From Neighborhood Roots to Citywide Impact | Councilmember Nick Bankston | NxtUp Ballers Podcast

What's up, Ballers! Welcome to the first episode of The NxtUp Ballers Podcast — where we spotlight those who are building something bigger than themselves. The ones turning their hustle and purpose into legacy impact. Today, we’ve got one of those voices in the building — A Columbus native, public servant, and community-builder who’s been putting in real work to make sure our neighborhoods get the love, investment, and opportunity they deserve. Today we will be talking to none other than Councilmember Nick Bankston. We will be discussing Nick’s journey ‘From Neighborhood Roots to Citywide Impact.’

Transcript

Press Record Over Perfection

SPEAKER_02 0:00

What's up, bowlers? Welcome to the next ballers podcast, where we spotlight those who are building something bigger than themselves and turning their hustle and purpose into legacy impact. Now, before we jump in, I want to know something real. This episode, this is our very first time ever heading record. And if you're watching, you might notice the video isn't perfect. The corner's a little choky, the snow isn't polished, and the mouth will work what we have. But still, okay, that part was intentional. Because this right here is a reminder that you don't have to have everything figured out before you start. You don't need perfection to move forward. You just need the courage to bet on yourself and press record. Instead of scarfing this episode or waiting until everything aligned just right, we decided to show it anyway. And I am so glad that today we've got one of those voices in the building who understands that progress beats perfection every single time. A Columbus native, public servant, and community builder who's been putting in real work to make sure our neighborhoods get the love, investment, and opportunity they deserve. Today, we are talking to none other than Councilmember Nick Bankston. We'll be diving into his journey from neighborhood roots to citywide impact. Let's get into today's episode. Welcome to the show, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Well, thanks for having me, Christian. I'm so excited. This is I'm the first one. The first. This is a lot of pressure.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

No pressure.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

I think it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

This is easy for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

It's a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Yeah. And it helps because we actually know each other. So it was just kind of like us having a conversation with cameras.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

So that means that you're going to be tempered in your questions.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

It means I'm going to expect the honesty that you usually give in our normal conversations.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Okay, I got it. I got it.

Defining Legacy And Lasting Impact

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Are you ready? Yeah. The first was really easy. Okay. What does legacy mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Honestly, for me, legacy is about individual impact. It's not about the titles that I will hold. It's not about if a building is named after me. Uh but it's about how I make people feel.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Um if someone said that uh their life was changed or uh that I to parted some type of nugget in them to make them think or look differently. That's what legacy is to me. Um that's, you know, how I define it. But also now being a dad, uh what legacy is to me is Xavier and Isaiah, my two sons.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Uh who will carry on that last name. But more importantly, I want them to also carry on that same spirit of when we interact with each other, you know, um, those can be lasting impressions. And you never know what kind of impact you'll have on somebody. Yeah. More than any uh potential policy, more than any, again, type of title that you'll hold, the impact that you have when you interact with your fellow human being. I think that's what truly is legacy is that once I'm gone, once if the building is named after me, once that building is gone, it's the memory that people have of you that lives on far beyond, I think, um, your title or what you accomplished.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Yeah, what you're leaving behind. You didn't mention building twice. You you're making me think you actually want a building named after you. Bankston. The Bankston building.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

No, no, we'll see. We'll see. We got a lot of time until we get there.

Columbus Roots And Early Influences

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Okay, okay, okay. All right, so let's go ahead and take it back. So before suits and votes and all of this that we now see you as as Councilman Bakkson, who was Nick Bankston? Take us back to who you were before all of this.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

I mean, I'm just a Columbus kid that uh loved my community. Uh, you know, I was born and raised in Columbus, uh went to the best high school in the city of Columbus, East High School. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Uh no skin in that game.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

I ain't probably and you know, was there is where I think I sh got uh learned a lot of lessons that helped shape me and who I am today. Uh lessons around community and what that means. Um so for me, I was always someone that was always been community-minded. Um someone who had always thought uh highly of the place that raised me. Knew I would get back in some way. I didn't think that that would necessarily be elected office. Um but yeah, I mean, just a Columbus kid going through, you know, and um I feel like I still am that Columbus kid, but I just growing up now with a city that's continuing to grow.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

So grow with you. Yeah, I think you know, when you think about community and growing up with the community, there's a lot of although you may not have thought that you were going to be councilman Bankson, there was something, mm, whether you realize it or not, that was planted in your mind back then. Um let's talk about, you know, community and neighborhood. So when you think about like the energy that just kind of surrounded your neighborhood when you were growing up, who were the people or the moments that shaped the way that you see community, right? Like who who implanted those early seeds that just say, like, I really love it here.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Yeah, I mean, uh honestly, my dad. My dad is one of my biggest heroes. He some of the lessons that I still live by today that he taught me basic, simple stuff, right? Like, all a man has is his word. Right? And you you keep your word. Um, but early on, my dad and my mom didn't know that they were planting the seed. Uh so we were a voting family. Okay. We were not like an overly like, I think some folks maybe think that our family was like deep in community and going to community organizing and all that stuff. No, we just were civic minded that we went to every single election. Primary and general election, every single time. And my parents were planting those seeds because they would take me with them to vote. Right. This was back in uh I don't remember from aging myself now, but that's when you had a box and you had to go inside and you got to close the curtain, right? Um to vote. And my parents would let me actually push the buttons.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Oh nice, yeah.

Voting, Mentors, And Being Seen

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Um and so just that act of saying that you care that much about your community that you go vote in every single election.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

And cared enough to take your kids. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

And so that's something that stuck with me. So my dad for sure, uh, I would say uh Miss Martha Howe, who was my band director uh at uh East High School, had a uh big influence in my life, uh, as well as my principal, Mr. Ed Johnson, he was my principal at East High School. Both were folks that saw something in me early then that I didn't see in myself. And I think sometimes uh leaders or those of us of us that are on up next, it's also times take someone who is going to uh impart something into you or see something in you that you don't necessarily see in yourself. And they take that time to wrap their arms around you and invest in you. I used to be so annoyed. I mean, I was like, senior year, like I'm about to coast through this thing. No, I had no full schedule. Get it together. No, you're gonna do this and you're gonna be successful and we're gonna do something uh greater. Um and so for me, I think those are three pivotal people that helped shape uh the world aro around me and shaped, I think, how I look at things uh when we talk about community. Another big influence in my life is absolutely I think my spiritual father, Bishop Washington. And he always said Bishop Washington was bigger than like Mount Herman, uh Missionary Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the city. Uh he grew into that. Uh he sat on national boards and done a lot of things in the Baptist church. But he said something that stuck with me, which is you can be a national somebody or a local nobody. Or you can reverse that, and it's up to you. And he always showed me the power of what it was to invest locally. I think some of us sometimes we chase that large title, we chase the national acclaim, but we leave behind our community. I think about how many people have left Columbus and gone to great things and haven't been back. And I never wanted to be that type of person.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Yeah, because you've been here.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

I tried to go away, but it didn't work out. It didn't work out.

Hard Times, Gun Violence, And Resilience

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Um I think it's great that you, you know, you highlighted your band director, your parents, you know, um Bishop Washington. I think there's a also another layer to the seeds that are planted, and a lot of that is also experienced. So um you didn't mention it so much yet, but just what I know about you and you know, reading about some of your upbringing. You talked before about going through tough times early on, um, even your family losing a home and bouncing back. What did those seasons teach you about resilience and resourcefulness?

SPEAKER_00 8:30

It it it was just that. It was about um you don't allow um a moment in time to define your future or your current circumstances to define uh what your potential could be. Uh my dad was someone that always, I think, showed me that that um if you get knocked down, you get back up, you have a plan, you have a strategy to keep moving forward. Uh and so yeah, you know, when we were uh we were in in the nineties, I felt like everybody was living their best life. Right? Um so my parents unfortunately had one of those kind of predatory ballooning loans and we ended up following bankruptcy um my going into my uh uh sixth grade year, uh middle school. And so we found ourselves as a family of four, now without a home, living with uh my grandmother in North London on Uncle Park. Family four living in her attic. And this imagine this is a a house that's a three-bedroom house. It's me, my sister, my dad, my mom, on the on the that's on the at on the top floor. On the first floor was my grandmother in her bedroom. Then my uncle, his girlfriend, her her son, right? All lived in the store. Um but that was a snapshot of time. We were only there for a short period of time because my dad, again, didn't allow that moment to define him or to define what we would be. And built back up to becoming uh a homeowner again and and that's where we were. You know, I also went through tragedy. Um my uh senior year of high school, I was at a house party. I was a victim of gun violence, and I was shot at a at a house party. Um and I think it was in moments like that that you can either get angry and and bitter, or you can say, I was saved for a reason. Right? That this happened to me so I can go tell a story. Um it is one of the stories that I think it's not necessarily hard for me to tell, but I don't lead with it.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Uh, because I don't want that uh to again be something that defines it.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

That defines it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

But I'm happy to share because I want other young folks to see that, yes, even you can go through something like that and still come out on the other side of it and let it be something that propels you forward. I say anything that happens, you get to use you can use a crutch in two ways. You can use a crutch of something to lean on, or you can use a crutch of something to actually propel you forward. And so you get to decide how you use that tool. And I think that moments like that um happen to everybody. But that is in that moment you get to define or you get to choose how you want that to define you. Do you want it to be a crippling situation, or do you want it to be a uh uh a situation that uh when something breaks, when it comes back together, it s sometimes can come back stronger.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Mm-hmm. I could just use that crush the factory like that, you know, however you decide to use the tool. Um I think, you know, I want to ask you so when you when you think about those situations with your family, when you think about the situation at the house party, how did that start to motivate you to want to be a part of the change that you wanted to see within your community? What did that what was there a moment where you're like, okay, I need to start doing something about this? Or did that come later on when you start to realize that this was the path that you were just kind of journeyed to be on or destined to be on, and those moments just kind of reignited your desire for for change within your community?

Nonlinear Paths Through College

SPEAKER_00 11:46

No, I think it was the latter. I definitely didn't wake up from that situation, like, I'm gonna go conquer the war. If I'll be honest with you, right? I mean, I went through a period where I was bitter and upset and and and would say to God, like, how does this happen to me? Like, you know, um I I I I had I knew the environment I was in at at East High School, but I was a straight A student, right? Um had uh friends whose houses I would hang out in, you know, in the hood, um, and you know, Hilda from Champion, all all of that. But I was like, why how this happened to me? Right? And so you I went through that period of of anger, uh, but then it was a a light at some point that God said I I had you go through that because I knew that you could withstand it. So that you would go tell your story and so that you can make change, right? And I and I saw that, you know, going to East High School, uh my circumstances could have been just that different if I wasn't have if I wasn't blessed to have say two parents in the household, right? Or to look at the environment that some of my also friends had to go back to, right? And understanding that that situation that happened wasn't because of them as individuals, but because of the environment and the culture that made that permissible, right? And so yeah, I think it's it it it sticks with me today as a as in a way for when I think about uh policy, when I think about things, how can we make uh our neighborhoods and our community stronger? But I definitely went through, I think, a period. But I will tell you what that moment um and even talking about my earlier years of that resiliency, what it set me up for was my journey actually through college. I mean, I went to f uh I went to four different schools.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Right? And also started a year late.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

I was originally going to Jackson State University to march in the Sonic Boom of the South. I was a drum major at East High School. My band director was housed, we went to uh Jackson State, so I was going down to Jackson State. I was first in my family to go to college, fill out the FAFSA, I got my acceptance letter, I'm down there, you know, going through Bandcamp, which is a non-hazing organization. Of course. Of course. Um, and then got this letter, like, oh, we need 50% of our money. I was like, Well, what do you mean? I thought that's FAFSA. Like, y'all sent me the No free money comes with the FAFSA.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Yeah, I'm like, Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

They're like, Well, did you get an award letter? Long story short, uh the application was messed up or something, so I had to come back home. I sat out my first year of college, actually. Worked in collections, believe it or not. Okay and then got a partial scholarship to go to Ohio Dominican University. Very great experience. It's actually where I fell in love with philosophy and I ended up becoming my major later on. But it was very expensive. So I learned really quickly what private liberal arts schools cost.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

So applied to transfer to Ohio State, got in, but at that time, Ohio State was actually on quarters, we were all semesters. So I did an uh in-between quarter at Columbus State before going to Ohio State and finally graduating. But that resiliency muscle, right, and what God had prepared me for showed up in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah.

Preparation, Timing, And Being Ready

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Um, and still does to this day, right? Because again, you can have a strategy, you can have a plan, but if you don't build resilience and build uh that uh that build that muscle of flexibility and learning how to pivot, then you can get stuck real quick. Quickly. Because where you want to get to and what you have in your head, you can get there. Yeah. But some of us sometimes think it's it's a linear path. And sometimes the path will take you in different directions. Question is, are you still looking at the final destination?

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

And how you get there doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Yeah. No, that's good. I um I resonate with that so much because and I think uh I think a lot of people, if they leaned into understanding that their path is never going to be linear, and it more than likely will never look like anything that you ever thought it was going to look like. I think more people will start appreciating the journey more than feeling as though, you know, they're behind or, you know, they should be further along along their journey and they're not.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Um and that comes from too, like, you know, be be you. Don't be anybody else. Don't look at somebody else and or think about your age and think I should be so much further along or I should do X, Y, and Z. What is what is meant for you is meant for you.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

And in the time frame.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah. Exactly. One of the best quotes I've ever heard was stop comparing your nine weeks to somebody else's nine months, right? And if you think in regards to like pregnancy, like if you were to have this baby at nine weeks, how how immature would it be? How you know non-developed would it be? Whereas if you compare yourself to somebody who went through the process, who went through whatever their journey looked like, you know, if you constantly are comparing yourself to them, what you are supposed to produce um will not be sufficient. So when you think about this not being your journey, at what point did you realize, like, oh, I'm next up, right? So we think about the next up bowlers podcast, and if we're talking to those people who are legacy builders and those people who are taking this journey by the reins and realizing, like, okay, I need to step up for my community or I need to step up at my church or wh whomever we have on the podcast. When did you realize like this is my time?

From Activism To Office: 2020 Turning Point

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Um, I think you were there with me. Um, honestly, right? It was 2020. I think that uh it's not cliche to say it was a year that changed a lot of our lives. Uh, but in 2020, when I was president of Columbia Young Professionals, uh, you were on the serving on the board with me at the time, and I think it was as we were going through the unrest in downtown, when I got a phone call to say, we're trying to hold this press conference to talk to our people about how do we have nonviolent protests. And when I stood on that stage as president of the young professionals, next to like uh Stephanie Hightower, uh Kevin Boyce, I mean Titans, right? Uh uh uh Shannon Harden was president of the council at the time. Um I think even Joyce Beatty was on that stage. And what they said is that we're putting you guys out front. Because we want the you to be the messengers, and we are standing showing that we are supportive of you. And it was in that moment, I think, that it clicked for me like I'm called to this moment. And sometimes when you're up next, it's not about uh I had always said to myself, if I did run for office or whatever I did, I always wanted to be prepared. And so one of the things I live by and I tell folks all the time, your downtime is your prep time. You may think that uh because you didn't get the job, or you may think that you're not as far as long as you should be, that that means that you've done something wrong or that you'll never get there. No. Use that quiet time, use that downtime to prepare yourself to be ready to step in. Because when you're called, you don't get to go back to practice.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, exactly. You gotta be ready.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

You gotta be you can sit on the bench. We're talking about the ball or pad class and who's next. You can sit on the bench the entire season. You never know when the starter is going to maybe fall and break his ankle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

And when the coach calls you stay ready so you'll never have to get ready, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:59

When the coach calls you, you gotta be ready.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

And so for me, I use that down time as my prep time, but it was in that moment that you you are called to certain moments, right? When it's time for your calling, it has to be about a moment. In particular, uh, I think politics and so many other things, they can applicable to other places. It's always about the moment. And sometimes it's always just about timing.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

But when the time comes, the question you have you have to ask yourself is Did you are you ready? And did you prepare yourself? Because you can uh uh this is one of the quotes that I live by that Miss Howe said to me. She said, You can either baffle them with brilliance or you can bedazzle them with bullshit.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

And you get to choose.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

And for me, I rather baffle people.

Moving Systems And Building Coalitions

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Yes. I um I love that so much because we don't we don't talk about when we don't talk talk about preparation again. If we don't see the journey as preparation, we'll never feel prepared. But the journey is the preparation for the moments, right? So so that way when the moments come, we are able to capture them because we saw the journey as preparation and not just something that I had to, you know, that I fumbled my way through. Like, no, it's actually preparation for for when those moments come. So the moment finally came, right? Um, so we're gonna move more into the leadership and lessons that you've been learning in this now position that you have as councilman. So we've seen you go from neighborhood kid to now citywide leader. Let's talk about what you've learned along in the process because leadership in public service is not for the faint of heart. Granted, I've ran for office, I've never actually served in office. So um sorry, so you've helped bring millions of funding, over$8.4 million, to small minority-owned businesses, and that is no small feat. What's been the biggest reality check about trying to move systems that weren't built with us in mind?

SPEAKER_00 20:48

The biggest reality check has been um that even though the systems weren't built with us in mind, you still have to reach out and collaborate with the ancestors of the folks who built the systems.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Collaborate.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

So, I mean let's just rip the rip the bandit off. We know that s systemic systems and uh uh of race were built by white folks.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Right.

Economic Justice And Wealth Building

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Uh but in order for us to dismantle those, we actually have to also engage with them. Um and I think that um we absolutely as black folks can do all things. Uh but we also have to be realists in understanding that collaboration um and working together is gonna is gonna be necessary. And so there's that part of it. I think also most of my uh political career has been on the executive side of politics, right? Not the legislative side of politics. And so it's a little bit more different uh when you have to also get eight other people at this point now that were all they were a council of nine, to also believe in, right? To uh and not necessarily an agree personally. Say, uh, but get them to buy in. And I think that's the the biggest part of this that I learned is that it's just not about sometimes we get there and and have an expectation. Um and because you have to maneuver the way you can to be effective, some people may see that as selling out. I see it as buying in. Buying into what I can do to be effective for my people, right? And I think that's where we fall short sometimes is that we don't see the entire field a as a playing field, and that everyone has a position, right? And instead, we sometimes uh put our blackness against each other of who's more black because they say something a certain type of way or because they talk a certain way or or what have you. Well we all have a role to play in this, right? Whether you're an activist, boots on the ground, whether you are in the boardroom, right? We need black folks in boardrooms, I need black folks in corporate America, in the nonprofit space, as activists, as elected officials, and all working together in harmony. That's how we move the needle for our people. You know, I I have uh uh coined it for myself, I'm sure somebody else has already coined the phrase, but I sum up my work as economic justice. And I'm solely focused on removing barriers so that my people cannot just simply thrive or or uh be prosperous, all these buzzwords. I want my people to be wealthy. And I want them to be able to build wealth, and so that's what I'm focused on, right? Pathways to homeownership, pathways, uh removing barriers for entrepreneurs, pathways to wealth building. That doesn't mean that I don't care about social change. Because that both are necessary.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

And I ask folks all the time if we get to a place where we do all the social change working, we get police performing, we do all these things, are our people in a place to actually be successful? Right, right. And the answer is no, because we don't have economic power. And so if we really want true political change, uh right, there's two ways you can do that. You can have social capital, that influences politics. But to actually change and get things done in politics, you need economic power. And so until we have both, meaning social capital and the economic power, we're gonna always be fighting. Yeah. And so we have to be able to do both, and we have to be okay with understanding that my language may not be your language, but we talk in the same language.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Yeah. And money talks.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Money does talk.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Money talks. I mean, when we think about that, the economic piece is like not only building wealth, but also they under they have to also see the benefit for themselves when we talk about uh ensuring that most specifically the black community is economically empowered in ways that isn't necessary. Um we have, you know, pretty much talked about like this was not the path that you chose. And when we find ourselves in situations in the journey, and this was not something that we chose for ourselves, we do kind of find ourselves fumbling our way and figuring it out as we go. Can you talk about a situation that in the fumbling, a situation that humbled you, right? And what you learned from the situation that may have not gone the way that would have been ideal. Um, but the lesson that you lost you you learned in that in that moment.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Man, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

We never want to talk about our failures, but we have to.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and I I think that uh there's those situations always happen. Yeah. Right? Uh they're inevitable. Um, but I would say I think one of them for me I should have given this one more thought.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Okay.

Losses, Lessons, And Staying Authentic

SPEAKER_00 26:01

No, I honestly I think one of them for me was um the the first time that I actually ran for office. So what many folks don't know is that before running for council, uh, I ran for what is called Central Committee. And so our Democratic Party is made up of the central committee. They're actually people that get on the ballot and you get elected. Right? I actually lost that race. Right? And I think uh the the lesson in that was understanding that uh the the the traditional path or I think some of the th tactics that you use may not sometimes always work. And that you have to be willing to look at things and do things differently. Um and so I think that that always sticks with me because even though that's a small race, if you will, compared to a citywide star Electro. It's still a race. It's still a race. I mean, you know this. I mean, right? You and anybody who I think who signs up to and puts their name out there um is uh that should that is something to be uh noteworthy.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Right? This when folks raise their hands to want to say, I want to serve my community, that is something that is still noble. And I think that this profession has gotten a bad rap because of what we see in Washington and and the dysfunction that we see in so many state houses across uh the country. Uh but that's why I love local politics, is because we get things done. Like I mean, I don't have time to the bicker and go back and forth in the theater uh of it all. Um but I would say that lesson still sticks uh with me is that um you you you have to make sure that you are authentically in community. You have to make sure that you are uh, you know, staying attuned to what the traditional means are, but also being open to different ways of getting the goal done.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Yeah, remembering that why, remember why you were called to it, but also just kind of bringing back what you mentioned earlier, that resilience. Like this is still something I have a passion and desire to be a part of. So yes, the loss was hurtful and you know it humbled me, and also the goal is still the goal. The mission is still the mission. My desire for my community is still to see the change that it needs, and that is you know what you just kind of have to hang your hat on and and let it be your anchoring source.

Balance, Family, And Work-Life Synergy

SPEAKER_00 28:22

And I think I I think even in that pathway to get to where I'm at today, right? Um I reflect back on it now. Like I I originally uh tried to apply to get appointed to council um back in twenty eighteen, nineteen eighteen, somewhere around there. Um, right, and did not get the appointment. But I I knew that also sometimes part of the strategy, if you want folks to see you where you want to be, you have to also step out there and show them that's what you want. Because if I would have just, you know, kept my head down, just done the work, you're always gonna get overlooked. So sometimes you have to actually put your name out there. And so I wanted folks to see me as not just an effective administrator or an effective uh behind the scenes guy. I wanted folks to know that I wanted to, right, serve my community in that type of way as as well. And so those are two right examples of where um I was told no, right? Whether it be by uh uh the public or at that time by um the the peers or uh counsel who does the actual appointing of the council, but I didn't let that stop me. Right. Right? I can't every decision along the way um was an opportunity for me to demonstrate to folks. But then what happens is what happens is what happens be in between those inflection points, right? Do you either run away or do you again continue to be inspected so folks actually are still paying because now you can put yourself out there, people pay attention.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

They want to see what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

What you gonna do next? Was you really about it? Um two more questions before we head into our rapid fire. Oh gosh, the rapid fire. Oh, they're gonna be fine. Um there's no denying that you can't do this alone. And you do all the great things in the city, right? So from city council to the blood drives to all the things. Let's just really quickly talk about balance. And how do you balance or if is there a balance between what you do for the city and how you're cultivating relationships at home? Whether it's, you know, with your sons, with Habiba, which is your wife, for those of you who don't know his amazing wife, she's gonna be on the podcast one day. Um, but you know, like we we have to understand, like you can be this amazing front, you know, forward-facing person doing these great things. Um, but when we think about legacy, it's more than just what we're doing outside in the community. How are you ensuring that that is something that you're also carrying into your home and sustaining that? And what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, you know, um I think folks think about balance or and work-life balance or balance as this kind of um one-dimensional or like there's a it's a set thing. Balance for you looks different based on what your life is like.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

A thousand percent.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Right. I'm blessed in that I have a wife who is really a uh a co-creator and is a co-pilot with me uh in the work that we do. Her hers she herself, right, is a community-minded person. Uh she runs Dress for Success Columbus, which is a nonprofit here that works to empower women and provide them the tools to advance the self-sufficiency in their careers. Right, so we're both just civic-minded people, so that helps a lot. Yeah. To to know your why, to know your mission, I think in order to propel it, particularly if you are either married in a relationship, that that partner has to have buy-in into it for it to really work successfully.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Because there's going to be late nights, there's going to be frustrations, there's going to be uh pain points along the way. And if that individual doesn't I wouldn't even say understand it, but isn't invested in what that vision is, then it's going to make it that much more difficult. And so for the balance for me, I tell folks, there is no balance. I mean, that's it that's just what it is. There are things that you do to keep yourself, you know, uh sane, if you will. Um, like right. We love to we make sure that we take a family vacation every year. We make sure that we uh are, you know, unplugging when we can. Um but it's not neat. Some days are much more balanced than other days. Some days are crazy, right? And it just you just flow with it. And you don't allow it, you don't allow the stress that you're not showing up in one place 100% all the time, uh, I think, uh uh wear you down. You have to be able to to do that. It is getting harder now as as the boy uh well as Xavier gets older, he just turned four, that now he's starting to see like, yeah, Daddy, why why you gotta go to work again? But now he's also at an age where I bring him with me.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

I was gonna ask you, what does he think he do for a living?

SPEAKER_00 33:16

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

Okay.

Rapid Fire: Music, Games, And Advice

SPEAKER_00 33:18

He just knows that I work downtown because uh he knows what City Hall is, but when we go past City Hall, now he's like, that's daddy's work. Um but it's also stressful for me because I have two jobs. I also work at Alvis Inc., uh, which is uh leading behavioral health and uh re-entry organization here in in Columbus and really in the state of Ohio, working to provide pathways uh for folks that are uh coming from the prison system back into our communities, provide folks with second chances. Uh and so I'm really proud of the work that I do there as well. So yeah, when you talk about balance, every day is crazy. But now I think I And everyday balance looks different. Absolutely. Right? I mean, weekends now are about swim classes.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

You know, it's about going to mommy land sometimes. Parks and all the things. Um but yeah, so now I start to incorporate Xavier into it more, bringing him with me now that he's that he's showing an interest. Like, where are you going? You know? And not every thing that I go to is, you know, appropriate for to be at, but where he can. Um I'll tell you my favorite thing was a couple council meetings ago, uh Habiba went to go pick them up. Xavier was just like, he was just really sad, like, I want to see daddy. And this is where I say the balance of having a partner who understands you and and also is uh is a is a co-pilot in you. She brought him to City Hall.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Middle of like middle of council meeting, like surprises me. Xavier comes up on the on the diet. Oh wow. He's sitting there the rest of the meeting. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Oh, and so we have to just normalize that type of stuff. So sometimes when we are, I think, trying to balance family and life, we think that it has to be this clean distinction. Yeah. But sometimes it works better when they can be integrated in some ways, right? So f I would say fine areas, at least I do, where you can integrate it all.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

But I think because I I'm a my personal mission and my professional mission in life are so aligned, um, it makes those difficult days just a little bit easier.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Yeah, yeah, I've definitely heard instead of saying work like balance, it's work like synergy. So how does it all work together? And that way you don't really feel as though you have to be torn in one direction or the other because you can be imbalanced all the time. All right. So now we're ready for our rapid fire quick play. Rapid fire. Ready? Let's go. All right, so these are first thing that comes to your mind. We're not gonna pause and really think about it. These are quick responses, right? So we're not even gonna like talk about it for five minutes at all, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:51

So we just want to get in and look, if I say something crazy, y'all don't cancel me, okay, or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

This is your words, okay. No, they're not that bad. All right, so the first one. Uh-huh. If leadership was a sport, what part of the game are you in right now? Is it preseason, the championship round, or are you still in the gym putting it rent?

SPEAKER_00 36:13

It is preseason.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Pre-season. All right, all right. So we still we're still learning, still getting in there.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

I think you always have to. There's always a preseason to any season.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Okay, this is rapid fire. We won't we'll have to talk about that another day. All right. I know, I know. It was almost got really good. Okay, okay. Um, what's one song, since we're in preseason, right? What's one song that instantly gets you in your zone?

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Not a song, but a group. That's the Migos. Rest in peace, take off. But anything with the Migos, you got me. Just that beat. Absolutely. Okay. You know, it's it's just at least. Sadly. You ain't got no none of the words.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

I don't really know the words.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

You ain't got no none of the words. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Uh, what's something that most people would be surprised to learn about you?

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Um Wow. I don't know. I'm pretty open book, so that's kind of hard. Um Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 37:19

You eat like hot Cheetos or ranch or something?

SPEAKER_00 37:22

I mean, I guess I guess one thing that would surprise people because they would probably think I would never have time for it is uh I enjoy video games.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

Okay. Yeah, I would not have to.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

So I'm waiting, I'm so excited for GTA 6 to drop.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

Okay, GTA brand. All right, all right, all right.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Yeah, I might have to actually like take some time off of work to actually see. Like I've not played in like all the time.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

Where's Nick, everyone? He is playing the game. Got it. No, that's fair. Sometimes we have to have our outlets, so I respect that. Um best hype man or woman in your life who gasses you up before any big thing.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Kabiba.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

I can see that. Um last one. What's one thing every neighborhood kid needs to hear before they grow up and leave their neighborhood?

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Come back.

Baller Challenge: Donate Blood

SPEAKER_02 38:07

That's a good one. Don't forget where you started. That's right. Um, so every guest before they leave has to give our listeners a challenge. So, what is our baller challenge for this week? Uh, if you could tell our listeners to do one small thing that builds community or creates impact, what would that be?

SPEAKER_00 38:31

I mean, you kind of alluded to it. I'm a huge champion of uh blood donations. Uh my wife Abiva suffers from sickle cell disease. Uh actually, this past year was her 20th anniversary of receiving blood transfusions. So she received blood transfusions uh every single month. That gives her her quality of life. Right. When it comes to blood, we are the supply chain. Um and interestingly enough, uh we make up 13% of the pot U.S. population, but we're only three percent of blood donors. Black folks, African Americans specifically. People of color uh are only 10% of all blood donations. Right? But we are the disproportionate receivers of blood. And so for me, I would say uh if you have the opportunity to go get blood.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

Go get blood. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Because it save it will save a life.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

And that's actionable. Like you don't have to wait. That's not something that could take a lot out of you. And depending on where you go, they get freebies, so you never know. Uh well, this was an amazing conversation.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

I'm glad I was a guinea pig.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

How'd you feel?

SPEAKER_00 39:37

In the hot seat.

Closing And Call To Action

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Okay. From East High School to up the street to City Hall, Councilman Nick Bangkson reminded us that legacy isn't just about leaving something behind, it's about building something while you're here. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Next Up Ballers Podcast, where our guests are built on wisdom, driven by action, and leaving a legacy behind them. You can listen to us wherever you listen to your podcast, and you can also watch us on YouTube. Remember to like, share, and subscribe. We'll catch you on the next episode. But until then, go ball out.