Season Four
Episode 99
Shake the Dirt with Michael Arterberry
Michael's Bio:
Michael Arterberry is the Executive Director of Youth Voices Center, Inc. and the creator of the Power of Peace Program. Michael began his tenure working with youth by obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from Iona College.
In founding YVC in 2008, Michael drew heavily on his understanding and empathy for the pressures and difficulties of the teenage years. In addition to his own experiences growing up in poverty, Michael has worked with thousands of trends in a range of settings over the past 24 years as a social worker and counselor. As a teenager, Michael was fortunate to receive guidance from positive adult role models who helped him to overcome adversities and set high expectations for his future. Grateful for the role these mentors played in his own development, Michael decided to dedicate his professional life to helping teenagers navigate the difficult adolescent years.
Michael decided to form YVC while working on the Alternative to Violence Project (AVP) in Green Haven Correctional Facility. Serving as a counselor in AVP, Michael was impressed by the progress of inmates who entered the program with plenty of hesitation and resistance and left the program raving about how much it transformed their perception of themselves and others. Realizing the power of this type of experiential program, Michael founded YVC and launched the Power of Peace program to transform the lives of youth.
In 2010, Michael was selected out of hundreds of nominees to receive a USA Network Characters Unite Award, given to individuals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to combating prejudice and discrimination while increasing tolerance and acceptance within their community.
In 2014, he was the recipient of the 100 Men of Color Award for leadership in education, government, mentorship, entrepreneurial success, and community service. And most recently, he was awarded the Educator of the Year Award from Y-COP, the Youth Community Outreach Program in Mt. Vernon at the First Annual Dinner Dance on September 29, 2016.
Michael is also the subject of his wife's first religion based, spirituality book, "God was Holding My Hand," in which Rachel Arterberry chronicles his journey of coming to know the Lord. Spanning from his tumultuous childhood, to a college football injury that turned into spinal cord surgery, Michael becomes self aware that God was holding his hand each step of the way.
Links:
TRANSCRIPT OF THE SHOW
Episode 99
Shake the Dirt with Michael Arterberry
Michael's Bio:
Michael Arterberry is the Executive Director of Youth Voices Center, Inc. and the creator of the Power of Peace Program. Michael began his tenure working with youth by obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from Iona College.
In founding YVC in 2008, Michael drew heavily on his understanding and empathy for the pressures and difficulties of the teenage years. In addition to his own experiences growing up in poverty, Michael has worked with thousands of trends in a range of settings over the past 24 years as a social worker and counselor. As a teenager, Michael was fortunate to receive guidance from positive adult role models who helped him to overcome adversities and set high expectations for his future. Grateful for the role these mentors played in his own development, Michael decided to dedicate his professional life to helping teenagers navigate the difficult adolescent years.
Michael decided to form YVC while working on the Alternative to Violence Project (AVP) in Green Haven Correctional Facility. Serving as a counselor in AVP, Michael was impressed by the progress of inmates who entered the program with plenty of hesitation and resistance and left the program raving about how much it transformed their perception of themselves and others. Realizing the power of this type of experiential program, Michael founded YVC and launched the Power of Peace program to transform the lives of youth.
In 2010, Michael was selected out of hundreds of nominees to receive a USA Network Characters Unite Award, given to individuals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to combating prejudice and discrimination while increasing tolerance and acceptance within their community.
In 2014, he was the recipient of the 100 Men of Color Award for leadership in education, government, mentorship, entrepreneurial success, and community service. And most recently, he was awarded the Educator of the Year Award from Y-COP, the Youth Community Outreach Program in Mt. Vernon at the First Annual Dinner Dance on September 29, 2016.
Michael is also the subject of his wife's first religion based, spirituality book, "God was Holding My Hand," in which Rachel Arterberry chronicles his journey of coming to know the Lord. Spanning from his tumultuous childhood, to a college football injury that turned into spinal cord surgery, Michael becomes self aware that God was holding his hand each step of the way.
Links:
Youth Voices Center - https://www.youthvoicescenter.org/
Michael Arterberry Website - https://www.michaelarterberry.com/
TRANSCRIPT OF THE SHOW
Jessica: Thank you so much for reaching outa nd talking with us today.
Michael: Okay yeah. I'm happy to be here and you know - enlighten your audience.
Jessica: Yeah I appreciate it. We'll just jump right in. Can you tell us about yourself?
Michael: Alright so I like to start off telling about myself with a story.
Jessica: Great.
Michael: Right so. It's an interesting story but it allows me to unravel and speak a little bit about where I come from. It's about a farmer and the donkey. Alright. And this donkey is one of his favorite farm animals because once he finishes working on the field with the donkey he brings him back to the house and he allows the donkey to play with his kids. So you know imagine they're coming back and the kids are playing with the donkey. They ride him. They wash him. And at the end of the evening this evening he releases the donkey back out to the fields. They go inside. They go to sleep. When he comes back the next morning he calls for his donkey, but the donkey doesn't show up. So he's like wow where's my donkey? So he goes out to the farm and he's looking for him and during the night the donkey wandered and fell into an empty water well.
So when he realizes he sees him at the end of the water well, he says, "Wow." Of course he wants to get him out. So he goes and gets six of his friends and they come over to the well. And they're like how are we going to get him out. So they decide they're going to use a rope and pull him out. So they all get some rope and they start lassoing the donkey. They throw the rope. They miss. They throw it. They miss. Finally they throw it on his hind legs. He steps into the rope. They shimmy it up his body and they start pulling. They pull. The donkey moves. They pull. The donkey moves. They pull. The donkey moves. Halfway up the well they realize wow - he's too heavy. They couldn't move him anymore so they lower him back to the bottom of the well and now this farmer has to make this grim decision. See he can't feed him his food at the bottom of the well for his family because that doesn't make sense. He can't starve him because in his mind like I said he's like a pet. One of his hot headed friends is like, "hey just shoot him." He's like, "No I can't do that. That's too violent." One of his more reasonable friends is like "Hey you don't want your kids to fall into the well. So we're going to cover him with dirt so that your kids don't fall in, but you're going to have to sacrifice your donkey." So they start shoveling the dirt in the well and every time that dirt hits the donkey it would cost the farmer some distress.
Dirt. The donkey would scream.
Dirt. The donkey would scream.
Then all of a sudden the scream stopped and when the scream stopped they gave the donkey a moment of silence, but they kept going to work. They kept shoveling the dirt. Shoveling the dirt. The next thing you know you see the donkey's right ear. They keep shoveling the dirt. Shoveling the dirt. The next thing you know you see half his body. They keep shoveling the dirt. And Jessica - he walks right out of the well that he fell into.
So let me explain. Every time that dirt came across the wall it fell on his back, he would shake it off and he would step on it. And he took every scoop of dirt that was meant to kill him to save his life. So I open up with a story because what I need your audience and for you to understand is that all of us have dirt. Everybody has dirt. We start accumulating dirt from birth. Some of my dirt is the fact that I grew up in an alcoholic - in a home with an alcoholic dad. He was a raging alcoholic and I have to emphasize raging because he died when I was 16, but he raged every day of my life until he died. Along with the alcoholic dad I grew up in poverty. Both my parents worked hard. My mom was a housekeeper and my dad drove a bus, but his money went to the alcohol and the streets whereas my mom raised four kids with minimum money because she didn't make much. You know, and as far as disfunction I didn't really have good mentorship from my siblings because my siblings - I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers - but they could only give me what they were given. You know what I'm saying? And they weren't being raised properly as well. And so I grew up in this environment that was very unstable, but if you look at my profile as a child you would never believe that I've been able to do what I do now as an adult so that's kind of a snapshot.
So when he realizes he sees him at the end of the water well, he says, "Wow." Of course he wants to get him out. So he goes and gets six of his friends and they come over to the well. And they're like how are we going to get him out. So they decide they're going to use a rope and pull him out. So they all get some rope and they start lassoing the donkey. They throw the rope. They miss. They throw it. They miss. Finally they throw it on his hind legs. He steps into the rope. They shimmy it up his body and they start pulling. They pull. The donkey moves. They pull. The donkey moves. They pull. The donkey moves. Halfway up the well they realize wow - he's too heavy. They couldn't move him anymore so they lower him back to the bottom of the well and now this farmer has to make this grim decision. See he can't feed him his food at the bottom of the well for his family because that doesn't make sense. He can't starve him because in his mind like I said he's like a pet. One of his hot headed friends is like, "hey just shoot him." He's like, "No I can't do that. That's too violent." One of his more reasonable friends is like "Hey you don't want your kids to fall into the well. So we're going to cover him with dirt so that your kids don't fall in, but you're going to have to sacrifice your donkey." So they start shoveling the dirt in the well and every time that dirt hits the donkey it would cost the farmer some distress.
Dirt. The donkey would scream.
Dirt. The donkey would scream.
Then all of a sudden the scream stopped and when the scream stopped they gave the donkey a moment of silence, but they kept going to work. They kept shoveling the dirt. Shoveling the dirt. The next thing you know you see the donkey's right ear. They keep shoveling the dirt. Shoveling the dirt. The next thing you know you see half his body. They keep shoveling the dirt. And Jessica - he walks right out of the well that he fell into.
So let me explain. Every time that dirt came across the wall it fell on his back, he would shake it off and he would step on it. And he took every scoop of dirt that was meant to kill him to save his life. So I open up with a story because what I need your audience and for you to understand is that all of us have dirt. Everybody has dirt. We start accumulating dirt from birth. Some of my dirt is the fact that I grew up in an alcoholic - in a home with an alcoholic dad. He was a raging alcoholic and I have to emphasize raging because he died when I was 16, but he raged every day of my life until he died. Along with the alcoholic dad I grew up in poverty. Both my parents worked hard. My mom was a housekeeper and my dad drove a bus, but his money went to the alcohol and the streets whereas my mom raised four kids with minimum money because she didn't make much. You know, and as far as disfunction I didn't really have good mentorship from my siblings because my siblings - I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers - but they could only give me what they were given. You know what I'm saying? And they weren't being raised properly as well. And so I grew up in this environment that was very unstable, but if you look at my profile as a child you would never believe that I've been able to do what I do now as an adult so that's kind of a snapshot.
Jessica: So how did you become the encourager and motivator that you are? I mean obviously you are represented by that donkey where you had the dirt thrown on you and you have overcome that stuff and walked out free so how have you taken those life situations and become the encourager and motivator that you are?
Michael: You know what I did was I created a Youth development program which I call Power of Peace. And what I did was I went to school to be a social worker so I mixed my social work, academic heart with the life that I grew up. I put them together and I created a two level interactive experience that I do with young people and adults as well. And what I do is it's two full days. It's experiential. And I run them through different activities that allows them to get in touch with what their dirt is. See when I go into a high school for 25-30 students, I want my group to be made of white-black-latino-honor roll-kids that are struggling. I put them in a room and I allow them to have a intimate experience with themselves, but in the process they're able to build community with people that they would normally not speak to. So I took my dirt and I was able to use it to create this vehicle so that I'm able to help others to take their dirt and do the same as what I was able to do with my own life.
Jessica: Awesome. When you do this with the groups of students, how do you get them to open up?
Michael: So everything we do is in a circle and so imagine you've got these 25-30 students in a circle. The first thing I do is I open up with a picture of the house that I grew up in. And I show that to them. Now if you see the picture of it, it looks condemned, but it's not. It's where I lived and I explain to them how in the wintertime I lived where you paid rent and we would pay rent to the landlord, but he wouldn't fix anything. So there were times in the winter where we didn't have heat so my mom - to heat my apartment - would actually take turkey basting pans on the stove and boil water. And the water would create vapors and that would create my heat. And if that wasn't enough she would crack the oven and put the oven on. And I walk them through what it's like to live in that house, but not to leave them there I show them the raised ranch that I live in now. So before we even get into anything about their own personal lives I'm transparent and I put my stuff on the table first so that it doesn't put them in the position to feel as if I'm asking them to divulge something that as a facilitator I'm not willing to go and do before we start the process.
So you know by allowing them to see it upfront a teenager or any person if they think you're not authentic, then they're trying to troubleshoot your message. So what I don't want to happen especially with young people is I don't want them to try to figure me out while going through the process. So I want to take that away. Why does this guy think that he has the credibility to speak to me? I show them my credibility by being able to put that up front.
So you know by allowing them to see it upfront a teenager or any person if they think you're not authentic, then they're trying to troubleshoot your message. So what I don't want to happen especially with young people is I don't want them to try to figure me out while going through the process. So I want to take that away. Why does this guy think that he has the credibility to speak to me? I show them my credibility by being able to put that up front.
Jessica: Yeah. You go in and you talk to students and you said you also talk to adults. Do you ever do interactions with teachers as well? Talking with teacher groups?
Michael: Yeah yeah. Well, not only, so check out how I do it with teachers. I mandate that there's a minimum of 2 teachers in each student group so the teachers are in the group with the students and I do that on purpose because I what I want are two things. I want the student to see the teacher outside of the classroom. What I also want the teacher to be able to see the student in a more relaxed environment. And what I get from these groups is powerful because the teacher is so focused on the academics and they don't really get to see that you have 25 students sitting in your classroom, but they have lives that they're living outside of your class that you have to take into consideration as you walk through the academics. And then also the students. I want them to see that their teachers are not robots. They don't just come in and teach them. They go home and they have regular lives.
I'll give you a story. At the end of the one of the last activities that I do at the end of the workshop I call Personal Share. And I say that to you because I have the participants bring in an item that means a lot to them. And so it can be a picture. A stuffed animal. And so imagine sitting in the circle and there's a female student who brought in a picture of her and her dad. So when she pulls out the picture of her and her dad, you're thinking about something that means a lot to you. We're waiting for this great story about her and her father. And she actually starts out by telling us that he called the night before to say that he should have aborted her. I get these stories all the time, but I'm telling you this because now she walks us through this tumultuous relationship that she has with her dad, but three people over is the teacher who has on his lap a picture of his family that he's about to show and don't you know he's in tears. He's in tears because he's hearing this girl explain this relationship with her father where he's about to explain to the group this wonderful family that he has and it broke him, Jess. It broke him. And so my groups are made for them to learn and gain respect because back to what I originated with the dirt he now has to see this student for who she really is and at the same time she sees like, "Wow." When we got to him, he couldn't show it. He told her. He says, "This is what I brought to show, but I can't even show this because I have newfound respect for the fact that you're able to come to school and have that smile on your face, but this is part of what is really your reality is like."
I'll give you a story. At the end of the one of the last activities that I do at the end of the workshop I call Personal Share. And I say that to you because I have the participants bring in an item that means a lot to them. And so it can be a picture. A stuffed animal. And so imagine sitting in the circle and there's a female student who brought in a picture of her and her dad. So when she pulls out the picture of her and her dad, you're thinking about something that means a lot to you. We're waiting for this great story about her and her father. And she actually starts out by telling us that he called the night before to say that he should have aborted her. I get these stories all the time, but I'm telling you this because now she walks us through this tumultuous relationship that she has with her dad, but three people over is the teacher who has on his lap a picture of his family that he's about to show and don't you know he's in tears. He's in tears because he's hearing this girl explain this relationship with her father where he's about to explain to the group this wonderful family that he has and it broke him, Jess. It broke him. And so my groups are made for them to learn and gain respect because back to what I originated with the dirt he now has to see this student for who she really is and at the same time she sees like, "Wow." When we got to him, he couldn't show it. He told her. He says, "This is what I brought to show, but I can't even show this because I have newfound respect for the fact that you're able to come to school and have that smile on your face, but this is part of what is really your reality is like."
Jessica: It's hard to get past the academics you know when there's so much pressure on that, but then to really see what these students are going through. Powerful.
Michael: And I also do staff development so I'll go into a school where an administrator will bring me in just to work with staff and what my material does is it builds camaraderie through transparency. And see what people have a tendency to do is they put on a mask that they wear to work, which is protective, and I understand that so you can't really allow your guard to be down with the entire world, but I think every so often people need a safe place to be able to dive in and let go of something that they've been holding on to. So I create a space where they're able to do that. Where these people are able to have new respect for their coworkers that they can take back into the environment of the day to day grind where I can look at you differently because again, in those groups you share a part of your personal life so now when I see you coming through the hallway with your coffee, you're not just Jessica, but you're Jessica with the story that I heard in the time that we participated.
Jessica: So as teachers how would you recommend that we go about really looking at students as people outside of just their student role in the classroom so that we can strengthen that relationship? going about
Michael: I think that you mentioned the academics being sort of in the front.
Jessica: Yeah.
Michael: I call it living a conscious life and so what you have to do is if you walk into the classroom and you are a little bit more conscious, they give you signals. The kids talk to you and teachers know so once they go through the experience and now they've identified that this is really going on, they can go back in their minds and say that I saw that. I really didn't want to actually put my finger on it because I wasn't sure if it was really real, but what it is is just being a little bit more conscious so that when the signal goes out rather than saying I didn't really get that signal, say to yourself yeah I did. I did. I really did feel that. And walk that out a little bit. You know. When I tell you about my story growing up my teachers caught the signal and we never had a discussion about the specifics, but they nurtured me and taught me around the fact that they knew that there's something about this guy. He's special. I don't really know what it is and I felt that. I felt that. I felt that some teachers were able to accommodate and some teachers I think our relationship was strained because I knew they knew, but they made the decision to say, "I know, but you just need to get it together and do what you have to do" type of thing.
Jessica: Yeah. Was there anything in particular - those teachers who really got you and understood you - was there anything in particular that they did that let you know that they were with you. Does that make sense?
Michael: Yeah you know and oh man. I wish it was rosy side to that because it's not. You know what happened was I was an elite athlete. I used the athletic field as respite from that craziness in my home and so I excelled athletically and I say that because I'm 52 and I'm saying that because the teachers allowed me to slide academically because they saw that if I just kept going on my path I was going to go to college. I was going to go to a big college. And then what's next? There were a million dollar contract so that whole story gets to get changed and not being born into it because that's how good I was. So the way I excelled on the field it was inevitable that my next step was going to be playing on television and that would be part of my story. I say that to me because they would pass me and guys older than me - because back in my day you could go to college without having a high school diploma. Yeah. The way the rules were so they're passing me. They're not holding my feet to the fire. I get into my senior year and out of all the recruits in the nation I pick __ as my favorite. I was the #22 recruit in the nation. So I'm on my way to the next step and then they pass the rule. You needed an 800 on your SATs and you needed a C average. I lost every single free ride that I was offered.
Jessica: Wow.
Michael: Yeah. So they helped me. You know if I would have went on to the big school... I ended up going to college, but I didn't go off to the big schools because they couldn't offer me the scholarship. So you know they helped me and it's a double edged sword. If they would have held my feet to the fire and I did my academics, I could have been a professional athlete. But I feel like what I do today is more my calling than running a football and getting paid. That's temporary. I would be broke by now probably. You know what I mean?
Jessica: Yes. So then. Kind of going back again to the teacher aspect because most of the people listening to this are teachers, what would you say to them when they do see a student who resembles what you were going through or who, you know, when you see something and how would you encourage that...
Michael: I got that.
Jessica: How would you encourage that?
Michael: I got that. You have to find a balance. What I mean by balance is you can't try to save the world, which I had to learn as a social worker. But you have to create space because a kid can't learn the academics if they're drowning with the stuff that's going on in their lives so when they kind of pick up on a kid that is on that edge, understand that maybe give them some help or sometimes being direct. Saying, "Hey listen Jimmy. Can I talk to you after class?" You call Jimmy in and you say, "Hey listen Jimmy. You don't have to tell me. I just want you to know that I kind of feel like there's some things going on in your life. I can't... this is not about me making it easier for you, but how can we work together so that we can achieve the goals that we need to meet? You need to pass. I need to get the credit for passing you. But I have to be able to create almost like customizing a plan for Jimmy so that you know, sometimes those more difficult students, when you show some empathy, sometimes... I'm letting the teachers know. Even in my groups and I'm a master encourager I run into the brick walls as well. So there's some kids where listen there's not much empathy you can give, they're just going to be holy hell and that's just what it is. And when you get that you have to say to yourself, "Alright Jimmy. Well Jimmy you're going to have to deal with whatever the consequences is." But you will get that student that will be appreciative to the fact that you've been able to step outside your role. I say it like this Jessica. Sometimes a person doesn't want you to fix their problem. They just want you to acknowledge that you know that they have a problem.
Jessica: I have seen students exactly like that. Yeah. Absolutely. And even adults too.
Michael: Oh yeah yeah. That's what I'm saying.
Jessica: How do you encourage the students to take ownership then of their - not just their lives - but of receiving help or being open to help? How do you encourage them?
Michael: So what I do is part of my group I have a tag that I talk about. Be the driver of your car, not the passenger of your car. And so what I do with them is I start with affirmation and I explain to them that we are products of our thought lives. What I do is I explain to them that human nature is we battle with it on an individual level, but then there's other people that hinder us with having a positive outlook of ourselves. So there's our peers. It can be family members. And I explain to them that we have to learn how to process the information that we get because if we don't process it properly, it plants itself. It germinates and it grows. So what I explain to them because we've talked about the donkey and the dirt is they now have to be able to navigate through their dirt, go back in their story, and see if there was some land mines that they stepped on where they've had some damage, but not realized it and now have to say to themselves, "Am I making decisions today that are because of something that either happened to me when I was growing up or something that was told to me?" So what it is is a lot of teenagers lose themselves in the process of trying to find themselves so I want to center them and that's what the two days is about. All my activities are grabbing information, but then when I grab the information it's not like you go to some workshops where they make you do something and it's deep and it really gets you to think about something and then facilitator just leaves you on the high one. Like yeah. You made me go here. I got this. But what I do is once they get it, I now let them kind of feel this. So I'm going to explain an activity to you so that you understand what Im talking about.
We do an activity that I call Who Am I. So I give them 10 slips of paper. They write down 10 positive and negative characteristics of who they are. And so they write them down. They have the 10 words. I explain to them that no-one will see so then they don't have to be afraid of being honest of what they've put on their paper. Once they have the 10 slips of paper, I have them prioritize them. Least important to the most important. I have them do that and then I run them through a script. Slip #1 - how does it affect your relationships? How has it affected your life? Slip #2. And after each slip I have them crumble it up and drop it on the floor in front of them. So now they've gone through all ten slips of paper. They've envisioned how this word has affected their lives and then I tell them, Jessica, pick up the ones they want, but the ones they don't want leave them on the floor. And so now they have the words they want. They now have the words that are on the floor that they don't want and now we walk through the process. Now you have this teenager and sometimes that activity alone - tears. I've seen teenagers cry in the process of going through their words because they never heard the echoes of what was really going on in their lives. And so now this gives them new traction. You know, for some teenagers it's a new birth because they're like... and we have adjective names so before we start we give adjective names so my name is Mighty Mike. So they'll say, "Mighty Mike, I didn't know." I say, "That's why you're here." So it gives them a better perspective. And I tell them in the beginning, "I can't change what's going on in your life, but I can promise you after the two days I will give you a proper perspective on what you've been going through."
We do an activity that I call Who Am I. So I give them 10 slips of paper. They write down 10 positive and negative characteristics of who they are. And so they write them down. They have the 10 words. I explain to them that no-one will see so then they don't have to be afraid of being honest of what they've put on their paper. Once they have the 10 slips of paper, I have them prioritize them. Least important to the most important. I have them do that and then I run them through a script. Slip #1 - how does it affect your relationships? How has it affected your life? Slip #2. And after each slip I have them crumble it up and drop it on the floor in front of them. So now they've gone through all ten slips of paper. They've envisioned how this word has affected their lives and then I tell them, Jessica, pick up the ones they want, but the ones they don't want leave them on the floor. And so now they have the words they want. They now have the words that are on the floor that they don't want and now we walk through the process. Now you have this teenager and sometimes that activity alone - tears. I've seen teenagers cry in the process of going through their words because they never heard the echoes of what was really going on in their lives. And so now this gives them new traction. You know, for some teenagers it's a new birth because they're like... and we have adjective names so before we start we give adjective names so my name is Mighty Mike. So they'll say, "Mighty Mike, I didn't know." I say, "That's why you're here." So it gives them a better perspective. And I tell them in the beginning, "I can't change what's going on in your life, but I can promise you after the two days I will give you a proper perspective on what you've been going through."
Jessica: Oh that's powerful. How do you think - we've been quarantined fora month now - that's a big thing that's been going on in our country and in the world now. Education looks a little different. Doing things online and everything. how do you think we can help teenagers during this time to particularly grow and see themselves through that lens like you just shared with the papers. Choosing to see themselves with the qualities they want to be.
Michael: Right. Right. Well I think this is for the world. Not just teenagers, but this time is about being able to self-reflect and create that life that you dreamt of. You have nothing but time. But I think rather than looking at this as a time of being trapped, you know, this is the time where for me once they finally let us out, my business is already flourishing in the flesh in person, but you add the virtual side to it. Oh my gosh - I mean I'm going to be at a totally different place so I think rather than looking at it as a punishment, you know what I'm saying, you've got to look at it as something of a gift.
Jessica: Absolutely. I was talking with a coworker today. Both of us had spent part of our morning outside. I had walked my dog. She had taken her dog for a walk. We were talking about how beneficial this time has been to do some of these things that we might not be able to do on a regular schedule. You know and just what a blessing it is to have this time if we use it in the right way.
Michael: Yeah. No definitely. Definitely beneficial. Even with my nutritional and working out. You know what I'm saying. I workout regularly. After the quarantine I want to unveil even like a different body type. You know what I'm saying? A body that's a little more in shape after the quarantine. I'm not going to be... some people with the lack of activity may gain a little weight, but at the same time I'm using this time to get in touch more with my body.
Jessica: That's great. So where can we find your work?
Michael: My motivational speaking website is www.michaelarterberry.com. And on there you can see more or less what I do with the adults and when I go out on the road and I speak. My podcasts. And I have different YouTube videos there where they can kind of get a more sense of who I am. They can go to my non-profit website which is youthvoicescenter.org. There they get to see the work that I do with the youth and see my program and the pieces of it, but also there's a nice video on that website where they can actually see the program in progress. I don't know if you got to see it, but if you go to the website it says see the students in action and you can see it. They can follow me on Facebook which is Michael Arterberry and on there what I do is I post pictures each time I go in and out of the schools so you get to see where I'm at. You know what I'm saying. In my different schools on a regular basis of where I've been and what students I've been able to touch. And LinkedIn as well. I share my message and my story there so those are a few places that their able to see me.
My Instagram is a mixture of the students and me. And I think the same with my Facebook. I say that because it's not as business-like, but that's @ctthunder at Instagram. After football I took up bodybuilding as one of my hobbies and so every so often, you know what I'm saying, I have to show that I'm still in shape so I may flex a little bit for my Instagram. But you know what I'm saying, it's all in fun. Everything's about motivation so not only it's spirit, mind, and body so I try to bring my messages from all over.
My Instagram is a mixture of the students and me. And I think the same with my Facebook. I say that because it's not as business-like, but that's @ctthunder at Instagram. After football I took up bodybuilding as one of my hobbies and so every so often, you know what I'm saying, I have to show that I'm still in shape so I may flex a little bit for my Instagram. But you know what I'm saying, it's all in fun. Everything's about motivation so not only it's spirit, mind, and body so I try to bring my messages from all over.
Jessica: And you also have a book.
Michael: Yes, two books actually. Oh wait, wait, wait - before we get to the books, the online course that they can go to: Shake the Dirt Experience.com and there they can actually sign up for the course and they'll get a free gift as well once they sign up for the course.
Jessica: Nice.
Michael: The first book my wife wrote about my life story so it goes in detail some of the things that I talked about when we first started talking. It's called God was Holding My Hand. You can get that at Amazon. Then my other book is called Be Encouraged: 250 days of motivation and inspiration. That's written like a devotional style where you can pick the page and as you pick the page, you read it and it can inspire you for the day. I purposely didn't put dates so I didn't want it to be like April 1, April 2 because people get caught up and feel like they can't read it on a specific day so you pick the page and you identify something in the page that can motivate you and enable you to be able to get through your daily processes.
Jessica: Awesome. Well I loved this and thank you for all the work that you're doing and all the things that you're helping the people in your life and the youth voices center and appreciate you sharing.
Michael: Oh thank you, thank you, thank you very much. Thank you for having me. I want to finish with something okay.
Jessica: Sure
Michael: Yeah it's in my book so it's a little teaser that they've got to get the rest of the book to get more inspiring words, but it goes like this:
Short time thinkers plant gardens
Long term thinkers plant trees
Eternity minded thinkers plant themselves in the souls of others
And that's something that I wrote and what I want your audience and hopefully for you to understand is that every time that I go out and I speak and I have my groups, I'm hoping that I instill and leaves part of myself that I interact with so you know I just want to leave that with you and your audience as we close up.
Jessica: Thank you.
Short time thinkers plant gardens
Long term thinkers plant trees
Eternity minded thinkers plant themselves in the souls of others
And that's something that I wrote and what I want your audience and hopefully for you to understand is that every time that I go out and I speak and I have my groups, I'm hoping that I instill and leaves part of myself that I interact with so you know I just want to leave that with you and your audience as we close up.
Jessica: Thank you.
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