Dr. Nathan Harris - Engineering a Legacy with Dr. Nathan Harris, CEO/Founder See Your Brilliance

What's Up Ballers! Welcome back to another episode of The NxtUp Ballers Podcast. Today’s guest is someone who is literally engineering impact. Dr. Nathan Lee Roy Harris is an educator, visionary, and the President of See Brilliance — an organization rooted in helping Black and Latinx youth discover their innate genius.

A graduate of Morehouse College and the youngest Black man to earn a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from The Ohio State University — and part of a four-generation Buckeye legacy — Dr. Harris isn’t just talking about brilliance… he’s building systems to cultivate it.

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Purpose, Action, And Today’s Guest

SPEAKER_06 0:00

What's up, Ballers? Welcome back to the Next Up Ballers podcast, where we highlight the leaders, visionaries, and culture shifters who are building something bigger than themselves. This is where purpose meets action and legacy is the goal, not just success. Today's guest is someone who is literally engineering impact. Dr. Nathan Leroy Harris is an educator, visionary, and the president of C Brilliance, an organization rooted in helping Black and Latinx youth discover their innate genius. A graduate of Morehouse College and the youngest black man to earn a PhD in engineering education from the Ohio State University and is also a part of a four-generational Buckeye legacy. Dr. Harris isn't just talking to us today about brilliance. He is building systems that cultivate it. Let's get into today's episode. All right, well, hey, welcome to the Next So Ballers Podcast. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

I'm fantastic. How about you?

SPEAKER_06 1:07

I'm really well. I'm excited to have you and excited to share your story with our listeners and watchers today. So we've already heard just the beautiful intro. So I'm excited to dig deep into just the questions and just learn a little bit more about you to see what you can offer to everybody listening today. Sound good?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Ask away.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

All right, cool. Okay.

A Curious Kid Who Asked Why

SPEAKER_06 1:28

So before the PhD, before the title president, before the 5,000 youth reached, who was Nathan growing up?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Nathan was a curious little boy. Always just wondering how things worked, um tinkering, pressing buttons that said, do not push. Okay, yeah. Just that little curious boy. Okay. Always asking questions, always getting in grown folks' business because it was more interesting to sit at the grown folks' table than it was when little boy.

SPEAKER_06 1:58

Because what's happening at the kids' table?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Nothing.

SPEAKER_06 2:00

Beneath me. So what did that look like? How did that how did that have you always just been curious? Did anything like spark this curiosity, or you just came out the womb like, let me just do all the things I'm not supposed to be doing?

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Well, I can't tell you when the genesis of the curiosity started. But uh I would say that um from my earliest recollection recollection, um, I would say just always wondering how things worked and why things were a certain way and things like that. And uh always asking questions too. Plus, I think it really comes with you know not having any other siblings and we're not in the home too. So it's just like me, myself, and I. So, you know, just had to make things work.

SPEAKER_06 2:46

Okay. So you were only child in home with Mom. Mom. So mom was like, oh, did she welcome all the questions, or was it just a lot of like, come on now, that's enough.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

No, my mom was a teacher. Okay. Grandma was a teacher too. And so I think it was just in the nature.

SPEAKER_06 3:06

Mm-hmm. They understood.

Family Legacy And Belonging At Ohio State

SPEAKER_06 3:08

Uh, which is beautiful setup, actually, for my next question, because you came from a legacy, especially the four generations of what I hear, you know, not only teachers, but from Ohio State University, right? Um, so dating back to your great great grandmother, which is powerful. You don't honestly hear that too often, specifically in the black community, just that legacy that's just kind of paved the way for you to be here today. So, growing up with that kind of history, did it feel like pressure? Did it feel like pride? Did it feel like this is something that I absolutely have to do in order to keep this legacy going? How did that show up in your childhood and then when you went to Ohio University? Ohio State University. I'm sorry for all of you, Ohio State fans. Let me not disrespect.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

You know, and they would say add to the. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:56

Oh, goodness gracious, yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

But I I guess there was a sense of pride, but I think the better word would be there is a sense of belonging. And that was comforting, just knowing this is what came before me. And so this is my responsibility to keep it going. But then too, like if anything, I had something to fall back on. And so being able to have, you know, the presence of my great-grandmother or great-grandparents, and grandparents and mom and aunts that all went to Ohio State, um, it just felt right and whatnot. Even though I didn't do the undergrad track. Um, I deviated. But I I did go back to the PhD. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:43

Um, so speaking of deviation, you didn't go so I'm assuming your grandmother's great-grandmother's mother went straight to Ohio State right after high school. Yeah. Is that what you mean by deviation? Okay. So let's talk about the deviation because you went to Morehouse, right?

Why Morehouse Felt Like Home

SPEAKER_06 5:00

Morehouse Man, everyone. Um what was why that path before instead of just going straight to Ohio State?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

My mother surprised me with a trip to Atlanta my sophomore year in high school.

SPEAKER_06 5:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

And part of that trip I thought we were just doing Battle of the Bands, you know, Honda's, you know, classic and the original Georgia Dome and whatnot. But we ended up taking a tour of Moorhouse. And honestly, since that first initial step on that campus, I knew something was calling. And just to know of all of the rich heritage, the history that we have seen through life today originating at the house, it just felt right. But I think the moment that really sealed the deal for me was stepping inside of um the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, and they have in their knave all of these portraits and whatnot of various historical figures. And it was upon us not even supposed to be in that room, but the dean had came out and he had spoken, he had talked about um my pastor. And, you know, my pastor's a Howard alum. Okay. Um but him being able to make that connection just kind of just sealed the deal that this was the place to be, especially with all the black men that you just saw walking around in suits and just something about it. Uh I just knew it was the right place and the right decision. So I knew where I was going that ever since my sophomore year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:45

I think that's beautiful. I I want to ask you this, and you let me know if this is too personal, but was there some type of um closeness that you felt when you went to Morehouse, just kind of understanding that you grew up mostly around women, it sounds like, right? Was there an added sense of I belong here because it was just kind of maybe something you felt as though you may have been missing throughout your childhood?

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Something I never really thought of before.

SPEAKER_06 7:16

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Um I think at the time, I probably wasn't thinking in that regard. But I will say ever since, I am forever grateful for the brotherhood that I have been um a part of. And just to be around uh different men who are, I would not say like-minded, but because we're all not in a monolithic, you know, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

But uh black men that come from similar cloths and whatnot that are there to challenge and to grow each other and not to compete, I think it's just truly invaluable, uh, simply because of you're not getting that elsewhere. Well then two, I didn't have, you know, a big brother or a little brother at home. Uh and so I think by having that, you know, it really showed me, you know, what masculinity and whatnot could look like and uh how it should be modeled and um just how to carry yourself.

SPEAKER_06 8:25

You mentioned like the just parts of what Morehouse instilled in you, um, and how from the minute you stepped on the campus and had that interaction uh with the dean, just kind of how that solidified this change or this decision for you going to Morehouse. Um But can you speak to maybe anything else that shifted in you, either at that moment or during your matriculation there at Morehouse?

Brotherhood, Faith, And Life Purpose

SPEAKER_06 8:55

Is there anything that you would say uh just because a lot of our listeners may not be familiar with HBCUs or just familiar with um the pride that it can instill in you? Or I say like me graduating from a HBCU, uh when I was an undergrad, I grew up there. Like that is the person, that's the place that made me an adult. I figured out who I was uh not only as um Christian, but as some as a black woman in America, right? So is there anything that, and it could just it could not be that you that could have already been instilled in you before you went to Morehouse, but is there anything in during your time there that shifted you as a person, that clicked for you, um, that instilled something in you that you just still carry with you to this day?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

I think Morehouse was reaffirming as to what my life's purpose and work is. And so I have no doubt in my mind, uh, some because this is what I was taught growing up, is that um I come from a rich heritage, a rich lineage, you know, that's being a child of God. And so with that, um when it comes to the work uh in which I do today and pouring back into youth and even to you know adults and so forth now at Morehouse, it was reaffirmed by my brothers and even Spellman sisters, uh, to where, you know, whenever we would gather and just talk or laugh and things like that, um my Spellman sister actually reflected on this um for my 21st birthday. She said, Nathan, whenever I think of you, I think of home. And I've sat with that, and you know, what does that mean? And I think what that means is the safety, but then the lessons that you get being in home, the protection that you get being in home, the affirmations you get with being home. And so, you know, being poured into Edmorehouse, but then also pouring into others and whatnot has this been something in which I just feel like has this been innately in me. So because, you know, I I serve an amazing God that has continued to pour into myself and then those around me, my uh generations before me. So reaffirming would be that word.

SPEAKER_06 11:39

Reaffirming. Reaffirming that home is where you are is kind of what I'm hearing too, is Morehouse instilled in you that like whether you are there physically at the location of Morehouse, or as you are doing the work out here in the community, you all of that just kind of resides within you, whether that's through God, whether that's how you carry yourself, whether that is understanding your purpose. Um, and I think that's a beautiful reflection that your friend was able to share with you. Um it's a compliment. It really, really

A Historic PhD With Family Meaning

SPEAKER_06 12:10

is. So you finally left home, you graduated from Morehouse, and you decided to go to Ohio's the Ohio State University. Um you became the youngest black man to earn your PhD in engineering education from the Ohio State, which is crazy, right? Like it's incredibly historic. And I I love that just up until this point, we've we've just laid the foundation of like you have been walking in history, so you were just kind of destined to make something great with your life. Um but what did that moment represent for you personally and culturally? What did the moment of being or knowing that you were going to be here and then you became the youngest black man to earn your PhD?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

I I think about a driving factor in which my great-grandmother, though she went to Ohio State, she was one paper away from finishing.

SPEAKER_06 13:15

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

And the paper that had her removed from the college at the time was called America's So-Called Democracy. So just imagine a piece like that coming out uh in the early or late forties, early fifties at a white institution. And so when completing that doctorate it was helping to complete what she could not, yeah. And more importantly, it was an opportunity to show other people that um didn't necessarily complete it for the title or whatever so-called prestige that mm you know people d deem that it comes from. But rather I completed it as just another marker for the work that is yet to be done. And uh I think oftentimes I look back and I think, uh, should I have done it? And I could have just taken, you know, a good little high-paying role and been able to probably amplify the work I'm doing today. But I saw it as an opportunity to show students that one, education is important, but then two, within any area of education that you do it, you should seek the highest form of excellence that it calls or beckons for you to do. And so for me, it was completing that PhD.

SPEAKER_06 15:00

That's amazing. Um thank you for sharing that story, that background story. I think it adds so much color to your journey. Um, not that it wasn't colorful already, but just a just an extra, an extra light um as to why that was so important for you, because a lot of people do go after higher education and uh their doctoral degree and things like that for that notoriety, for in order just to um have that have have that title in front of their name. And uh I will say like that's one thing that I have appreciated about you is you're like, use it or not. Like it's not, and you live that, right? It's not just something that you just say, even uh, you know, I'll let the listeners in on just before we started this conversation. I asked you how you preferred to be referred to. Um you said whatever makes you feel comfortable besides shortening your name, right? And so I think I think that's really beautiful to not only live authentically in that way, but to also know that there's a story attached to it. Um, it really humanizes your entire experience. So thank you for sharing

Building C Brilliance After A Setback

SPEAKER_06 16:09

that. Um okay, so let's get into C Brilliance. Let's get into entrepreneurship, leadership, legacy, all of that. Because uh after you graduated, you really started to embody what it sounds like all parts of C Brilliance, right? So from younger Nathan, tinkering with all the things to wanting to pour back into uh black, black and uh Latina ex Latin ex uh folks, and um and also just like making sure that your your legacy within your family is being carried out. Uh you started really building something that's gonna outlive you, which is which is pretty dope. Um, so let's talk about C Brilliance. Talk about where this idea came from, talk about uh give the listeners just a little bit more insight into where C Brilliance started and where it is now.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Yeah. Um so C Brilliance uh started in 21, and I tell people that it was an opportunity for me to continue my dissertation work and a field of like a research to practice thing. But really, uh I think what really pushed me to start was something my mom always wanted me to do to be able to create something that's of my own that wasn't controlled by any type of system or directive of uh whoever's in control of that system. And so it was me being let go um as a youth minister at my home church. Okay. And uh we had a new preacher coming to I was like, what'd you do?

SPEAKER_05 18:00

Okay, so a new preacher, okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Um, you know, with that he was just trying to uh clear house to make way of his agenda, as you know, any CEO would do. And so um instead of being hurt by that, um I said, well, the work must continue. Uh and so with C Brilliance, um, you know, it was uh at the time a project that was uh being used to continue the ministry work in which um you know I was already doing, but then really to integrate this parental involvement and STEM framework that I had been, you know, studying and so forth at the university. But then also what initially led me to the university, uh, which was to be able to do work that would open up rooms for black and brown youth to get into tech into STEM spaces. Um so really with that, um, you know, we started off, you know, very small, just working with just a few kids and whatnot, very intimate and whatnot, uh, to now working with um, you know, thousands of youth uh throughout this city. And it has been a remarkable journey. Well then sometimes I sit back and I think wow. But then I think about you know, somebody had asked me, um, you know, what is something that you could pray for? And this was in 2022.

SPEAKER_06 19:45

So a year after started.

unknown 19:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

And my silly self said, uh, pray for increase.

SPEAKER_06 19:54

Oh, you gotta be careful what you ask God for.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And with that came the prayer of Jabez. Oh I pray for increase. Okay. Uh and as the songwriter says, increase indeed.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Increase. Increase, increase. Increase.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

It's uh time with screaming increase, and that's what exactly happened. And so I I don't think I have when someone asked me what could you pray for now, I don't think I've ever said increase again.

SPEAKER_06 20:26

That's right. There's a couple things I don't pray for. Patience is one of them. Don't do it, or he will test your patience. It will. It will. It's just certain things you know not to ask for. Uh, but that's beautiful. Uh, I was actually listening to something this morning, and um the the preacher actually said, sometimes God withholds blessings from you because you can't, not because you don't deserve it, but because you can't handle the burden that comes with it. And so a lot of times we pray prayers like that, where like, God, God, I really want you to bless this business. I really want you to increase, I really want you to, you know, show up in this way. And it's not that we're not deserving. He's just like, actually, there's a lot of burden sometimes that comes with that increase. And I want to ensure that you can carry it, that you're strong enough to carry it. So what a blessing that although you didn't know you weren't ready for that increase, God said you were. And so you you found yourself in a situation where you have been experiencing the increase. I I um I think it's so funny because I had never heard of you prior to, I don't know, like December of last year. And then I just started hearing your name all the time. And I was like, who is this Dr. Harris that everybody in the city keeps talking about? Um, and then when I had the privilege of meeting you and us just having a conversation, I said, Oh, I get it, right? Like, oh, I understand why you are uh just very well known and well spoken of, um, and just how you have carried this organization um to where it is now. How I, you know, just having a note here that reaching over 5,000 youth, that is amazing, right? Like, so just understanding that although you didn't know you were ready, um, that God knew you were ready, and you've been carrying it so well because I've never heard anything but great things uh about you within the community. So hats off to you because I'm sure it is a girl. So talk a little bit about

The Unseen Weight Of Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_06 22:24

that. So one of the things that I really enjoy having entrepreneurs on the podcast is because I asked them to be honest about it, right? Like it's not always this glamorous, I just, you know, I have the 5,000 youth or I have all this money in the account or whatever the case may be with your story. Can you speak a little bit about the entrepreneurship journey? So, yes, you're leaving a wonderful legacy behind and you're helping so many youth. Um and also it is a burden. Can you talk about the doubts, the trials, the non-glamorous parts to just ensure that we are keeping a well-rounded view of what's happening?

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Yeah. Of course, you go through your growing pains. You know, you start off broke. Um and um, and I don't want to say broke in a negative context, but if you think about a seed, you know, when you plant a seed in order for it to germinate, it has to break. Um and then it takes root. And so, you know, with that, I think um one thing in which I have prayed for, and I think every time we submit a grant, whenever we get a donation, whatever the case might be, I always say, you know, God please allow us to be good stewards. Uh so that because it's in that stewardship that one, it's the relationship that we have with funding, but then also the responsibility of us using funding or even working with youth responsibly so that it actually grows and manifests and our mission is actually going out and accomplished. And so in that, um, you know, there are times in which um you do grow tired, uh, you do grow comfortable because things are, you know, steady and whatnot. And and I think in that comfort might come a little bit of uh guilt. And uh it's just like am I even deserving to, you know, relax or to you know just allow the status to be because it's working, or do I have to continue to go climb and climb and climb? Um and just knowing when to pivot. Uh and you know, the reality is we we live in in such a society to where it seems as though we have to compete against each other. And so I I've seen uh organizations that have started to emulate our work and whatnot, which you know is perfectly fine. Um because if it's working and the impact is doing, and guess what? You're just carrying out our mission.

SPEAKER_06 25:27

We're just vessels. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

And so uh with that, you know, there comes a time and a period to where one, you're acknowledging the rest that needs to take place, two, you're realizing that okay, what's working is working. But then three, what you're wrestling is, ref wrestling with is what's next. Um and being able to respond to what that next is. And so one thing I've always said is that I do not plan to be in the position that I'm in when it comes to you know, the CEO of C brilliance and things like that long term, because I do believe that there are people or persons that can really carry out this work and further amplify it. And I will not be someone that's in some position that's in the way of that because that's getting in the way of the brilliance that's to be discovered in other you. Um and so, you know, right now I am thinking about you know what is next, and when it's time to, you know, let go, not necessarily let go, but to, you know, pass on that torch is about trusting um one trusting that God has given that authority for that to take place.

SPEAKER_06 26:51

Yeah. We uh I was at an event yesterday and there was an older gentleman in the community who said if you don't have you will never be successful if you don't have a successor. And I was like, yes. You know, we should always be planning with the future in mind, right? Like we should always and not get in the way of that. I think a lot of things are stopped or never able to reach their full potential because we get in the way. Whether that is pride, whether that is, you know, the the desire to hold on to, you know, especially when we start these businesses, they're like our children, right? There's something that we feel as though we have to see till the end. And actually a lot of a large part of the growth and being able to deliver on what the the goal is, is is in fact being able to let other people in and then just kind of let it go. And even you don't even want to squash your own ability to see what you still have inside of you, right? A lot of times we we get so hung up on doing the thing that we have just been doing for a while that we get stuck there, right? We feel as though we have to hold on to that thing for so long that we don't even realize like there's still so much on the inside of us that if we don't, you know, remove ourselves from doing the thing that even got us here, then we may never fulfill all the potential that we have on the inside of us, right? So um, no, that's good. That's good. Uh just the just the art of letting go and and having a plan for something that outlives you.

What “Brilliance” Really Means

SPEAKER_06 28:27

Um so I recently went to your birthday and your mom got on the mic and she gave a beautiful speech. But in the speech, uh she said something, and I was like, oh, I'm bringing that on the podcast. Uh no, but she said, she said, Nathan, I've always seen the brilliance in you. And I was like, now has she been saying that ever since he was younger? Or did she say that because of the organization? So what does see brilliance even mean to you? Like, is that something that really was instilled in you since you were younger? And, you know, your mom has just been feeding that into you, like, I see your billions, I see your billions. Or um, you know, what does it did she say that in reference to just the organization, but there was something just maybe that she instilled in you growing up that even birthed the idea to name your organization C Brilliance?

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Yeah. So I I will say she did not say because of the organization. Okay. Uh, but they were those affirmative words um that she would say to me to, you know, car rides home and things like that, especially, you know, when you're growing up and you're dealing with the the pains of being a child or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

What is that? Seven years old.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

But being able to speak that love um into me. And so and like I had shared, you know, moments ago that um this was something in which she really encouraged me to do. And so, you know, th that's just what I kind of grew up just hearing, um, that I am brilliant and things like that. And so when it came to the work in which we're doing today, brilliance is what resides in all of us. You know, God has put brilliance in us. And so that's why, you know, in our mission statement, it says innate brilliance. And so with that, our work that we do as a staff or volunteers is to help discover that and to and you know, we believe that sometimes it takes um a trained eye to be able to see it. And so with that, you know, we are actively trying to dismantle anything that might be in the way of allowing you to see what's already in you. And so that just speaks through everything in which we do. Um I think honestly speaks through uh how I choose to carry myself each and every day. Um, just really being able to shed light into what's already in you.

SPEAKER_06 31:22

Do you feel as though you're leaving a legacy behind right now?

SPEAKER_01 31:25

We'll see when I'm dead.

SPEAKER_06 31:26

No, that is not how we build legacy. Legacy starts now.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Sure, I thought it was gonna be a quick answer.

SPEAKER_06 31:35

No, no, no. Rapid fire questions are happening in just a moment. Until then, I want to really answer.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Gotcha. Uh is is do I feel as though I'm leaving behind a legacy today? Uh I I guess so. I don't think I I I wake up and I think about, you know, what am I doing to leave behind? Yeah. You know, uh, but I do plan each and every day to like if this were my last day on earth, what was left behind. And so, you know, I I really try to make sure that if it's you know, the the Bible talks about um, you know, not allowing the sun to set, if there's uh disagreement or discomfort in somebody's life side, I I truly, I truly, you know, try to live by that and you know, making sure that um, you know, all things are are settled and and things like that, but then are hopefully left in a better place than how the day might have started.

SPEAKER_03 32:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

And so I think when it comes to the legacy and whatnot that I am either intentionally or unintentionally leaving behind, I I think this really goes down to, you know, how is it that I'm showing up each day in someone's life in the most authentic way.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

And, you know, not every day I'm filled with energy, and not every day I I want to go to work and things like that, and not every day I say the right thing.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 33:10

I I I have a sharp tongue, yes.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Uh and so I think Don't cross you, huh? No, I didn't say don't cross you, but you know, this you know, it knows how to slice, slice advice, you know, fruit ninja. Uh so we're not sponsored by fruit ninja, but you know Unless they want to sponsor fruit ninja. Amen. Uh my download it now. Uh but you know, I I do think about those things and how I'm showing up each and every day.

SPEAKER_06 33:40

Um last question before we head into our quick play rapid fire section.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

I was ready.

SPEAKER_06 33:47

Uh what is one thing every black and brown child needs to hear early before the world tries to label them?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Don't want to sound cliche.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Listen, I was like, you know, to to to to see your brilliance. And uh and I and I think that when initially I was thinking about names of this organization and and whatnot. Originally I thought about you know naming it, you know, I see brilliance or see your brilliance. But what we did was, you know, we just took out the the prefix and then and then your and then we just said see brilliance. And so with that, when we talk to people, I see your brilliance, Christian. Um and then you know, a kid can look back in the mirror and say, I see brilliance in me. And so I really think that if a young person says that to themselves, you know, each and every day, does not matter what is hurled at them, I'm I'm brilliant. You know, nothing can stop me. I'm all the way up as, you know, whatever rapper said it. And so I'm I'm an old school person anyway.

SPEAKER_06 35:15

So I just speaking of old school, I will I will make sure that you tell everyone how old you are. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Maybe. But yes. But but um, but but yeah, so like that is what I would tell uh a young person, I hope that they tell themselves that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 35:33

Good. Well, thank you. I uh as soon as I asked the question, I said, oh, this could actually be a setup for this to be an easy layup, or maybe you could have came off the fly with something else. I know they listen. Uh okay, so now we are in our quick play segment.

Rapid Fire And Real Talk

SPEAKER_06 35:52

This is rapid fire questions, not no long answers, no, you know, it doesn't have to be incredibly thought out, just first thing that comes to your mind.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

All right.

SPEAKER_06 36:02

All right, you ready? All right, so early mornings or late nights.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

Late nights.

SPEAKER_06 36:09

Best advice you've ever received.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

I'll see you at the top.

SPEAKER_06 36:17

Oh, I love that. Okay. Um go to song when you need motivation. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

What type of motivation? Like, like if I need to get in that motion. Yeah, exactly. I ain't never scared, you know, it might be that that song, but um motivation.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Uh come back.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

I can't. I love music. That is a hard question. I love music.

SPEAKER_06 36:46

Okay, well, here's a better one. Who's your go-to hype person?

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Go-to hype person?

SPEAKER_06 36:52

Yeah. Who hypes you up the most?

SPEAKER_01 36:57

I don't know. TI.

SPEAKER_06 36:59

Okay. Actually, I thought you were gonna say I was gonna say real person, but person like you knew. So you just go to T.I. Best friend.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

This is just a word that you hype. When it comes to my brother. Either my my my mom or my brothers.

SPEAKER_06 37:26

Okay, okay. Brothers.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Uh my my line brothers, so Alpha or even Morehouse.

SPEAKER_06 37:33

Morehouse, okay. Because I was like, you did tell the people you didn't have any siblings, so I need you to clarify. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Um, okay. If one book every young leader should read.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

The Bible.

SPEAKER_06 37:46

Okay, yeah. I agree with that. And tell the people how old you are.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

To be continued. Uh 30, 30 years old.

SPEAKER_06 37:55

Yes, I told you before this. You had to, you had to. People have to, you are inspirational. So I really just want to ensure that people are inspired by you and your story. Um, all right, so we are turning

The Weekly Challenge To Write Down

SPEAKER_06 38:06

the corner. So every guest that I have on the show must leave our listeners and viewers with a challenge for the week. And this can be, it can be anything. Um, but the goal here is to not just receive information but to actually but to actually um have action steps behind what they heard today. So if you are going to impart something into our listeners or to our viewers today, what is one challenge you will give them that they can uh do this week?

SPEAKER_01 38:37

This week. Uh what is uh for this week, you know, what is one thing that you are currently doing that God has the power to exponentially increase in your life? And what will you do once that's done?

SPEAKER_05 39:00

Write it down? You want them to write it down?

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Write it down, um live by, put it on the mirror in the bathroom, whatever they want to do. But what is that one thing that you're currently doing that if God were to increase it exponentially, what would be the result of that?

SPEAKER_05 39:20

And are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 39:22

And that's are you ready? That's it.

SPEAKER_06 39:26

Well, thank you so much, Dr. Nathan Harris, for sitting down with us on the Next Up Ballers Podcast. It was really a good time getting to know you and just so much wisdom on the inside of you. And I just hope and pray that God continues to expand your territory to the magnitude that you are able to carry it and um continue to be brilliant. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

Same to you. Thank you.

Closing Thoughts And How To Support

SPEAKER_06 39:52

I told you all it was gonna be a good one. What an amazing conversation. Dr. Nathan Harris reminded us that brilliance isn't something you can earn, it's something you uncover. And when you build systems that help young people see themselves clearly, you don't just change grades, you change generations. To everyone listening, your legacy is not accidental. It's engineered, it's cultivated, it's spoken into existence. Thanks again for tuning into 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, and we will catch you on the next episode. But until then, go ball out. It's a wrap.