Justin Tutt AKA The Man in the Black Chucks is dedicated to stepping on purpose and leading our youth and others to their greatest achievements. With a national reach, Justin works closely with students, staff, and community leaders, equipping them with the necessary tools and skill set to overcome life's challenges. Join me as we dive into Justin's inspiring journey, invaluable insights on battling failure and guiding others to step on purpose.
Instagram Handle: @themanintheblackchucks
Website: www.themanintheblackchucks.com
Justin Tutt AKA The Man in the Black Chucks is dedicated to stepping on purpose and leading our youth and others to their greatest achievements. With a national reach, Justin works closely with students, staff, and community leaders, equipping them with the necessary tools and skill set to overcome life's challenges. Join me as we dive into Justin's inspiring journey, invaluable insights on battling failure and guiding others to step on purpose.
Instagram Handle: @themanintheblackchucks
Website: www.themanintheblackchucks.com
Hey guys. Welcome to Heart to Talk the podcast. I am the host and creator Theresa Cesare My intention for this podcast is to deliver to you wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Through solo episodes and conversations amongst insightful people. It is my greatest honor to bring to you talks that come from the. Welcome back, beautiful. Souls in today's episode, I have the privilege of hosting Justin Tutte, also known as the man in the black chucks. Justin is dedicated to stepping on purpose and leading our youth and others to their greatest achievements. With a national reach, Justin works closely with students, staff, and community leaders, equipping them with the necessary tools and skill set to overcome life's challenges. Join me as we dive into Justin's inspiring journey, invaluable insights on battling failure and guiding others to step into their purpose. Welcome to the show, Justin!
Justin Tutt:Yes. Good afternoon. Good morning. Good day to everybody here. It is such an honor and a privilege to be a part of this. I'm so excited. I can't wait to get into things, man. Let's get it going. My name is Justin Tut and I'm known as the man in the black chucks and I wear the most powerful, beat up, busted and challenging sneakers in the world. See, my shoes are special, not because of the way that they look, not because of the brand that they are, not even because of how much they cost. My shoes are powerful because every single day I choose to step on Purpose. And I truly believe that each one of us are one step away from my success.
Theresa Cesare:Wow. Now I am inspired already. Thank you for that powerful introduction of yourself. How did you become who you are today tell us your story.
Justin Tutt:Definitely, definitely. Thank you so much for asking that question. I have honestly, for the past 12 years, been giving what I wished I had as a young person, honestly, growing up in a poverty stricken area, being in a situation where, you know, I wasn't really able I wasn't set up. Let's say for success. I had to overcome just the childhood trauma that comes with being in a single family home, being the oldest, oldest sibling, having to raise my two sisters since the age of seven, uh, being a man in the house, if it comes with a responsibility, um, if there's anybody out there that is, that is the oldest sibling, you know what I'm talking about. Even if you are the baby, you know what it's like when it comes to holding it down to responsibilities for everybody. So shortly put, man, I have always wanted to be something to someone, right? And that started when I started just cutting this one kid's hair for free and I would cut his hair and he would read a book to me. That's how he paid me. And I would go back and go back. And every two weeks, there was another kid there. And I'm like, OK, I can, I can cut his hair, too. And then I went again and it was five kids. I'm like, OK, we're getting kind of big, but I'll cut their hair. When I went back maybe the sixth time, there was about 12 to 15 kids there. And I said, I can't cut all these kids hair. There's no way I'm going to finish this in time. But what I learned from our relationship was that it wasn't so much about the haircut. I was still a college student and I was exposing him to my world. It was our conversation that truly embarked him on a different mindset of what he could do in his life. Because here he is meeting somebody that's going through some of the same challenges that he's facing that are allowing him now to still be a success or be someone important to someone else's life. So I have honestly been giving for the past 12 to 15 years everything that I wish I had as a kid. And you might know I work with educators too. I'm an educator in the streets or in the community, but I am not a teacher by trade. And the reason why my voice is so powerful is because I'm bringing life to the students perspective on things. I know what that at-risk student feels like.'cause I was that at-risk student.
Theresa Cesare:I Have seen you in action and you are just magnetic and authentic share with us what your mission is.
Justin Tutt:So my mission, simply put, is to lead others to step on purpose. I know we all make mistakes. We all mess up sometimes we fall down, we step in those deep puddles, right? But we find ourselves counting ourselves out and we feel like, you know what, I can't go any further. There's nowhere else for me to go. And when you start to take on that mindset and you begin to accept that you don't feel like you can do the things that are truly intended for your life, you start to step without purpose. You just go through the motion. And I feel it is my duty. It is my calling is my my mission to empower and to inspire and educate not just our youth, but others to step on purpose. Right? To intentionally decide where you want to go and regardless of what comes your way, you get there because we need you. You're right. Like I truly believe that each one of us, we are needed.
Theresa Cesare:I love that mission. So powerful. When did you start realizing you were stepping on purpose? Do you remember the day?
Justin Tutt:Uh, so, I'll say this. When I was in college, my senior year in college, a couple of friends decided they wanted to play a pick up basketball game. And I am not a basketball player. I'm telling you, I can dribble that. I couldn't dribble that well. I'm not a shooter, any of that, but I'm like, I'm gonna come cheer y'all on. I'm gonna come support y'all. And I want you to do, you know, I'm gonna support y'all and just be in the audience. Well, long story short, I get in there playing basketball and I go up for a rebound and I feel a click on the back of my heel and I ruptured my Achilles tendon. This is my senior year in college. I am applying for jobs. I am interviewing and now I have to be on bed rest for literally the next 10 months. Uh, because I didn't go to the hospital as soon as it happened. I walked around for about. And it healed the wrong way now with me having that much time to myself and not able to hang out with people and be be out outgoing. I had to sit still. And what happened in that time is I started to reevaluate the person I was becoming. Was I becoming? This person because of the world or was I becoming this person because of me and I found myself Being pushed in a direction that honestly I didn't want to go in I was Feeling the desire to make money because I didn't want to be poor again Right. But in the long run of things, I realized that if I continue to let the world push me in a direction it wants to go, I'll never actually find out what's meant for me. And that is where I actually, with crutches on, I went and cut that kid's hair. I was in the healing process and I gave what I wish I would have had at his young age to him so that he could possibly not make the same mistakes that I made. So that was the turning point for me and one thing I did that really worked for me is that I got a journal and I wrote every day in my journaling every single day and I talked to myself and that was like my sense of therapy. But one thing I did within that journal is I wrote down. 100 percent of the good and bad flaws of my father and, uh, and 100 percent of the good and bad flaws of my mother, because ultimately I'm a hundred percent of them. So I pulled traits and characteristics and lifestyle from them. So let me analyze who it is that I am. And that right there allowed me to realize that I was becoming more of them less me.
Theresa Cesare:Wow. That's a powerful reflection. All right. Let's dive in and talk about battling failure.
Justin Tutt:Yes. Yes. So when it comes to failure, you know, a lot of us would say, Hey, when we're younger, I failed the test. Right. Or, Oh my gosh, we were playing basketball and I missed a shot. I failed my team. Oh my goodness. I failed my driving test. And I, I don't know what to do now. And we all know when the feeling of failure creeps in, it is detrimental to the way that we see ourselves. Right. Like when I fail or mess up, it's like, oh my gosh, like I have, I have failed at life. Right. And it feels overwhelming, I was in a relationship and it didn't work out. You know, the person that I thought I loved broke my heart and we take it personal and make it into a failure, right? And we label ourselves not good enough because of the failures that we went through from a job I applied for and I didn't get the job and now I'm not going to be able to make the money and you start to go on this whole like snowball effect of being a failure and failure is really when you view yourself as not good enough for something that you set out for. So what what happens is that we start to. Label ourselves as these people who are not good enough and we don't reevaluate and give ourselves a chance, right? So failure is when you have. So much doubt, right, that there is no continuing and you feel like there's no way I can move forward past this.
Theresa Cesare:what do you tell people or guide people or what tips you use yourself and how to be able to move forward? Forgive yourself, you know, to get back on track.
Justin Tutt:Yes. Oh my gosh. So like, uh, again, we all are going to have that feeling where you're like, bro, like I'm terrible at this. Like I, I destroyed everything, but the, the, the most important part when you feel that way is how you pick yourself back up. Right. How are you going to continue through this life that honestly, if you haven't gotten to your spot yet, right, your place, cause somebody needs you. If you haven't reached that space yet, you get to it. Finish out your, you know, your, your purpose. And when it hits you and it feels so overwhelming, the first thing you have to do is accept the space that you were in, right? I took that journal out and I wrote in that journal. I said, man, I feel like this right now. And I'm, I'm, I'm bad at this and I'm, I'm messing up in this situation. Uh, but when you start to reflect, right. I call it a triple A, right? I call on triple A whenever I get a flat tire, right? When you get a flat tire, triple A, look, I need you to go help me. Well, triple A for me, right? It stands for accept, address. Adjust, right? Accept, address, love that, and adjust. So the first step in calling AAA is you have to address the situation, right? I have put myself here, or I made this mistake, I count, I counted on somebody else, and they let me down. And that fear of that feeling of failure starts to creep in. Well, let me now, you know, let me first accept it. Now let me address it. How is it that I'm going to move forward from this situation? Uh, when you feel like you have messed up, right? The first and the most important thing you have to do is to understand that you get another chance, right? A lot of times we don't want to give ourselves another chance because we feel like I'm a mess up again. Well, honestly, I like I had to take over a thousand no's before I got the first yes to come and speak to an organization. I received over 1000 no's before I got my very first yes. But in the process of getting, getting those no's, the first couple hurt, but eventually I became stronger. I became smarter, like I knew what I needed to do to not get the full no that I got the last time. And it's just like anything we do is when you are. When you're willing to go forward, regardless of what happens, when you're willing to take that step, regardless of being afraid, you start to find out something about yourself. And you start to realize that there's something deep down inside of you that is bigger and stronger than all of your fears combined. And that usually is your purpose. It's your why. So once you address it, you know, you accept it, you address it and you adjust now moving forward. What am I going to do differently? What did I learn from this situation? When I fail at something, when I feel like I've messed up, I don't take it as a failure. I take it as a lesson. I know I messed up, but like, I got to learn from, if I don't learn from what just happened, then I'll end up back here again. And I'll, I'll give a quick example. It's like, when you are. In the relationship, right? And let's say that that relationship is strained by financial means. And, and we all have been there before where it's like, you don't have the money. Well, I'm tired of this or you, you're not bringing anything to the table. So I feel some type of way, whatever that is. When we adults, we start to have those issues, but if we don't address our part. To contributing to that situation will go through that process again because the world like the universe has a way of if you don't learn it this time, you'll have to go through it again. So and again, and until you have that breakthrough. So I challenge everyone that is listening to this. If you feel like you failed at something, you've truly messed up at it. I want you to Take a look at it. I want you to call AAA. I want you to address the situation. I want you to accept the situation. Hey, I'm here. I want you to address what's going on and I want you to adjust. Be willing to make a slight change to see a different result.
Theresa Cesare:I love that triple A. Love it. Now, what about the minute we do that? We call AAA. We feel good. We're ready. We're motivated again. And we're ready to now what? Step into our purpose. Right? So what tips do you have in leading people, to start walking and stepping into their purpose?
Justin Tutt:Yes. So look, walking into your purpose, it requires you to be more you than anyone else. I can't be like you, I can't be you and then say that I'm a walk in your purpose and say is mine. It doesn't work like that. The way that you identify your purpose and you step into your purpose is by finding the things that make you feel like. Good and it might be for example, you might have somebody that likes watching TV shows You might love just watching shows, but maybe what is it about the show that you like? Is it the fact that you like the creativity of the you know of the wording of words? They're saying you might be a great writer Do you like the fact that these actors and actresses are able to come into a new space and, and really own it? Maybe you're into acting. Maybe you're in producing. Maybe you're just into the idea of having structure. So what about the structure of the TV show do you like? And I'm using that because a lot of us get glued to these series and we watch it and watch it and watch it. I, I'll be honest with you. I don't, I watch TV or, or stream is the streaming, but I don't consume it so much that it becomes who I am. Right. I got to get to my show. I got to do this thing. It's like, I'll get to it if I have time, but I've replaced whenever I feel like I'm bored or I feel like I, I have to find something that adds value to me. When you start to build yourself, like your weaknesses and things you feel like you're not that great at. It ultimately allows you to be a better version of yourself and you start to identify things inside of yourself that you didn't even know you had. So for anybody that's looking to move into the purpose and step into that light, I want you to be real enough with you to know what you need to work on to make you a better person. In the process of working on yourself. You were going to discover the thing that makes you so happy and makes you feel so good about you because you're getting outside of your comfort zone, right? When you get outside that space, outside of your comfort zone, that is where all of us grow. So I challenge you to leave your comfort zone. Don't replay and go back to all those familiar pain spots and just be willing to be uncomfortable and walk into it. Knowing that you are going to do this regardless of what comes your way I'm being honest with everybody. Like I intentionally made myself uncomfortable. I mean, I did a speech today that I didn't even. Know what I was going to deliver until I stepped on the stage. Like I stepped on the stage and I delivered it from my heart and it ended up being an amazing experience for everyone, the audience, including myself, because if I don't make myself uncomfortable. I'll start to feel like I got it all figured out. Oh, you know that feeling. We all know I got this. I know how to do this. I ain't worried about what nobody. No, because if, if I'm always there, I'll be end up being conceded in the, in the journey of life. I'll start to think that I have it all figured out and there's no space for me to grow. So I intentionally every single week, make myself uncomfortable. That was today, literally two days ago. I saw an ad for a, um, A presentation that was taking place. I DM the people on LinkedIn and say, Hey, I see this coming up. Can I please attend? I know it'd be valuable for me. Y'all when I walked in there, it was nothing but principals from all around Chicago, right? Principles they were invites only they had name tags and I'm over here like they got suits on and I'm over here with a with a t shirt and a jacket on like yo, I do not belong here. However, when I sat down and I started to be engaged and be and be willing to be vulnerable in that space. I realized I was supposed to be there. Something hit me and said, you're supposed to be here. And when I finally got ready to leave, people were coming up, shaking my hand and saying, Hey man, it's good to see you. Hey, you know, they might've asked me, how'd you get here? I'm like, well, I got invited. Right. And I just roll with it because if we don't get uncomfortable. Uh, we'll stay in our comfort zone forever zone
Theresa Cesare:And I've seen you like that where you're just so you and right there is just where the connection happens.
Justin Tutt:I appreciate you saying that, but I do think you got to practice being yourself. Let me say that again. You got to practice being yourself. And I mean, like, man, we go to work and we put on this freaking tie or this shirt and this collar and we so professional and we feel like, ah, like I got to. Seeing these emails, I got to be very professional, but man, like under all of that, man, we all just kids. Like we're just, we're just grown kids. We're just like, honestly, we all used to be kids. We all used to make mistakes. We all used to be willing to do things that we didn't think we could do, but we did it. And I just tap into my childlike tendencies of being like, man. I could jump off this roof with an umbrella. Yeah, it'll work. Now, it didn't work out for me. I did fall. The umbrella did go up and I fell like two stories down and hit the ground. But in the midst of that, man, I just was okay being myself. And that really is where you start to into your purpose because I'm telling you there's no one else like you. There is no person that can do the things that you do. You are the only person that can do what we need you to do here on this earth. And if you don't do it, nobody else will ever get to do it. And in the process of doing that thing, you're going to empower someone else to go after their thing. And that is where we need you to be. Knowing that somebody is waiting on you just to keep going.
Theresa Cesare:Wow. That was well, perfectly said. Love it. All right. I'm going to wrap up this episode per tradition with these closing questions. The first one, what is your favorite quote?
Justin Tutt:Ooh. All right, so one of my favorite quotes that my grandma, she always said to me, I grew up being raised in my grandma's house, and she would say, Baby, come here. I'd say, Yes, ma'am. Sit down on that couch, sit on the couch and say, baby, if you listen, you might learn something. I said, yes, ma'am. Now, that sounds like a very small thing, but if you listen right to people around you, you will learn things that you never have experienced before. If I'm on the bus, I'll listen to the person next to me talk. Right. If they got something to say to me, I'm going to listen. If I am older and seasoned and a veteran, I'm going to listen to somebody younger so they can teach me something I don't know yet. I just feel like we all can learn from people if we wouldn't put these, uh, I would say the, these labels and, oh, they ain't good enough. You can learn from people that make mistakes too. Let me say that if you get the chance to talk to a homeless person. Learn from their mistakes so you won't have to make the same mistake and I'll stop there.
Theresa Cesare:Love that. And the next one, what is your favorite book?
Justin Tutt:Oh, my favorite book. All right. So I got two. I'm gonna go with two. So my first one, I, I am a spiritual person, so I, I do enjoy the Bible. I learned a lot from that, my, my religious and my spiritual journey. But another book that I feel is really good for me is The Secret. I don't know if anybody have heard, read The Secret before, like, the secret is, basically letting you know that the universe works in your favor, but regardless, if you are thinking good thoughts or bad thoughts, those thoughts will become your reality. Thoughts become things. And that is one of the most powerful books I ever read. And if you can't read it, you can listen to it on YouTube, right? You can listen to, I think it's about three hours long or what have you, but being able to listen to that book and read that book, it has truly. Rechanneled my attention, right? I started to focus on the things I wanted out of my life versus the things that weren't working for me. I started to manifest what I want to happen versus the things I don't want to happen. So if anybody's listening. Please check out The Secret, and it's a really good book that could truly assist you in your journey.
Theresa Cesare:All right. In the final question, do you have a favorite affirmation or mantra that you use to stay empowered?
Justin Tutt:Man, one thing. Okay. I say this to the students that I mentor with in my mental program. And this is just the first stance, the first piece of this quote that I use. And it goes like this with every step I take. I know I'm on my way. No matter if I fall, I promise to never break. Now stop there because it is a little bit longer, but with every step I take, I know I'm on my way. No matter if I fall, I promise to never break that right there. It just does something to my spirit in my, my being, because it lets me know, like, no matter if I make a bad step, a step that I see is bad, right. Or a step that I'm afraid of. When I step forward, I'm on my way somewhere. Right? And you can never move you, you can't climb a mountain accidentally. You do it one step at a time. You don't just say, I'm gonna climb this mountain and go to sleep and wake up. Mm-Hmm, and you're there. No, you literally have to take a step after, after step. So that has been one of the most powerful, quotes that I live by. because I think it's just, so real, as long as you just keep stepping, you eventually get there. And even if you fall down, just get back up and keep working at it. So I hope that helps somebody that's listening.
Theresa Cesare:Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Please download, rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Also, be sure to visit my theresacesare.com to check out my inspirational merch, connect to my social accounts, and much more may you continue to be filled with wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Otherwise, friends, I will be back in two weeks for another episode of Heart to.