Own Your Future: Recent Episodes
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Own Your Future is a podcast that follows the remarkable journey of opportunity youth into their ideal careers. Each story is unique and gives listeners an inside look at the lives of these young people - the good and the rest.
The word “nurturer” certainly describes Shanique, but this Year Up Alum is so much more. While growing up in Washington D.C., Shanique confronted the challenges of coming out to her family while also navigating how to build a career beyond the retail world.
From raising her young daughter and building a strong marriage with her wife, Shanique has dedicated her career to helping young professionals navigate the often intimidating nuance of success in the IT world.
We’ve all heard it: the claim that it’s impossible to make a career out of art-making. But with gumption, confidence, and bravery, Melanie Hernandez has turned this societal expectation on its head. Follow Melanie to Miami, Florida, where she details her ventures in growing a business off of her commission-based paintings. Her canvases are as bright as her career prospects in this new episode of Own Your Future: “The Courage to Paint Rainbows”, hosted by Alisha Cox.
If there’s one thing you should know about Michael, it’s that he cares about voices. All of them. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Michael has borne witness to inequity in the education system and job market and has dedicated his life to lifting others up. In a career that’s taken him through corporate America and across the country, Michael has made it his mission to use his voice to make a difference though service, marketing, and music. Take a trip from Philly to Seattle in this newest episode of Own Your Future, “Hope is a Creative Word”, hosted by Alisha Cox.
Ruth has always been a fighter, but moving to Atlanta from Jamaica is an uphill battle. Which will it be: paying the bills or using her spare money for groceries and gas? Education and financial stability seem like a far-off dream, but Ruth's got aspirations for a bigger, better life. Tune in to witness Ruth's triumphs in Own Your Future's newest episode: "Keeping the Lights On", hosted by Alisha Cox.
Greg Walton has been happily married for ten years, with enough room in his home outside Boston for his kids to grow up running free. But life has been an uphill battle for this veteran MIT employee. Greg had to wrestle through the foster care system and navigate the impacts of spending a year in prison as a young man. How did he re-direct the course of his life, and cultivate the skills necessary to become a financial success for his family? Find out in this brand-new episode of Own Your Future “Riding Out the Rollercoaster,” hosted by Alisha Cox.
On this episode we shared the story of Mckenzy valentine, from Year Up South Florida Class 2, about growing up in America as a black man with Haitian Background, the struggle for his mom to keep a roof over their heads, his Year Up story, and the movement he is leading through "Become a Threat".
The third episode of Season One, “A Million Apples in the Basket”, circles around Bronx native and University of Chicago PhD candidate Durrell Washington. The episode follows Durrell as he reflects on his academic experiences analyzing the effects of mass incarceration with black and brown people, as well as his career prospects to become a social worker: “I knew I wanted to help kids, help empower young people of color who come from those neighborhoods that I come from.” The episode tracks the challenges Durrell has faced and continues to face as a black man in moving through university and academic spaces, sharing powerful words of wisdom for young people with bright minds who, like him, want to use their talents to make the world a better place.
Episode Two of Season One, “The Road Less Traveled”, highlights the journey of Year-Up graduate, National Influence Team Member, and Entrepreneur Jordan Urrutia, who graduated from the program with Class 15. Transplanted from Providence, to Boston, to Minneapolis—Jordan weaves his story of building a valet business from the ground up with his partnership and marriage to Oneyda Escobar, Year Up Class 10. Jordan relays how honest work and his Year Up training helped him build the confidence to face the emotionally taxing challenges that accompany running a new business while also raising a family: “I want to take my family to the top...from the skill set that I had developed with Year Up and the positions I was able to work at… I felt like “hey, I have the skills to do this on my own’”.
Own your future. A new podcast sharing the stories of young people from challenging economic backgrounds, disadvantaged schools and neighborhoods who found their place in the corporate skyscape/landscape.
Year Up introduces, Own Your Future, a podcast that follows the extraordinary journey of underprivileged young adults entering their ideal careers. Each story is unique as each individual is different. We invite for you to sit back, place your study notes to the side and listen to a story which is relatable in thought, passion, and hard work. Year Up brings you, Own Your Future.
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