, but there were only about 25 people of color in the room.
Speaker 1:And I got back home and I said people need to know this. And I started thinking about trust gaps and what are the biggest gaps. And I started thinking about. I was praying and I said God, who can I share this with? How should I share this? There was hardly any people of color in the room. I thought that was really important. And this stuff is so important because, as men, sometimes we don't trust ourselves even. And God said no, I need you to do this and I need you to do it with black men. And that began this journey.
Speaker 1:Over the last three or four months that has just been, god is putting everything in place to make sure that we're going to be able to enhance the life, and this journey to freedom came as a result of it. What is freedom? What does freedom really look like? What does it mean to be free? Because for everybody it's a little bit different journey that is getting there. But what are those foundational pieces? And those foundational pieces were trust, as I just talked about. But then we said, in order to have trust, you have to have identity. And if you don't really trust yourself and you don't have identity within yourself, then it doesn't matter who you trust, because if you don't trust you, you don't even know who you are.
Speaker 1:And then we started talking about one of the biggest things that people say well, I don't really care about money. I'm like, well, you're lying, because everything you do is around money. Right Now, what money does for you allows you to react and talk and move through society. But to say that it isn't something that you care about because you think about it every day. There isn't a 24 hour period for any of us that we're not spending money Right and it may never be able to use it whether it's even our electricity that's on that is now ticking and our money is being spent as a result of it. And so, being able to talk about money and people in our communities don't always have access to some of the best schools, to the best teaching, to the best mindset and thought around money.
Speaker 1:And then we started talking about health and I was looking at the average African American or Black man lived to about 72 as our average age across the country, in America, and I'm like, no, I got to live longer than there's 72. There's too much for you and I to do, milford, to be thinking about that. We got a day of 72. Right, there is no way that we're going to do that. And so how do we talk about health and access to the best health care systems and access to the best doctors and to the? You know whether it's the pathic you know herbal pathic doctors that that are out there helping or it's the vitamins, or it's the exercise.
Speaker 1:The one thing that I had a podcast on last week was a guy named Janelle Moody, and Janelle talked about emotional quotient and he talked about, you know, trauma and the things that we've lived with our lives. As Black man, you know from our ancestors, from the times, not that we need to live in that and dwell in those, in those worlds, but it's still part of who we are. It's how we show up to stores, it's how we show up, you know, and in meetings, that kind of stuff, and then you know faith had to be a big part of it, and so you put all those five together. Those are foundational and if we can get people on that right foundation, then we have the. I guess the sky is the limit. What's possible is the limit. You know, if our the entities are in the right places and the people we're hanging around with and the people that we're in community with. You know I call it our best community instead of you know. You know thinking about, you know our best life. You know it's not my best life or your best life, it's our best life as a community to put it together. And you know, I know some of the things that you're doing, milford, in the community and around people, and so this was a fit.
Speaker 1:And so today, folks, we have Milford Adams on and we have Milford Adams, who, you know, does real estate and is. I'm going to let him give you some of all the things that he's involved when he works in a church with a lot of young folks, that he does there. He's a developer. He understands this thing called money. He understands this thing called trust. He floats in the circles that you would not believe. So, milford, I'm going to let you introduce yourself and talk about some of the things that you're into. What are the projects you're working on? Just so glad that you're here. So, ladies and gentlemen, milford Adams, Look at Brian Arno.
Speaker 2:I'm happy to be here, brian. I love you. Brother. J2f, let's rock it. I'm excited to be part of this podcast today and all the things that you're doing. I just want to commend you on how you have just took media and ran with it to get the message out. I love what you're doing.
Speaker 2:When we talk about Black men, there are so many pieces, so many moving pieces when it comes to that side of it. But, brian, I'm just so proud of you and you know I was thinking before I even came on. Well, I just tell folks, I tell a little bit. Let me say this before I say this this other thing for you, brian First of all, there is nothing I have done in my life that rises above the Father, god, jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life.
Speaker 2:I can't answer for other folks. Those are the, that is the pillar in my life. Nothing rises above as long as I keep that part of my life in alignment with what my Father, god, jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as His Son, as because we are sons of the Most High God our Daddy got us. So I just want to make sure. So, yes, have I done a lot of things and all of the above. And I do think, brian, when we talk about this and we have these gatherings, you know it's not about us being puffed up, pried and all of that stuff. We need to get the message out to black men that we can do more and we could be better in our communities and in our families, and I think sometimes we got to share our testimonies. We do when we came from and already above.
Speaker 2:You know, brian, I say this and I tell you and this is not a slight in any way shape or form you got to understand that the black man have been out of the family. I mean, 70% of our children are raised by single moms. That's the fact. I contributed that because I've been through divorce, so I know what that looks like and I think we have to take ownership of that. And I think we got to be transparent. I came out of a family that my, my dad, was an alcoholic and I have six brothers and my mom had to hold it down. You know, I'm not saying that my dad didn't, didn't clean up later and and he's a trooper he both of my parents are in heaven now. But, understand, my dad can walk on water when he was sober, but when it when, the times that he was drinking it was not a healthy environment and understand, you know, my dad came back later and apologized and all of the above and God done some amazing things in his life. But we got to tell our story. But what I want to share with everyone here today it doesn't matter how you got started is where you want to end and and and how do you move forward? You know we can't. We can't lean on yesterday mistakes. We can't lean on on things that have kept us in bondage and all of the above. If you don't like the way something happened in your family when you growing up, then you be a man to change it in your family and in your generation, and and and and all of the above, and not perpetuate the same mistakes that we've seen in the past.
Speaker 2:So, yes, have I done a lot of unique things? I started credit unions with NCUA. I traveled the country for that. I worked for general meals for years and and opening opening restaurants, all of the above and doing that for Red Lobster and Olive Gardens, and I was a director and general manager. I, I, I started my financial institution, used to own like five mortgage companies. I done all, all of that. I started my real estate broker firm. I started ability to transfer, which is dealing with DEI, diversity, equity inclusion. That was recognized by the White House when Trump was in and they sent down three department of justice trying to figure out how did you bring all of these minority groups together and we weren't fighting. I. I share this with you. I'm so proud of you doing this podcast, and so I own my own real estate company and I do a whole lot of stuff. I fight for legislation I have. I have helped create bills for bipartisan so we could get Republicans and Democrats together to move some stuff, to make some things happen. Now we'll give this for free. This is a free understand.
Speaker 2:I'm not a donkey or elephant. I am biblically and I'm centered, christ center, and out of that everything else flows. So don't put a label on me or don't. You are elephant. Don't, don't do that for me, because nothing rises above the Father, god, jesus Christ and the Holy spirit in my life. But I do want you to recognize do I vote yes because of my core values. So whoever representing my core values is who I'm going to vote for, and we have to always make a difference in there. I don't even I don't know how I got way over there, but I just want to say I'm, I'm Christ center. So that that's who I am and that's what I base everything out of.
Speaker 2:Let me and Brian, I want to share this with you. Okay, you know I called you earlier. I know your office been trying to get get a hold of me and get me scheduling all the way above and it took you because you my brother and and I love you and you, like man, let me call Milford, but understand, I made a commitment. You know I've been traveling all over the place. I've been when I say I literally, brian, been running from hour to hour up until 11 o'clock at nighttime trying to get this, trying to look at other housing opportunities in Memphis, tennessee. We just we just closed on a hundred lots out there. We're going to build single family dwelling. Brian, now, this will fry your mind and then we'll get into what we're doing today. This is going to fry your mind and I want to bring you in Memphis, tennessee is 70, almost 70% black folks. Now you're going to fall out of your seat and as far as home ownership, they're only at 34%.
Speaker 1:Oh my Lord.
Speaker 2:Lord, you got a rattle 37, but we only make up 8% of the population.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's 70% of the population. Oh, my Lord.
Speaker 2:It is unacceptable. I went to a city council and I talked to the city of Memphis and I told them these numbers are unacceptable. They're patting themselves on the back like they done something. I didn't tell them that, cause I need to be cordial and I need to be nice about it, but I need to help you.
Speaker 1:Like 34%, 70% black folks when I just when I try to print those numbers, when I try to print those numbers. Where are these folks living, If?
Speaker 2:they're not living in their house, they're all running. They don't even expect to own a house, they don't even think about owning a house. But what I did say, brian, just like the energy that you carried everywhere I went, I would start talking about what we're doing and all that above, and a lot of them would mention Jesus Christ and all of that, and so that opened up a dialogue for me. Like you guys are saying the right things, but the results are not. Do you know? I probably had seven meetings, brian.
Speaker 2:In those meetings at least four or five of those meetings they were out there ripening tears because they haven't heard of somebody encouraging the body of Christ, black men and women that they could buy a home. Someone was even raising their hand. I cracked on them a couple times and said looks like we did to pass the offering plate and close this out. But understand, this was a business meeting. The need is great, but they need men and women like me and you that will stand up for righteousness and stand up for truth and have a passion and a way to help these individuals that been robbed by the systemic system. Oh, my gosh, my goodness, I mean I was just. I was blown away, brian. So anyway, I don't know where we are, but I just want to do no we're exactly where we're supposed to be, because this is what this is about.
Speaker 1:I was in Alabama last weekend. I went on a civil rights tour and I felt like I went back in time a little bit, because some of the same things that you're talking about in Memphis are the same things that are happening there. We went by where it used to be segregated mandated segregated, but it still is right and look at high school. I'm sitting in front of the high school and they're saying the first white student that graduated from that high school was in 2002.
Speaker 2:Wow During our tour.
Speaker 1:Then they said in today, in 2025 or 24, whatever this year is, they believe that there are five white students in that school. Wow. And then you look at this impoverished area of when you cross it's not a track, it was a bridge in the street that you cross and folks just don't have hope. One of the things that the tour guy said that just hit me is he said you know, I've been doing this, I've done a thousand of these tours and this is a white gentleman who's doing this tour with us. Why we're driving around the bus to all these areas and he goes I don't have any hope. I hate to tell you, wow.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And we said so why are you staying here? He said because the decent people leave, there won't be anybody left. Yes, that hit me so hard. And now I'm hearing you saying we, I already feel myself going to Tennessee and doing some rallies and doing some stuff on home ownership.
Speaker 2:I'm bringing your company in. Oh my gosh, I'm telling you. I'm bringing your company in because, truthfully, brian, we started off with a hundred. We bought three, two more lots while we're there, so we got about 300 lots in different locations. We're going to partner with Memphis as best as we can, but the the always the struggle is financially. But we have our capital, we have it, so we don't have to depend on somebody else. And, brian, you heard me say this many times I'm not going to beg my way to the top.
Speaker 2:No, you are the sons of the most high God. God will open the doors, he will soften the heart and we will make this happen. And we got people that are going alongside us. And now you think that's something, what you see, what you've seen in Alabama, when you went into poor area, whatever case may be, just understand. When you walked in there, when you, when you drove through there and the guy said there is no more hope, I'm telling you that's what I seen these individuals in Memphis perked up, like we got somebody that will lead us.
Speaker 2:Not that if that old saying, brian, really I don't care nothing about leading, but understand. When we see injustice, it just flows out of our belly, like like that scripture that said out of my belly shall flow rivers of living water. When I see injustice, I can't help but speak. And then the other thing is when you go into the private areas and you got to understand, we can really talk about some pillars, but you got to understand financial literacy is the issue. Access to good health care, access to healthy health care, I mean health care and education system, wages in those community is nonexistent and all that. But so you got to understand. Those are the moving parts. You got to put those pieces you got to lift up and raise the whole neighborhood. Why can't you talk about building generational wealth? And they don't even have a job to make money, and so that's why crime go up. That's why the cash checking places, title loans and all those other stuff take places liquor houses and drug houses, because there is no home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, living in both deserts. And you know they said that the minimum wage in Alabama I guess there isn't one, they just go with the federal, which is like 725. They said that the folks that are working in the service industry, like restaurants, they're like at 213 an hour. You know, before tips and stuff. And in Birmingham, we're in Birmingham. Birmingham says we tried to put a lot together so that we could raise the minimum wage and the state said no, you know, and so we start looking at some of these areas where we can't move forward. You know you talked, you did a lot with legislation and helping people understand. We have to start with some of these foundations, we have to start with these pillars in education, educating the community, because they've just been set up for failure.
Speaker 1:There's you know it is just you look at this and you go to these places and you go. You haven't seen that there's opportunity in those other places. But the way that your life is run, with the communities and the city councils and the you know the state legislation is set it up is that you don't have a chance to even claw your way out, and so we have to change, and home ownership is one of those ways that we're going to do it. You know we have a down payment assistant you know how to say this real quick, from through a chemical click and close which is the Sue Indians. The Sue Indians or the Sue nation. The nation is Sue, I don't want to say Indians. You know Native Americans, indigenous folks, because I'm one of them are loaning our money for people to get down payment to get into houses. That's how excited they are about this process. We have money to help people get into homes at a larger rate than we ever had before.
Speaker 1:But that education, like they don't know about credit, they don't know about half the things that that are putting them down or holding them down, and so we have to get in there and we have to hold some classes. We have to talk about who they trust. Right, you know, when they show up to you, because maybe because of the color of your skin, but maybe because of your attitude, maybe because Jesus just signs all over you that they go, I trust that guy, I want to follow that guy, and we just have to have folks that are in place that that can happen, because they've lived this life of non trust. They live this life of I tried this, I got you know, I just got hammered back. I wanted to do this. They said no, they said no, they said no and they said OK, I guess that this is the life that God has given me and I say absolutely not, let's work on some of these things.
Speaker 2:So you know, I guess the price before you leave that subject, understand. We have to educate our community on the people that are getting elected to school boards, city council, county commissioners, senators, congress, house of Representatives. Just because you black does not mean you support us, because we need. We got to stop sending people to Washington DC that soon as they get out in Washington DC and they get elected and they start feeling pressure, they fold like a dollar bill and actually and don't help our community. We're not asking them to fit in. They didn't allow us to fit in slavery, so why are we trying to fit in now? You're never going to be wide enough. I'm a chocolate brother and I know everybody like chocolate chips, so that I'm proud to be that. I know you a yellow brother, but chocolate is in. Today I'm going to rock my chocolate, but there we go. Understand, brian, we got to. We got to educate our elected officials. You don't get it just because you're black. Black.
Speaker 2:What is your core values? What are you gonna represent? What is your pillars that we can really talk about? How are you gonna make a change? How are you gonna raise minimum wage? How are you gonna get the systematic systems of injustice? How are you gonna remove the red lines? How are you gonna make our moms and dads feel comfortable coming into a financial institution where they're not talked down on? How do you remove the fear of yesterday's slavery and everything else and all of that residue? That's what I seen in Memphis down south All of that residue from slavery.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And Brian, I say this man, I told everybody, I told this to my wife when I got back. Man, I'm just like a bumblebee, I don't know nothing about. I didn't live down south and all that above. I lived in Wichita, Kansas. I mean come from a small town which we faced some things there. But understand, like the bumblebee, the wingspan is small and aerodynamics said it should not be able to fly. I'm like that bumblebee. But nobody told the bumblebee he couldn't fly, so he flew anyway.
Speaker 2:That's who I am. I'm going to fly. You're not gonna stop me. I'm gonna be like the eagle. I'm gonna be like the eagle and soar against. I'm not going to trot down on the ground with the turkeys, I'm gonna fly above so I can see the attacks that are coming against me. And then we, as the body of Christ, have to raise the foundation and foundation and raise, get them out of the valleys, and we got to raise the foundation of our families and all that above. But anyway, I'm gonna get back on topic here. I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:We are so 100% on topic, because that's what this is all about. It's about sharing this journey, creating this community, as I went to the Equal Justice Initiative, which is the Bryan Stevenson Museum, and you go through there and they talk about the slave trade and they talk about lynching and they talk about voting and they have all these things and I think everybody should go to that. There's not a soul on this planet that shouldn't go through, especially if you're black, to go through that museum and see. But what we have to do is we have to rise above all those things.
Speaker 1:When I think of the shoulders of let me say that we're standing on the shoulders of an ancestors I thought about how many of those folks were part of what my lineage is and they made it. They survived. They were the cream of the crop, they were the top of the top, they were the best of the best, not to degrade the two million folks that passed away over through that voyager or through the slavery, or through lynching or everything, but my ancestors survived, which means what is my responsibility? To make sure that I passed that off, to make sure that I make availability for the folks that are still trying, because every one of us that's alive today had a lineage like that and it's so good to go to that, to see it. At the same time, you go okay, so now, what do we do now?
Speaker 1:When I think about identity, like they try to strip our identity away, they try to strip who we were away. They tried to not let us be in circles that we needed to be and to progress, and so we show up with this identity. We think of the Lyndon B Johnson nonsense that happened, pulling fathers out of families. You talked about that at the beginning and you go okay, so the fathers are out of families now. And then who are we? What do we do?
Speaker 1:And then they start putting this all in jail and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:And so you go. How do we bring that back? Because the family unit is the number one. When we think of when we thrived as black men is when we were married, when we had a family structure, even when we were segregated, we thrived because we had that family unit. So that family unit is so important, but we have to have the identity that supports that right. And if you haven't seen that, how do we get these young folks or the folks that are you know, getting ready to have families around those of us who have families that are working.
Speaker 1:You know I've been divorced. You didn't been divorced, but I still have a family unit that you know my kids that grew up, the things that I did are so important and so that identity and I would love to you to just share what kind of shaped your identity. You know Kansas, small town, figuring out what to do. Now you're hanging out with presidents and kings and queens and you know people that are movers and shakers. Something had to change in your identity between Kansas and where you are now. That helped you to get where you are.
Speaker 2:I say that before I do the identity, and you said it right, scripture said this day I have set you over nations and over kingdoms to run out, to pour down, to destroy, to throw down, to build and to plant, okay. So I just want you, I just want to give you, I want to share that with you. But understand, brian, you heard about what kind of family I came out of and and and identity. You got to understand my identity. My mother implanted in my six brothers that Jesus Christ is our identity. You got to understand when I went to school and I'm going to tell you how that happened.
Speaker 2:When I went to school, I can still remember when they segregated schools and they did the busing program. I remember I was in the fourth grade and I went to this elementary and I remember that they I didn't understand why so many people hated us. They were out there with signs. They was out there, had signs with the N words on it. The troopers had to walk a fourth grade child in the school. So the parents that was out there protested that we don't want in in our schools the N word in our school, which I don't know what that is, because that's not how we identify ourselves. But that's what they were calling us. Do you know? They had troopers on both sides. I experienced that and we walked in. Now we got bused probably 40 minutes away from our community school and the troopers on both side had to protect us. I'm talking about first graders, kindergarten's, up to sixth grade. They had to walk us in the school and put two lines of troopers on each side and then they let us walk up the middle. We got our bus got a, some of the windows got broken out because they didn't want us as little kids.
Speaker 2:When I think about it sometimes it just almost bring me to tears that somebody can't have that much hate for skin color and you messing with somebody. Kids, we don't know what you, all of you guys. We didn't understand all the racialism and all of that mess at that age. We're just little kids trying to get an education, so we'll be better. So my identity have always been in Jesus Christ. My mother gave us that at a young age. I used to go to the Zusa conference when I was nine years old my mother's 10th meetings in Oklahoma. I knew Carton Pearson personally and I know he just passed away and all the above when I worked for General Mills, I used to keep the restaurant open for his choir and all the people at the hours, and all Roberts University. I mean, there's a lot of history there, but what I wanna tell you, my identity was shaped, brian, by what my mom and my dad taught us.
Speaker 2:Even when my dad was sober, he would always tell us to stand up straight, shake the hand, affirm, handshake, look them in the eye and all of the above. And my mother always talked about having faith in Jesus Christ, that your tomorrow is gonna be better than today, and all of the above. My mom and dad's shape my future. There is no way I can take anything away from what those two incredible men and women which are in heaven right now, they instill, that we didn't even have two pennies to rub together. We lived on beans and rice, baloney and hot dogs and all the above. But understand, we were fed. We didn't have the best clothes, but understand, it was clean and starts, you know, and that's what. And then, having brothers, we just passed everything down.
Speaker 2:But my identity is I knew that I could be more. I didn't understand it and sometimes we don't recognize the gifts that are in us until later on and it started bubbling out over you. But my identity is in Jesus Christ. Everywhere. When I since I worked for corporate America, since I went to school and everything else, doors have been open to Milford Adams because of my relationship, my intimacy, my submerge in the Father, god, jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, that's the only thing I could guarantee that will work for me when people didn't like me and they hate me or they wouldn't invite me and all of the above and that sort of thing. But that's my identity. But my mother lived it. I don't care how painful it was, we didn't have money to eat or we couldn't go here, we couldn't do there and all of the above, but it's Jesus Christ she gave us that, amen.
Speaker 1:Well, I think people say that who you become and who you are is based on a couple of things. It's based on your faith, it's based on the people that you hang out with and it's based on what you put into your mind and the things that you read and the things that you absorb In your later life I'm not saying later, like you're old, but the time when business became working successful for you. What were some of those identity shaping things that happened? Or the books, or the people you hung around? What did that look like for you to become where you're at right now?
Speaker 2:And Brian, let me share this with you when we talked about identity and it'd go right into things that shaped me. I used to work at a country club when I was younger as a fry cook in a dishwasher, and I remember the owner of the country club gave all of us books one Christmas and he gave me a book that's the greatest salesman in the world.
Speaker 1:Ag Mendino love that book.
Speaker 2:I still understand, brian. I still got it. It's so frail now I bought a new one but I have it in plastic. But he wrote in there. He said Milford, somehow I believe you have written a chapter of two. Now you gotta understand I was only 17, 16 years old A chapter or two in this book of the greatest cook in the world and the greatest kindness that you have displayed, and all that above. And then he put a scripture down there.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know this white man at this time even recognized me. He's the owner of the country club. He's the owner and he said he wrote a script at the bottom of my book. He said you can do all things through Christ, who's strengthening you. So this man that I didn't even think noticed me at the age and 15, I started with 15 with the country club, actually 14 cause I just you could work a few hours and this man gave me this book. The greatest salesman in the world. And when I tell you, brian, I can still quote strolls from the greatest man I love this book. I agree with this name of loving my heart right.
Speaker 2:It's great. Even the white man, brian, brian, even they make this. Trust me as such, as such, but their heart will be open. Right, that's what it said. And then, remember in that book, it said I will go into the marketplace. I refuse to sleep, eat, walk with the sheep waiting to be plucked from the marketplace. I will be a line among men. Remember that. And then he said the rain shall soften our heart. You see how much. You see how much this book is in me. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:That book rocked my world. I studied it and I believed in it and the beautiful thing was remember at the end of that book it was referring to Jesus Christ, which my mom already was still in me.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So no, no, no. That book man, that book, that book shaped my life. If that's one book at a young age, brian, that's the one that shaped my life.
Speaker 1:Wow Well.
Speaker 2:I think about that, the two associations, right.
Speaker 1:You have the association of the country club owner. Who's taking who now, because he notices you. You are now seeing what he does as an example. Then you have one of the greatest books that's ever been written on the earth as something to listen to and read and to put into your mind. So that starts you out at 17. Then you move forward because those two things are part of who you are. Are there any other of those like life changing events or life changing circumstances at times that that happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you, I mean if it get too churchy, let me know and I'll go. I do something different. But let me share this with you. When I started my mortgage company, you got to understand that was in the late 20s and, brian, listen at this I was doing really well with one office. And then so I remember it, probably late 20s, early 30s I remember that I wanted to expand, so I went to, but I didn't have the money to expand. I went to. Well, there's two things I'm gonna tell you. That is earth moving.
Speaker 2:I went to a gentleman now I recognized him that he was Jewish and everything else and I remember talking to him about what I wanted to do and he told me come present to him. But what happened, brian, when I was presenting to him, he wanted to own 51% of my company. So you know what happens if I don't perform, I don't do what need to be. He could put me out of my own company. I was intelligent enough to know that was not a smart deal and I just pulled my financials off to take my. I said, look, I'm not that desperate. All that he above. Thank you, brian. I bet you it was not 48 hours.
Speaker 2:This guy called me around the clock. Around the clock. He said never, for when are you gonna be here in the office as such? I need to come see you such, such such and all that above. He said I just need to talk to you. I said, well, okay, I'll come in today. And all that above.
Speaker 2:He came in. He said I gotta give you this money. He wrote a check, brian, put it in my hand and told me don't worry, but I gotta get this out of my hand so I can sleep. Oh my gosh. He gave me the money with no strings attached. I said well, what, like what he said? He said Milford, I have to give you this check and I'm not asking you to fill out nothing. If one day you make a million dollars, come back and see me or whatever. He said there's no strings attached. I could not sleep Cause I prayed about it. I said God, you said you opened the doors and you had changed the hearts of people. I, he said I could not sleep. And he said God said I gotta give him for that money. Gave it to me. Oh my gosh, can you imagine how that made me feel? And when I talk, share with my mom and my dad or whatever. The guy gave me the money with no strings attached. I never signed one document for it. My whole life been that reflection when God is saying I changed the hearts of the people and that was. That was one. So that was a faith walk. Because that was evidence. Because when I left corporate America I said God put me in position that I can help hundreds and thousands of people. That was my prayer.
Speaker 2:When I left General Mills, making $75,000 a year and starting back at zero to start this mortgage company because I didn't want the corruption that I see I shouldn't have named the name, so I won't go into deep, but there was a lot of corruption at the top and I remember calling my mom and dad. I said, mom and dad, if I do what they're asking me to do, I said then I can forget everything you guys taught me about Jesus Christ. And I said I gotta leave the company, I gotta leave it. And I prayed. I said God, I'm leaving this, I'm walking away from $75,000 a year.
Speaker 2:I was up to ranks, I was the director, going on, I could have been a supervisor, vp and all the above, but they put me on the fast track Back in the nineties. They used to have that. Our eighties and seventies used to have that EEOC and they was putting a lot of people of color in position and train them to meet the quota. What the federal government was saying at that time that you need to hire some professional. I mean need to hire some people of color to be part of your team and everything else. So I got a great offer from General Mills to come to work for them. But understand, that was mountain moving. I left and started with zero, grew that company till I Brian, until I had five locations.
Speaker 2:Wow, I built my first brand new house from the ground up. Now, understand this. When I built this house, it was a mansion and I was single. I had a carpet, I had a Jeep and I had a Mercedes. I was rocking in Wichita, kansas. I remember black folks when they found out that I built this huge house as a single person out in a white area. This is the slave mentality cause. They said they let you build out there. They let you, wow, what do you mean? Let me build. I told you I was the bumblebee. I didn't know no better. My money's green, my money's green If I can afford to do it. Hey, build me a house, mm-hmm. But understand that's. I think that's some of the identity and how we see things. People see things that you know. People see things that they say I can't do it, and I'm seeing things like that same said why not?
Speaker 1:Why not Absolutely. You know, that mindset that we walk in was that somebody's already told us that we aren't worthy to be there or we're not, we haven't done what it takes or we didn't have family that allowed us to do that. And there's always those outliers, that kind of break through that. But it's hard to get that mentality out sometimes, like should I be in this store? Should I be, you know, should I be having somebody design me a custom suit? Should I be able to do? You know, is that okay or is that? You know? Where does that come from? That somehow we don't deserve some of those things. And then that shapes our identity because we haven't been around enough of the people who say this is how it is, this is what it works. You're doing the work Because I can promise you, when I think about you having five locations, you are just sitting at home and locations were opening up right, yes.
Speaker 1:You were putting in the work. And then the reward from their putting in the work is what God says hey, I'm gonna give you 10 fold of what you did. And sometimes we don't even believe God. Right, god starts blessing us because we're doing what he's asked us to do, and then we go wait a minute, I don't know if I'm supposed to have that. You know, it's just amazing when you start thinking about some of those things that happen and you know, kind of talk to me a little bit about your health, like what have you done? Not just your physical health, but your mental health, you know, because people have come to attack you, people have said things about you that you know. At some point you, like you said I'm gonna use in the tears, like you go home and you put your head in the pillow and you just go. I don't know if I can go on. How did you get about that? What, what what?
Speaker 2:And Brian, I wanna share this with y'all. No, we all ate up this hour. We ain't got through the pillars, but what? But let me say this, brian, even when I became a president of an organization I won't name the name, over 9,000, they said that we were never let in run our association and in word, they was using the in word. Today, this was only a few days ago. Few days ago, few weeks ago, probably a few days ago, after coming out of Memphis, cause I was speaking with security and power.
Speaker 2:But anyway, but understand, it was just bringing you to tears, that people will see me like that when other people of not black but white would call me, said, milford, you are the best president and we're gonna help you. We're not pointing you because you're black, but you, the best president at this time, and the knowledge and the wisdom that you bring to move our organization. You are the best person and we're gonna help you. So, god, always send people that, even if it's not from our own people, that will help you to get through it and all that above. But understand, brian, my day starts at, on average, at 430 in the morning. I spend all of that time up until probably about 630 before the phones start ringing. 630 or 7 before the phone start ringing. All that above. I spend that time with God, I pray, I talk to him.
Speaker 2:A lot of this junk that you say when people have hurt your feelings and tears is flowing down your cheek and your heart is broken. That's what renew spirit. I know. If I could get home and read and study and pray to God and talk to my daddy that loves me, talk to Abba that loves me, I can get this stuff that is in my heart out, and then he cleans me up and straighten up my shoulders and say Mipha, let's go, because you have to understand. When life happens to you, you gotta move it out of your heart, otherwise it will continue to be a stumbling block for you.
Speaker 2:When that scripture says. When that scripture says if you go to somebody's house and you knock on the door and they don't wanna receive you, shake the dust off of your feet, but take your peace with you. Take your peace with you. Don't let anything steal your peace. Your peace is in fruits of the spirit, gifts of the spirit and all above. So understand, brian. You know where. I learned that? At Zig Ziglar. I used to give to him faithfully. See his whole old tapes and everything else. I'm probably still got some of those cassette tapes. I'm probably aging myself.
Speaker 1:I got some of them, I do.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I'm gonna stoop right, I got that from six.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. He said he'd get up at 4.30, four o'clock in the morning, 4.30. And that's his. He'd get his cup of coffee and all the above and he just talked to God and always ask God where did you want me to do? What do you want me to do today? I know this, bryant If we, as men and women, don't tie black men, don't tie it to money, tie it to service of helping other people, you will be rewarded out of that. Find your gift that feels in need, with passion and a drive, and have a plan, be patient and be perseverance with it and you will be successful.
Speaker 1:And one of the things I just heard you say, which is just it's blowing my mind right now, is because, when I think of we talked about systems earlier and the systematic things that we have to overcome, because the systems are a place to keep us down in many areas, but you've created systems that work, right, it's not. The system doesn't have to put you down, the system can lift you to heights that are just unbelievable, and so your system started 4.30 in the morning. The things that you do that you just don't show up on the day and hope that the day goes well, right, you put the day. You let God be in the center of your life, you put him first, and then your day is planned out. You said you've been working hour to hour, day to day, things that are happening. That's a sign of somebody successful, somebody who's busy, somebody who's doing stuff, but it's not because they're just busy doing stuff. It's planned out. There's goals, there's a place that you're trying to get to. There's a hundred homes that need to be lived in by folks in the community. Right, that doesn't just happen because you wished it to. So what are some of the things that you do that renew your mind every single day Because we are, because the renewing of our mind and things that are happening. So what are some of those things?
Speaker 1:I heard the 4.30 in the morning. I heard the prayer time. The 6.30 happens. Are you planning your week way before? Are you playing your week? You know that day what? How does that work?
Speaker 2:Brian, I always have a plan of action. I still use vision boards. I pray over my vision board every day. I touch and agree. I write out things that are happening in my life. Doors that is opening. I don't know if we'll have time to get it in this podcast. You got to ask me how I got these hundred lots, and being the owner of a hundred lots in Memphis, that's another God thing. That's all I'm telling you. So you have to tell them. You have to understand it. But understand.
Speaker 2:I make a plan of action. I do worship, I read and I pray and I memorize. I will say this I memorize scriptures. That pertains to my life and being in battle and war. That's why I can just let that stuff roll off on my hand.
Speaker 2:When in Luke, when Jesus said I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, milford Adams, I have given you authority to tremble on serpents and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall, by any means nothing shall, hurt you. I said thank you, jesus, you talking about me and nothing shall hurt me. But think about this I want to give this for black men. I'm gonna be very transparent. I have seven kids. Majority of them was out of wedlock. I knew early on in my life, brian, that I could not have a nine to five job because of the child support and taking care of those kids. There is men out there that says that hasn't been fathered enough and they said well, I ain't gonna go to work because child support take all of my money and they just look for a woman to take care of them. And they never pulled themselves up because they had kids out of wedlock. Kids are a blessing. Whatever way those kids got in the world, you honor them and respect them and you provide a living for them. I promise you, if you lean on Jesus Christ, he'll show you how to take care of those kids. It still make a great living and have fun. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So I want me and to know hey, look at me, I came from a broken family. I had kids out of wedlock. I didn't even at that time I didn't even have an education and all of the above or whatever. But when God is for you, who can be against you? He searches the heart. He knows your heart. Call on Him. If he's our daddy, call on Him. He already know what you're going through. But understand Brian. That's why I've been so successful. People can't explain it. I can explain it. My daddy took care of it for me.
Speaker 2:I bought to care for me. Jesus Christ opened the door. The Holy Spirit gave me power because, to understand, we supposed to manage the earth. I'm not afraid to tell people that for years I couldn't even talk about my dad being an alcoholic. I couldn't talk about the kids that I had out of wedlock. God is saying take care of them, kids, and keep moving. Yes, you made some mistakes, but don't wallow in it. Get yourself up, dust yourself off and say God, how do I rise above this and take your kids with you and your family?
Speaker 1:Gotcha, you said something there that I'm not going to allow you to just go by it with my. You brought up the word vision board. You said that you still have a vision board and I know there's a whole bunch of people that don't know what a vision board is, how a vision board is used, something to pray over. I want you to kind of talk about your vision boards. You talk about some that you've had, that you put something on and you got to pull something off of it because it happened. Talk to us a little about the vision boards.
Speaker 2:So your vision board. Understand we as black men. You got to have some kind of plan. Where are you going? It's like a roadmap. If you're taking a roadmap in the old days when we took out the paper roadmap, or now you put it in your phone, it tells you make a turn here, make a right turn there, or whatever. If you don't know where you're going, then you will end up in nowhere because you don't have no goals for yourself. You got to have goals for yourself.
Speaker 2:So if you saying I'm going to be an employee at McDonald's, your goal should be the general manager and then an area supervisor and the director and then a owner of one of those organizations. So you got to have a goal. So how do I get there? You train yourself. You always look for a promotion. If you want to make money, look for a promotion because the position will bring the money. So understand that's going to provide your servant. So you got to write it down on the board. If you want to buy a home, just like you said earlier, brian okay, I need to get my credit in shape. I need to get a job and make sure I still have enough wages or a W-2 or self-employed that I can buy a house. If I'm going to send my kids to college, how are you going to pay for that? Do you have products in place to pay for that? Through life insurance and other things? Financial services, I mean.
Speaker 2:Your vision board should say where you want to go as an individual and where you want to go as a family and understand those that are married. You never make these decisions without your wife. You guys are one, the scripture said you became one, and so the vision board. So I touch, me and my wife. We touch and agree on the vision board, all of the above. And let me tell you we as men because Brian, you said, I mean I want to make sure we understand this. I can say I love Brian because I know your heart and we have a relationship there. That ain't making me gay or whatever we as black men need to be able to get together and talk about things that we're struggling with. We always going to struggle with women. Most men that says that they I don't even look. That's a lie from the pit of hell. We're men. We going to look.
Speaker 2:The thing is that you have enough in there to bring that stronghold down that you don't pursue it, because scriptures always, always says that if I leave you in there, I show you a way out and understand there's a time that it comes and you stop. I want black men to understand that If you addicted to drugs or alcohol or weed or whatever that piece is, whatever calls in you to stumble, seek out, help find other black men that are making a change in their own life that has a testimony with what they've been through. So the vision board you got to write it down. You got to keep it before you. You got to touch and pray over that board every morning, touch it on the way out when you, in your quiet time, touch that and then, when you reach that goal, take that goal off of it. So if it was a new car, now you reach that goal, replace that with something else. Okay, you got the new car.
Speaker 2:Now what is your next goal? Well, I always dreamed about being self-employed. Okay, what happens if you got a creativity in you? You may start a little project in your house just printing t-shirts. You may have a gift of writing, you may have a gift of making cakes and all that above. So you got to continue to put that there but put it there.
Speaker 2:Don't say I just want to make one cake. Tell, say your goal should be, and then have steps in between. I want to have my cakes in every Walmart. So if it's going to be in every Walmart, what steps before that? Start with the mall and pause and the little shops around you to allow them to put cakes in it. And then get with people that understand business models and to get you in front of people like Walmart that put your products in a store.
Speaker 2:And the thing is is that if we're going to build not if when we build generational wealth, you got to understand we're starting at zero. Stop telling your kids to pull up by the bootstraps. They don't have a boot and they don't have a lace. It's not going to happen. If you are a mom or dad, it's not going to help them. I changed that's a whole nother story of my experience me and my wife experience and I tell you more about pulling yourself up by the boot. Scrap where that keeps us in bondage, because a lot of times we as black folks, we get so frustrated not making enough money paying bills and taking care of family, taking care of kids and your wife and making sure the household works the way it is that we get depressed.
Speaker 2:And we said will we ever rise above this? So I don't know if I answered that, but understand, yeah, great. I'm just saying understand. When you make your board, I don't care if it it don't have to be on a grease board, it could be on paper touch and agree, tape that up. When I built my first house, I had the blueprints drawn up and everything else did not have the credit, did not have the penny or all that above. When I got my first house, brian, my credit was not good enough. A contractor came along because I was praying about it and he said Mifra, I just wanna build you a house. I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was so amazing. Wait a minute, wait a minute, I know where it went out.
Speaker 2:But I wanna tell you no, you're good. You guys gotta understand. That house that I got. I didn't have no credit. I never filled out an application. He just told me Mifra, whenever you get on your feet years down the line, just pay off the mortgage. He built it from scratch. He went and bought the house. He just said I want to do that for you. And he knew I didn't have the money and I didn't have the credit to buy it. Wow, he carried a note from me brand new, built from the ground floor. And then it wasn't that. I built some kind of shack. This thing was a mansion and this thing was loaded with all the upgrades and things.
Speaker 2:Because he used to ask me, said okay, so what do you want in this house? I said, well, whatever you put in yours, put in mine. Ah, that is so good. He built it. Oh my gosh, I went in, I was in his. Whatever you got in yours, put it in mine. But those are the things that God done for me. Here's no way. I don't know this guy. This was a white guy. I don't know this guy. He came to me and he did it. I got story at the story of what supernaturally, that God opened doors for Milford Adams, the little black child that nobody recognized and thought I was too dark and all the above and was not accepted in a lot of things. And sometimes even your relatives this is my favorite, this is my favorite, this is my favorite. And they jump over you, not my mom and dad. So I always tell parents don't ever say that you have a favorite child, because what did that make Milford Adams? Or Brian Arnold? What did that make us?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, okay, go ahead and ask your question.
Speaker 1:No, I did. We are literally, we are at an hour. So we you know we're gonna have to shut some of this down, but we're gonna pick it back up because this isn't the end of this conversation. This isn't the end of what we're doing and what we're trying to do. In fact, when I think about you saying getting men together, talking to each other, that's what Journey to Freedom is all about. It is a place where we are gonna take folks from where they're currently at to where they wanna be. When you talk about a vision board, you know you talk about the things that you put on it. Their visions because you can't obtain them by yourself. Their visions because you need help to be able to get there. Their visions because if you could go by it, you just go by it. It wouldn't need to be on the board, right?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:That's the type of stuff that you put on there, the pictures that you put on there, and so, when I think about what Journey to Freedom is gonna be, we're gonna have some point before this year's over. We are going to have a boot camp. We are going to have an intensive time that's gonna be over several weeks where you're gonna come as an instructor. You're gonna come and you're gonna feed into people. You're gonna be able to tell those stories. I'm gonna tell some of the stories I have. We're gonna bring people from all over the country in and we're gonna sit the folks down who are willing to go through this and get going. You know what? We have this podcast right now. So I want you to make sure you subscribe Wherever the subscribe button is, I don't know where we're gonna put it, but you subscribe to this podcast because something's gonna come out at least every week over the next 24 months.
Speaker 1:Hey, I have a daily mindset, part of the initiative that I'm doing. It's a seven minute video every single morning that you can subscribe to. And when I say that here, this one is not gonna be free. This one's gonna cost you $7 a month or $64 for the whole year. Why? Because if you put something skin in the game, you are absolutely going to listen to it. If I just throw it out there for free, I have one. I've been doing a mindset daily for over 500 days, every single day, and a lot of people listen to it. Sometimes not sometimes, but this is gonna be specifically to help you move. Hey, a-doh, and we're gonna put it in the description if you go to the Journey to Freedom podcastus or journeyfreedomus, you'll be able to get on the subscription. If after one year, if after one year you don't believe you got 10 times the value. So if it's $64 for the year, $640, if you did it that way, or $840, you don't believe it's not worth it, at least that I will give you all of your money back because every single day we're gonna put out content that is gonna help you be able to move forward, to be able to create those relationships. You know we're gonna have some Zoom meetings throughout the year where we're gonna bring you into a Saturday where we're gonna just bring somebody in and talk about what is it you need? You need to do next, practical steps.
Speaker 1:We can talk about the mindset stuff on here on the podcast. We can talk about our journeys and what we did and be examples. I want to walk you through what does it take to buy a house. I want to walk you through what does it take to buy a business. I want to walk you through what does it take to be a great husband. I want to walk you through what does it take to get the help that you need so that your body works right, right. I want to walk you through what does it mean to have the identity that you want to have, so that you can progress and that you can be the person you want to be.
Speaker 1:So this is something that is not for right now. This is a journey, and it's a journey that I want you guys to come on with us. You know Milford's excited about it. I'm excited about it. Milford, I want you to give any closing thoughts that you want to let everybody know, and then you're going to get on the podcast. You're going to subscribe to this one. You're going to get on that daily mindset journey as well. Subscribe to that, and then we're going to talk to you over and over and over and get you to where you want to be. Milford, go ahead and tell us what it is your closing thoughts as today goes by.
Speaker 2:Well, I want to share this with everyone. Me and Brian, we have a trusted relationship, and so I want to say this you have to build trusted, organic relationships, and which means that it's truthful. And trust means that your word is your word, whatever you commit to, not just in your family, but to your colleagues and your business partners and people around you, to your children. I don't know how many times that I have heard children say my dad promised me this, never did it. My mom promised me this, never did it. Build authentic, trusted relationships and your word is what your word means the followup. If I can't do it, then call and say why I can't, but understand we have to be of the count on you and trust you with and then, as you listen to Brian podcast, do an inventory of your own life.
Speaker 2:Don't get great information and never do nothing with it. And it doesn't mean like a lot of times it's a lot of things, Brian, could be out of order in our lives. I need you to be like near my and put one brick back in check. If it's one brick that says I'm going to go home and apologize to my wife because I've been mean today, or I had infidelity, or I did drugs, or I spent money where I shouldn't have spent money. Go back and apologize to those individuals that you have hurt in your life and get it off of you, instead of trying to move away from them and say, well, they deserved it. You be the person, even if they hurt you. I'm not saying get into a position where they could continue to hurt you. That's not what I'm saying. But you gotta forgive it in your heart so you can move forward. And so those are my departing words today. There's a lot of other stuff, but I hope that helps.
Speaker 1:We are going to get to that, and this isn't the first time. It is the first time that we've been on this podcast at this time in this day, but it is not the last time that we're going to work together. It's not the last time that we're going to work with you. It's not the last time that you have the opportunity to better yourself, and so, like I said at the end of all of my podcasts, that you can do this. You can do this. This is something that you can take to yourself to the next level. You deserve this. God put us on this planet with the ability to create and to move forward and to do things the way that he would have us do it, and so you can absolutely do this. And, finally, let us help you.
Speaker 1:This is not a journey that you need to go on by yourself. You let us be part of your life for the next few years and just see, just get a little glimpse of what your life can be if you get with the right people, you get in the right community, you get with the people who have your best interest at heart. That you're not thinking in your back of your mind. What are the alternative motives? What are they thinking that they wanna do? No, this is purely to make you a better person and we're gonna do the best that we can. So thank you for being on another episode of the Journey of Freedom podcast and we will look forward to talking to you on the next one. Have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2:We love you Up %.