“From Buckeye Walk-On to Community Builder: Obie Stillwell on Endurance, Equity & Everyday Leadership”

Obie Stillwell, Former OSU Buckeye walk-on, Buckeye Fever television co-host and real estate professional serving hundreds of residents in affordable housing. Obie Stillwell has lived enough lives for three people—and in this episode, Coach Tim Brown dives into the through-line behind all of them: faith-driven leadership and relentless perseverance.

From Mansfield roots to Big Ten locker rooms, Obie shares how a walk-on mindset—humble, gritty, and resilient—continues to shape how he leads family, work, and community today. The conversation spans the Breakfast Club he co-founded that regularly brings together more than 700 people across race, industry, and age, the realities of overseeing 248 units for elderly and disabled residents, and the art of running a mission with a business backbone.

Obie pulls back the curtain on why hard coaching is often the truest sign of belief, how to accept critique as investment, and why endurance—quiet, steady, uncompromising endurance—is the hidden currency of sustainable leadership.

Things turn deeply personal when Obie opens up about his son’s multi-year court battle and his own cancer fight—and the faith, scripture, and village of mentors that carried him to the other side.

You’ll leave with actionable lessons and a mandate:

• build rooms where difference strengthens community
• give people chances to fail, learn, and come back stronger
• lead in ways that are measurable and humane
• bridge generations so wisdom and energy align

If you’re building something that lasts—family, business, ministry, or neighborhood—this story will sharpen your mindset and expand your mission.

If this episode fuels you, share it with a leader in your circle, leave a review, and subscribe for more conversations that inspire excellence, service, and purpose.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Guest Intro
• 1:46 Mansfield Roots And Family Influence
• 6:57 Falling For Football And OSU Dreams
• 12:02 Walk-On Reality And Linebacker Identity
• 16:33 Lessons On Pressure, Coaching, And Confidence
• 21:52 From Real Estate To Affordable Housing Leadership
• 27:45 Faith, Trials, And Endurance
• 36:33 Creating Obi’s Breakfast Club
• 43:05 Diversity, Collaboration, And Real Impact

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:05

Welcome to Be a Baller Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Tim Brown, where we highlight leaders who just don't talk about change. They built it. Today's guest is Obi Stilwell. Obi Stilwell, former OSU Buckeye and current uh longest, longest running co-host of Football Fever. Yeah, I've been hanging out with Clay and now with David Holmes as a new guy now.

SPEAKER_02: 0:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 0:28

He's been around. Yeah, with that bow tie on and all that, brother. I'm sad line. I see you looking good on TV. Obi is a visionary business leader, strategic connector, and champion culture collaboration. More than 15 years of experience in business development, economic empowerment, and stakeholder engagement. Obi has built a career at the intersection of corporate strategy and community impact. As executive director of MRMTOAP, and also he's also the founder of Obi's Breakfast Club. And everyone looks forward to those events, a powerful network with more than 700 corporate and community leaders committed to collaboration, mentorship, and meaningful dialogue. Beyond the boardroom, Obi is a husband, father of fire, artist, writer, musician, and a true Renaissance man whose passion for culture and connection shows up in everything he does. This episode will talk leadership, equity, business with purpose, and what it really means to build something that lasts. So this is Be a Baller Podcast with Coach Tim Brown. Welcome over to the show. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I was going through all that, man. I was trying to get to the real side. You know, I was trying to get to the real OB. You know, we got to cut this off and get to get to the real OB. Talk about growing up in Mansfield, Ohio back in the day.

SPEAKER_00: 1:50

Uh man, Mansfield was wonderful. Uh I uh I I grew up, I was there. Actually, I started um started in Lexington, which is Lexington, Ohio. That's where I went to elementary school for for for a bit and then moved into uh moved over into Madison territory. Uh and um so I was there Madison to like the fifth grade. Then I moved to Colorado. I went to uh I lived in Denver, um, or Aurora, uh, Colorado, from uh I went to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade out there, and then we moved back to to Mansfield, Ohio, which was a great move for for me. It was great to be back home and everything. And and uh Mansfield just was was you know it was wonderful because I was able to, we moved back into Madison, which is kind of like a uh rural suburbia, if you will. Um but every weekend uh and every summer I was in the city. Uh Mansfield, my my grandparents lived on Bowman Street and Gherky, and uh I was either at John's Todd Park or Johns Park or uh Liberty Park and um you know running and ripping throughout the uh throughout the community. And my father was a pastor, and he was also the executive director of community action program at Head Start. So uh he was really carving spaces for um for the uh the black, brown, and poor white communities, most especially. Uh so he he became pretty uh known pretty pretty well uh within uh Mansfield, within that community. And uh he also had a newspaper called the Mansfield Star. And the Mansfield Star was a newspaper that highlighted the inner city. And uh he named it Mansfield Star off of the North Star with Harriet Tupman. Um she uh she was following the North Star to freedom. So he named it the Mansfield Star to um to really bring insight to what was going on within the community and and highlight individuals, uh, especially uh you know athletes, politicians, uh, and the elderly um in uh in our community. And just um, you know, it was just a a sounding board, if you will, of information. Most of our community is a black and brown community. We get a lot of our information from the barbershop, the hairdresser, and church, right? And so we kind of took took that experience and put it in a newspaper. So I remember at a young age, um uh second, third, fourth grade, you know, going out on Saturday mornings and delivering newspapers because it was free. Uh, and uh just like the delivering newspapers and and meeting people uh within the city, uh some would say within the hood. And uh, but uh, but you know, that was in the early to mid-80s, so it wasn't uh that many black men, if any, that had a newspaper that was being delivered and letting people know about things that they, you know, whether they need help with their electric or they need to help with their gas or there were employment opportunities. These were all things um that were in the newspaper. And they highlight, you know, someone who may be an artist or singer, um, you know, or uh a particular pastor, particular politician, um, and or students who were uh you know uh thriving academically, he would highlight a highlight a student within that, within the paper. So it was it was it was pretty cool. And so Mansfield was was great. And as I grew up and um, you know, uh I idolized Mansfield Senior High Tigers. Uh though though I ended up going to Madison, I always wanted to be a TY Tiger because my uncle, uh Tommy Murphy, who uh he was he was a um a senior that year and and junior senior, I was the ball boy. So I was I was coming into the Mansfield the city to be a ball boy. Uh and uh so uh I would wear the Mansfield Senior High Tigers t-shirt and hoodies and stuff and and be in uh rural suburbia Mansfield. And they're like, what are you doing with that about you know uh but uh but yeah, so it was it was it was great. I just I I grew up with I believe um just just a beautiful exposure to a lot of different communities and culture uh that that have shaped me today.

SPEAKER_01: 6:51

Yeah, it's not like it's a rich history, a rich childhood, rich childhood. When did you start playing football? When when did when did that when did you start when you fall in love with the game?

SPEAKER_00: 7:01

Uh I probably fell in love. I started playing flag football and probably in like fifth grade, and uh because we couldn't play tackle. So my my gym teacher, Mr. Buzzard, and then Mr. Buzzard says passed passed away. Um, but he's a just a good guy. And Mr. Buzzard um was uh created this flag football, and that's probably the first thing I remember playing any quote organized type of football was flag football with Mr. Buzzard. And uh, but I think I I fell in love with the game probably when I came, had moved to Colorado, played football out there a little bit, but then when I moved back as a freshman, uh, we were in junior high. I think I began to fall in love with the game then, and then as a sophomore, uh, when I was able to start, I started varsity as you know, as a sophomore playing linebacker. Uh Coach Dana Woodring, uh, my high school coach saw something within me to say, hey, listen, I think you can you can really play this game. And um, I really didn't know that I could actually, you know, start varsity as the because I was a basketball guy. I loved basketball. I never even I've never even been to a football camp in like over the summer or anything like that. I was always at basketball camps, I was always at the park shooting, I was always, you know, working on my my handles and my my jumper and all that kind of stuff. And when I lived out in Colorado, I was a point guard. And then when I moved to Mansfield, uh, I was like a post guy, right? You know, our middle school to our eighth grade team, we had a guy, our center was six four, you know, and I was six six foot. So I was like, but then I came back to Mansfield, all of a sudden they got me at a three and a four, and sometimes playing five. And I'm like, you know, okay. So uh, but uh and then I started getting a little thicker and all that kind of stuff, and uh so they just kind of like uh I I I kind of saw how the different sizes, you know, from out in Colorado to Mansfield, living in a smaller town, rural town. Uh but needless to say, I I kind of played football because I I I stopped growing in basketball. And so I played against a guy named Tony Miller uh at Sentry Cage camp. Um and uh he ended up playing for Marquette and led them to like this, I think he led them to the sweet 16. He was out of Cleveland, went played quarterback and point guard for Cleveland St. Joe's. And him and I were battling at this camp and and and uh it was this Las Vegas league or whatever, and I ended up uh not making it. I mean I went to the final cut and I didn't make it. And one of the coaches pulled me aside and said, listen, he said, You got we know that you got opportunities for football. He said, Some of these guys don't have any opportunity but to play basketball. He's like, so that's kind of more why you didn't make the team, not the we don't think you're good enough. He's like, but but these guys, like this is this is their only opportunity. And I was like, nah, I don't know about that. You know, uh, okay, you know, I guess, you know, uh, I wasn't that in love with football, but uh but after that, after that, I I really became super, super serious about football. Um, but again, that was going into my senior year, and I was, I never again, I'd never even been to a football camp. And a lot of guys were getting ahead of recruiting and all that kind of stuff by showing up to these football camps. I didn't, you know, at that by that time I was being raised by a single mother. We didn't have the money to send me to to to all these different football camps and stuff to my my senior year. My girlfriend bought my football cleats. I mean, like it was it was not, you know, and even the basketball camps, it was somebody in the community that paid for me to go to the basketball camp. So it wasn't like we had a expendable uh income that that we could just you know go ahead and send me, hey, we're gonna drive up to Ohio State, you know. Mansfield, man, Ohio State could have been might as well have been 10 hours away. You know, uh when when you're in certain you know economic restraints, uh you you know, you can't really, you know, you can't really even kind of visualize seeing yourself, uh, oh, I'm gonna go to Ohio State or I'm gonna do this. So it wasn't until like I actually was kind of breaking out of the house that I was like, oh, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go try and play football at Ohio State, which was a whole nother crazy, sometimes crazy thought to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01: 12:01

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. No, no, no, what led to that decision? Because I know you had some offers from some other schools, but you you chose to be a walk-on in Ohio State. What led to that decision?

SPEAKER_00: 12:12

Well, you know what? It's interesting because I did have some offers, but they all fell through. Like I I it was like last minute, like they just start schools, it's pretty much from the mat, and they just started it's they decided to go a different direction. And it was my brother and I with who had really my brother was at Akron University, which I gotta uh I always try to give him his flowers because as a single mother, my mom called him while he was in school and said, Hey, I need you to come back home to help. And so he dropped out of school, came back to Mansfield. Uh, so you can imagine he's in college enjoying himself, you know, just making an impact, you know, getting his grades, knocking out, uh, knocking it out the park. But then he, his mom, his mom calls and says, Hey, I need help, right? And I'm not working because I'm focused on school and getting to college. And so uh, which, you know, I look Heinzide 2020, I was spoiled. I should have, I could have picked up something, right? But uh, but but he so he comes back and works and helps mom navigate uh our finances so that I can have a senior year where I can just focus on and and and and on everything. So my brother literally came home, two-bedroom apartment. He's he and he's sleeping on the floor of my bedroom, sleeping on the floor of my bedroom, uh to just make things a little easier for myself and and and my mom and sister and I. So uh so my brother and I, we're in a conversation, and he says, uh, you know, where are you gonna go to school? And I was like, Man, I don't know. Ashlyn just talked to me, and this one's talked to me. He's like, Well, where do you want to go? I said, Oh, I want to go to Ohio State. And he said, Well, do you think you're good? Do you think you're the you think you're the the the the elite? Do you think you're that type of player? And I said, I said, actually, I do. He's like, Well, the only way you're gonna know is if you go to the best. And so at that point in time, he had I had like a little uh trophy case uh in my bedroom, all the different MVPs of this and defensive player of this and all that kind of stuff. And I had all the my trophies and I had my football helmet, right? My football helmet mask, the mask on the football right there, and he took an Ohio State t-shirt and he took it and he put it over all of the the awards and accolades I'd gotten in high school, and it was like a moment, right? That he said, L if you think that you're good enough to go here, he said, I only what you know the only thing I the only way you're gonna know that is if you go. He said, So I he took as he took the t-shirt, it's almost like a movie, as he took the t-shirt and put it over top of everything I did in high school, it like erased everything that I did in high school and was like, let's move forward and let's go to Ohio State. And so that's that's that's what I did. And it was like, and that was I I wasn't accepted right away. So like I was working at McDonald's and went and working out and waiting for my acceptance letter and all that kind of stuff. And I finally got my acceptance letter, came in the spring of 92, uh, and uh and and began to my journey of trying to make uh make the football team.

SPEAKER_01: 15:49

Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's a heck of a story. That's a yeah, that's a heck of a story. Like I was I was sharing with you off air how people see all this stuff that we've done, they see the glory, but they don't know the story. You know, everybody has a backstory. How was that first day of practice as a walk-on? What to take us inside, to take us on that field?

SPEAKER_00: 16:08

Woo! First day as a walk-on, man. Um man, all I every everything felt heavy. Like, you know, like the equipment and the shoes, and it was beautiful, but it was like uh, you know, a little bit out of place, right? And then Ohio State had this big horn and that's when you change periods and stuff. And it's like, so you know, because I came in in spring practice. And so we we would go from station to station to station, and everybody, you know, as soon as the horn would break break, you come in and you break it down, you know what I'm saying, and then you move on. And so I I was I came in as a strong safety because I was told that I wasn't big enough to be a linebacker. I was like, hey, so I need to go ahead and just be a strong safety. So I came in as a as a strong safety, and and uh, you know, I was I've been a linebacker and I look like I had been a linebacker. Like my feet, my the way I moved and everything. And I remember the coach uh almost towards the middle of spring ball, he said, uh I was in the the meeting room with the with the DBs, and DBs got a whole different type of swag than linebackers, right? It's that's just like it's just a whole different the chatter in the room is talking smack and talk, you know what I'm saying? And it's like it's the whole time uh I was I would be in there and I'd be like, man, and I'm trying to learn these defenses and all that kind of stuff, and just hoping to get in on the field and stuff. And and the coach, Coach Coker, who's a coach, uh he came, he's coming to the meeting to start the meeting, and he stood at the front door and he pointed at me, he said, You, come here. And I was like, I got up, I was like, what you know, I looked around like nobody knew what he why he pointed pointed me out, but he's like, hey, you come here. And and I I went, he's like, he said, follow me. He said, I'm walking you down to the linebackers. He's like, that's that's that's the position you played in high school. I was like, yeah, he's like, I think you're gonna, I I think you can um help us out better as a linebacker. And I walked into that linebacker's room and it was like, oh, like I was just I walked in and they were like, hey, what's up, man? Hey, what's up? Hey, how you doing? You know, and I'm like, they're like, hey man, that's you, you, you linebacker? Yeah, perfect, great. Like, and it was just like, hey, yeah, let me show you this, let me show you that. And I was like, oh wow. And it was like I I fit. It was like I'm back home. I'm back at linebacker, and uh, and you know, I was 6'1, 215, 210, 210, about 212. 6'1, 212. Uh, by the time I left there, I was like 6'1, 235, probably what what I played at. So I I put some weight on and stuff, but um Ohio State was was was great, man. It was it was wonderful, but it was like um there were moments in which you know it's uh kind of go through a little bit of imposter syndrome. Like, man, am I am I good enough to be here? Am I big good enough? And there are times that the coaches, you know, uh I remember Jesse, Jesse Pruitt, this guy named Jesse Pruitt.

SPEAKER_02: 19:51

He was a walking around.

SPEAKER_00: 19:53

Uh and uh Jesse Pruitt told me he's like, he gave me the best advice ever when he was on his actually on his way. Out. But he's like, let me tell you this. I was like, what? He's like, he said, when they're looking at you, he said, when you think they're watching you, they're watching you. And when you don't think they're watching you, they're watching you. And I was like, okay. And then he went on to say that if they're if they're if they're yelling at you and they're screaming at you and they're they're, you know, you might feel like, man, like like you just feel like you don't even you shouldn't be there because they're screaming at you so much and they're yelling and always telling you what you're doing wrong and all that kind of stuff. He's like they don't talk to the people who they don't find potential in. They will be, if they're not saying anything to you, that's when you should be worried. Not not when they're saying something to you. When they're saying something to you, they see potential. He said, watch the many people that the many players that the coaches say nothing to. They don't, they they don't they don't even talk to them. They talk said something when they came into the program and they say something to them when they leave the program, and that's it. It's like if they're yelling at you and they're saying, Why weren't you in the A gap? You why you you over here in the B gap or the C gap, you're supposed to be in the A guy. What are you doing? Guess what? They see potential.

SPEAKER_01: 21:28

Yeah, that's a good word. That's a good life lesson.

SPEAKER_00: 21:31

Yeah, so you can't take off your heart, you can't get emotional about that. Yeah, because they're spending those coaches are getting paid. They're spending time on you, and they're paid to put the right people on the field.

SPEAKER_01: 21:47

That's a good life lesson. So through that Ohio State experience, how does that help you in your leadership uh roles, leadership role with uh MR M R M T O A P and the Breakfast Club? How how did that experience help you on your leadership pro?

SPEAKER_00: 22:03

Um, so so MRM TOE was uh so my father was actually the executive director of this organization. Uh so this organization was established in 1965. It was a byproduct of the 1964 um uh Lyndon B. Johnson uh War on Poverty Act.

SPEAKER_02: 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 22:24

Uh so it started putting a lot of community action programs and head starts in communities. So my father in the 70s and the 80s were was um uh part of this was this executive director. They called him back after a lot of kind of up and downs with leadership. They asked him to come back and help and to to lead to lead this because they had evolved into housing. And so now they had some housing at 11 communities, 248 doors. Um, and they're like, hey, we we need some help navigating this. Well, I my background is real estate. So I'm a real estate broker. I've also owned the title agency. And so he reached out to me and said, hey son, we may if need to liquidate these. Why don't we kind of have a conversation about what's best for the organization? If we do go through some uh if we do liquidate some of this, maybe we'll have some some uh cash to be able to make some other impact uh in other areas. So needless to say, I I've known a many of these board members before, you know, for forever, because I've been around the program and some of the original board members like our our treasurer's 90 years old, right? So she's been here, she's been in that program forever. So needless to say, he uh he calls me, he says, Help son, help me out. I was like, I'm not interested, dad. He's like, No, I need you, he's I need you to come look at this these properties. I'll come, I look at them, I'm like, okay, yeah, there's some potential here. Um, and so we're looking at selling them. The people that were trying to sell them, they they people felt rude, didn't you know, you know how that are that how that is. You got sellers that can't perform or bail out, go quiet, go silent. And then they were like, Well, why don't you why don't you take over as executive director? And I'm like, well, you know, my dad was like, son, you won't you take this pro organization to the next level? Let's, you know, get get get them where they need to be. And I was like, Well, I've never thought I'd be in affordable housing, um, but uh, but but I am, and um, you know, that that leadership piece, I think, um I think it it's it's I think Ohio State and the leadership and playing sports, uh it it it all creates an this ability to absorb pressure and to navigate pressure and to navigate anxiety. And uh because I think that there's that's the bigger part of I there's uh what's um uh oh oh my goodness from um Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi says fatigue does make cowards of us all, right? Um, and in that it he it's basically saying that hey, when when when when you get tired, you you you have the propensity to give up, right? And I think anxiety and pressure wears uh wears us down. Uh there's a scripture in Hebrews that says, uh, therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you are in need of endurance, so that after you've done the will of God, you shall receive the promise, right? And so there's things in which you um it it's it's the sustaining of of your confidence, it's the sustaining of your will. A lot of times we don't get to where we're trying to get to because we we we fatigue, right? It said Christ said, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired you that so he may sift you as weak, but I've prayed for you that your faith felleth not, right? And when you're talking about your faith falling now, he's it it's it's like it's not not that your finances wouldn't fail, not that your relationships wouldn't fail, not not not not that your money, your your money or your dream or your vision wouldn't fail. He said that your faith failed because if your faith fails, that's when you become fatigued, that's when you want to give up. And so there's things that I've I've gleaned from these different experiences that has not made me so like, oh, I'm so smart, I'm so intelligent, I'm so witty, I'm so it's but but it's not that, but I'm I'm more I'm I'm locked in, right, on what I'm I'm going, I'm going after so that I don't give up. And sometimes I achieve certain things only because I didn't give up in the middle of the fight, right? Faith, yeah, faith is the substance of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. By it, the elders received a good report, right? So so so I also make sure that I keep the people that are older, wiser than me around me because they're the ones that can speak about faith in the historical standpoint and said, hey, don't give up because if you don't give up, you'll actually make it to where you're where you're going and and you'll actually reach your goal. So there's there's there's a this sustainability uh um that I think I've gleaned from these various experiences that just says I'm not going to give up. And that I think that's the biggest that the biggest part is just to stay steadfast, um, and and and immovable.

SPEAKER_01: 27:44

Always abiding, always abiding.

SPEAKER_00: 27:46

Right, yes, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 27:48

You up in here preaching, I'm gonna have to we're gonna have to pass the plate, man. Hey, it looked like you was paying attention in church, right?

SPEAKER_00: 27:57

Yeah, yeah. Every now and then I did.

SPEAKER_01: 27:59

Yeah, oh yeah, well that word gets a and it's something the Bible says is hide those words in your heart that you might not sin against God. And then the beauty of that is those words is inside of you, they'll come out. You ever notice how they come out the right time? You know, and you'd be like, Oh, yeah, there it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what that meant.

SPEAKER_00: 28:17

That's what that's what that meant. I think the cool part about that is that soon and and I've definitely have experienced some things in the last, even in the last year, um, with with my son going through a court case, um, and uh God bringing us out of that, and then me having a battle with prostate cancer and him bringing me out of that. And and so there's I think sometimes a lot of times people are turned off by the word of God because they're not humble enough to find themselves in the word. Because if you can find yourself in the word, that's when the word kind of connects with you, right? That's that's when you say, like you said, hide the word in within your heart. But if you haven't allowed yourself to, if you allowed you, you if because some life situations will make you like the woman with the issue of blood, right? That needed to touch the hem of his garments, just to right, just in him, yeah. Like life, life will create uh a situation in which you need to be healed in a particular area, right? But if you can't look in the word of God and see that, okay, I I need this particular grace, like the woman they were getting ready to stone, right? Uh, because she they say they caught in the act of adultery. And if you don't see that, like I may need that type of grace in your life, that you you can you can really um uh make the word of God of non-effect because you don't ever see yourself in it. And I think life has created these circumstances in me that in through that I've had to navigate, that I've had to like latch on to the word of God and find myself in the word so that then the word can then begin to wash me and and to heal me and to revive me. And but and then so that when I said then grafted word of God, like the thing that is um is is powerful in the word is that it becomes alive. It says it's the living Bible, it becomes alive in your life so that when you see certain things, yeah, that that that happen and you can attach word to it, right, to bring you through that situation. And I think that that's that's the most powerful, powerful thing ever, right? Is to be able to to to find yourself in the word. This book that's this Bible is so old, so it amazes me how old the Bible is. But in December 18th, 2025, we can find something that actually will move you and help you through your situation. Shoot, maybe, maybe this afternoon, right? But it's like, how can this historical document be blessing me today? I think it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01: 31:15

Yeah, and as you think about that and your faith, your faith journey. Um how did your faith sustain you during the time of the of your of your son going through and then the uh prostate cancer? What how did your faith get you through that? What role would it play that?

SPEAKER_00: 31:31

Yeah, well, it was just it was just really making an intentional effort to get into the word of God. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. It's talking about how when you're going through situations, it does not make sense that that this book would actually um align with anything that you're going through.

SPEAKER_02: 31:57

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 31:58

Until you open it up and start reading. And when you start reading it, there's something about reading the Bible that if you really read it long enough and you read it consistently enough, that it will begin to to to give you revelations about your situation. And so when when I I I even have uh, you know, I have even on the notepad that when I was in court with with my son and and I wrote the scripture down because it was in my heart. So I was able, the reason why I'm able to quote, therefore, do not um therefore do do not um uh therefore, what is it, therefore do not give up your confidence, which has great reward, for you are in need of endurance. So I so that right there, it his court case, his court, he didn't go to court for five years. It was five years until he went to court and was able to be exonerated for what they said that he had done. And so I knew that I had to hold on to my faith, and that I I and it's like therefore do not cast away your confidence because it has great reward for you are in need of endurance. So God was like, Oh, you need endurance when it comes to your faith, you need endurance when it comes to your confidence, and so uh it became it became a scripture that I that that I held on to. Um, but there's so there's so many things like um there's just so many things in the Bible that I I think has has helped me, even when it comes to my health, um and um believing that that God is that that God is in control. Um I I think you know our extremity is God's opportunity. Like we have to search out, you know, the medical help and all that kind of stuff. We have to do that. But but but then at once we've hit our extremity, I think that's God's opportunity to actually come in and do the thing that we can't do. Uh and so I've really kind of you know God and I have grown through this this situation and circumstances. You know, I've I've learned to to lean on him, and I've heard older folks say that on it, man. What in the world are they talking about? But as you get older, you're like, man, I understand when they said that um that uh that he's that they've leaned on him, and then they they said, and then when I life situations happen, and they said, Man, man, I'm so glad that he kept my mind stayed on him. And I'm like, what like all of these things start coming to say, oh, I remember when they said these things, but it did it didn't mean much to me when I was 19, 20, 20 years old, or when I when I didn't have, but when you you you you're married, you you uh I've been married, I've been divorced, I've got kids, I got stepkids, I got, you know, you you start when life starts life and then you are start understanding like, oh, this is this is why they've said that that that God kept their mind, right? And like thank you for keeping my mind and Lord keep thanks for keeping my body and and Lord, thanks for for for for waking me up this morning and starting me on my way with the activities of my limbs, and you know food on the table, yeah, food on the table, back, yeah, clothes on my back, right? Because you because the life start you start seeing people who don't have food on the table, who don't have clothes on their back, right? Who didn't wake up in their right minds, that didn't wake up with the activities of their limbs. And so then you start going through this list and you start marking things off on the goodness of God and what he what he's done for you. So you're like, what in the world? What what I I can I can align with that. I I get why they say that.

SPEAKER_01: 35:54

Yeah, I got it. And so it's for us to be a witness to others now, because we're at that age now, of people watching us, how we handle things. And that's why I love your transparency in reference to the to your son and and to your health. And the Bible says this, trust in the Lord with all our heart, with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, and all your ways, acknowledge him, and he'll direct your path. But it says, in all your ways, we gotta acknowledge him, and he'll direct your paths, you know. And that's what he does. That's what he does. You know, it says all all things work together for the good. You know, even when we're going through stuff, we don't see the good in it, but we gotta hold on to that. The Bible says all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. And Obi, you've been called for a purpose. All all that you're doing and all you've gone through is for a purpose, you know. And God's called you for that purpose, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 36:46

I I receive that.

SPEAKER_01: 36:48

We're gonna have too much church in here. Let me get a couple more things in here before we start shouting. Uh you started this uh this uh Obi's Breakfast Club and it's grown in the 700-member network. What inspired you to create it? And why is it, why do you think it's resonated with so many people?

SPEAKER_00: 37:05

So I I appreciate you asking that. So I I actually um I have a group of it's in its most simplest form. I have a group of white friends, right? And a group of black friends. And one day back in 2014, it hit me and I said, you know what? They'll never meet unless I bring them together. And they're business people and they're good people, and and I'm like, but they don't, they don't, they don't really come together. They don't, there's no, there's no platform, there's no event that brings them together. So they're gonna stay there and they're good and they're fine, and they're good, you know, and they're gonna stay there and they're good and they're fine. And I'm like, how can I bring how can I bring them together? And so I made a made mention of this uh to a friend of mine who was uh at a law firm. His name is Luke Fedlam, um, and uh Lloyd Pierre-Louis and uh Josh Jackson who played football with me in Ohio State. We're all sitting around uh chatting it up, and I was like, hey, I'm I want to do this. And um Luke was like, uh we'll support that. And so OB's Breakfast Club was formed uh back in 2015, and we it was like 18 guys uh that that showed up. I think it was yeah, 12 or 18 guys, I think the uh that showed up and we had breakfast, and Luke's law firm, Luke uh Kegler Brown and had uh Kegler Brown and Hill, something like that. I forget, I'm sorry, uh, but uh Ritter, Kegler Brown and Ritter, I think what it is. And they they ended up sponsoring the first Obi's Breakfast Club. It was just men, we're all in suits, uh, we were all just kind of chatting up and we just interacted, right? And shared some stories, and then we then you know we kept kind of growing from there. Uh but uh I remember I had a conversation with Gene Smith, who's the athletic director at Ohio State, and I was telling him about Obi's Breakfast Club because we were having um we we were able to start placing uh athletes into internships, and we were helping them out because they're business people. We're like, hey man, we can help athletes, and when we start helping veterans, right? That needed uh job placement and stuff. So um veterans that were coming back home and athletes that were getting out of college or what having not going over to the not going into the NFL or coming out of the NFL that needed help. So we kind of we started making an impact, and Gene told Gene about it, and Gene was like, So do you have any women involved? And I was like, No. And he Gene said, You idiot, literally called me idiot. I'm like, dang, Gene. He's like, he's like, Obi, you don't have any women involved? I was like, No, it was just the guys. I didn't really, he's like, get women involved. I was like, okay. So I started getting women involved. The next Obi's Breakfast Club, we had 85 people, right? We went from 18 to 85, like that, right? And and so uh I really use LinkedIn and calling people and all that kind of stuff. And people are like, they first time at 85, when they had 85 people, they were like, oh, this is the most diverse room I've ever been in. And I really realized that human resources and um uh diversity, equity, inclusion didn't talk. And this is again, this is before COVID. So this is before the whole thing, uh, George Floyd and all that kind of stuff. So before COVID, I had a a event where I brought human resources together with DEI, right? And they're like, and I was shocked. I was like, you guys don't talk? It's like no, not not not not really. We don't. So needless to say, we started um started bringing women in and all that kind of stuff, and it just it just grew. We did our last one. I had uh our speaker was our we had a panel on collaboration. I had Jane Grody Abel, who's her father started Donato's piece of show. She was on the panel, Molly Calhoun, who's president CEO of the Ohio State Alumni Association, Derek Clay, who is the president CEO of uh the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and then I had Daryl uh Grumman, who is the lead franchise owner for Bubble Tea, if you've heard of Bubble T. Um, and so I had those on the panel, and we had nearly 200 people in the room. Uh and uh 7:30 in the morning, full breakfast, live jazz band, DJ, all that kind of stuff. And I got had a one of my brothers that came from the uh barber shop, he was there, and uh good good brother man, straight from the city, from the from from the hood, all that kind of stuff. He comes in, he's like, bruh, I thought I just thought you was, I thought it was just all white folks, man. He's like, man, I can't believe he said, Oh yeah, this was so he said everybody was represented from white, black to Hispanic to Asian to military to athletes. And I said, Exactly, bruh, because this is for the people, by the people. And it's for intentional networking for us to come together, have conversations, uh, in a safe space, and it's been it's been pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_01: 42:20

It sounds like, you know, this is uh, and I've been to some of them, so I know the crowd that's there and the opportunity uh that you present, you know, and it's more than just uh it's more than just a time of listening, it's a time of sharing, time of fellowship, you know, it's almost like the time I went a couple of times, it's almost like a reunion. Yes. It's almost like a family reunion. Like you got people you haven't seen for a while. You know, I saw Clay Hall in one of them, you know, it's just like a just like a big reunion party, you know. Yeah. So so when you think about this, this is a legacy podcast. We come around the corner, it's a legacy podcast. So when you think about legacy, what do you hope uh uh your children and the community remember most about you? And let's go off the football field. You know, let's go off off uh being a co-host of Football Fever. What is that legacy that you want Peter to remember about you besides that that sports piece?

SPEAKER_00: 43:13

Yeah, you know, I I was raised uh to have uh impact beyond beyond the field, about beyond the basketball court, right? Uh even beyond the pulpit. Um, you know, uh my father was someone who was a pastor that that would show up um in the city, in the hood, you know, in the country, wherever it was. Um, so I think I want to be remembered as somebody, uh, my legacy to be, I'm gonna steal a little bit from my my bonus daughter Marley. She says um to be kind. You know, I think I think you know, someone that people look at and say, man, he was just a kind person. Uh he was a genuine person. Uh, and if he had the ability to help you, he was willing, he's willing to help you. Uh and and uh I I hope that I uh I moved the needle a little bit when it comes to um people that are have been disenfranchised from, you know, quote the American dream, people who are disenfranchised from information and and and opportunities, and more specifically, uh disenfranchised from opportunities to fail. Uh, I think sometimes we as uh as black and brown people and and and poor whites, um I think sometimes we say, hey, you know, I I I I missed up on opportunities, right? Or we don't have enough opportunities. I don't think we don't have enough opportunities. I don't think we have enough opportunities to fail. And the opportunity to fail is extremely powerful because we don't always get it the first time. But do we have someone that's willing to advocate for us to give us another chance, to give us a second chance, to give us a third chance, right? And many times some of us are stuck on the sidelines because we made one mistake, right? Or we made one mishap, or and but we don't have any advocates to say, hey, give that person another chance. And so I want to be someone who's looked at to say, hey, listen, man, he was he was a champion for those that that that were that was that didn't have a voice. Um, and uh so I made my kindness and I was a voice, uh uh a champion, the voice of the voiceless. Maybe, maybe that's uh probably if I summed it all up.

SPEAKER_01: 45:42

Um that's a great message. That leads me to my uh so you come around the corner. The final question is uh, and you kind of said this, but I want to go a little deeper. What one message do you want every listener to take away about leadership, connection, and building impact at last?

SPEAKER_00: 46:04

Um so I I think the biggest thing is that you have to be very intentional uh about what about what you what you want, what you desire. Uh, I think every get every goal is measurable. So what what does that what does that measure me? What does that look like to you? Um so right now I feel like I'm in a really good space because with our affordable housing, me as the executive director, we have 248 units of affordable housing. We have over 350 residents and we serve all elderly and disabled. Um that and and I have a passion for for that. And so um that's that will be also a part of part of my legacy of how much I was able to to to restore housing for elderly and disabled. Um, but I think it's it it all starts back to your question. It starts with intentionality, um, and and being intentional about what you're you're hoping for, what your what your goal is, and then uh and then locking in and not casting away your confidence, you know, because life is gonna life. Things are gonna come and it's not gonna feel uh like things are moving in the right direction. So um, but but that's okay because every everybody has to go through a little bit of that storm. Um, and and say and and just stay locked in. And and and the last thing I'll say is is like like, you know, do your best not to um lock people into to categories uh because of the the the color of their skin. And um really look as Dr. Martin Luther King would say, look at the content of the character, you know, really, really try to get to know someone that that doesn't look like you because we all sometimes get into this mode where we're trying to clone ourselves. You know, I want people around me who look like me, and that's that's cool, you know, who think like me. And sometimes we do it and we don't even realize we're doing it. So, man, seek seek people um that are that may not look like you, may not think like you, and then also be bridgers of the gap of the generations, because I think that's another thing that we're losing, is that our younger generation and the older wise generation, how do we bridge that gap? Uh, what what are we doing to to make that make that happen? Uh, and that's I think that's that's a difficult task, but we can all be a part of that in some way, uh, reaching out and and just talking to the younger generation, grab a cup of coffee, grab, grab lunch, or grab something and and and let them talk. You know, sit back and let them talk.

SPEAKER_01: 48:45

That's powerful. Well, I want to thank you for being a guest on today's show. And this is this is everything that I thought it would be an even better. You know, the Bible says that he'll do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can think or even imagine. So I'm thinking one way, and this has just been over the top, you know. So today's conversation with uh Obi Steel was reminded that real leadership is built on relationships, purpose, and a commitment to creating opportunity for others. From housing access, economic development to mentorship to culture, collaboration, Obi's work challenged us to think bigger about impact. And as you said, more intentionally about how we show up in our communities. In this episode, if this episode inspires you, share it with someone who's building, leading, or connecting people for good. And be sure to subscribe to the Be a Baller Podcast for more conversations that push you to grow, lead, and live with purpose. Until next time, keep building, keep connecting, and keep being a baller. Thanks, Obi, for being on the show today.

SPEAKER_00: 49:49

Thank you so much, Lynx. So good to see you.

SPEAKER_01: 49:52

Yeah, appreciate you. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_00: 49:54

You too.