Just Isaac Mitchell | From Boxing to Advocacy: Just Isaac on Resilience and Mentorship
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Even my family members, nobody believed in me because they said I'm an intellectual or I'm too soft or whatever reason. You know, and what that did is it inspired me to inspire others that you can achieve what it is that you want to achieve. For you, man, like, what was your because? Like, what got you to where you are today? I don't feel that my life belongs to itself. You know, my life belongs to God. I can't take credit for anything that I've done. The whole purpose for me living is to serve.

- You believe in the power of mentorship. For the listeners and viewers, can you discuss the importance of mentorship? - The way that we think, the way that we act, and the way that we feel, that's our personality. And what our personality does, even when we have connected ourselves to someone, it can affect their personal reality. I believe that mentorship is crucial when it comes to the development of people.

Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations. Buckle up. Here's Mick.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today we have an amazing, cool, extraordinary guest. I'm talking about a multifaceted individual excelling as a six-time boxing champ, an author, and a recording artist. We're about to find out what this man doesn't do. He's dedicated his life to working with the views and at-youth street youth, providing them with support, discipline, and advocacy.

Through his inspirational journey, he's empowered countless of individuals to overcome their challenges and pursue their dreams. It is without further ado that we welcome the inspiring, the remarkable, the influential Mr. Isaac, just Isaac Mitchell. Isaac, how are you doing today, brother? Hey, I'm doing great, man. I appreciate it, Mick. I appreciate the little intro and the things that you said. I appreciate who you are as a human being. And to me, that's...

That's the most important thing, because that's what life is about, right? It's about being able to not just inspire, but to uplift and advocate for those that need it the most. And you built your adult life on that, man. And so I just wanted to thank you for that.

Oh, man, you know what? I would not be able to do the things that I'm able to do to help people if there wasn't people who helped me. You know, my whole life I've had individuals, extraordinary people, extraordinary human beings who have poured into my life. And I'm not saying this to sound cliches or anything like that. I'm just telling you the truth, man. Listen, and I know that I'm nothing without God. I'll say that right off the bat. Yes, sir. I love that.

I love that, man. So, you know, I love to get into your journey because here on Make Unplugged, we talk about your because, right? That deeper than your why, that thing that keeps you fueled, that thing that keeps you going. And, you know, for all my listeners and viewers, you know, like for me, it started at 10 years old and my because started

was a promise that I made to my mom. And so everything that I did from that moment forward was to fulfill that promise for my mom, for my sister, and my brother. So for you, man, what was your because? What got you to where you are today? Well, the thing about it is I've had multiple experiences

In these experiences, I believe the extraordinary thing about it is that I've seen divine intervention take place in my life. And I've experienced multiple, multiple different things throughout life. So it's caused me to be multidimensional. And dimension is a posture of thought. That's how we see things. And with,

that, what it enabled me to do is to navigate through different realms. So I would say that every circumstance, when you talk about the realm of boxing or the realm of music or the realm of just sports and entertainment or just helping people, I think that in a nutshell, I would say that I'm an empowerment specialist.

You know, I love finding resolutions for conflict and I love helping people. I'm actually I don't feel that my life belongs to itself. You know, my life belongs to God. Everything that I do, I'm inspired, you know, and I can't take credit for anything that I've done. I mean, I know I've been at the elite level in different realms, but the whole purpose for me living is to serve. I'm here to serve.

That's amazing, brother. That's truly amazing. And, you know, let's talk about these elite levels because we're talking about a six time boxing champion. I don't know anyone that can say that, bro. Like what was the journey that led you to boxing and then a multiple, a many multiple time boxing champion?

Well, you know, where I grew up, I'm a kid from the projects. You know, I was born in the hood and we didn't have very much. I remember I was so poor that I had I could feel my toes curl in the concrete on the heat. I could feel the heat from the concrete. You know, we stood in the free cheese line, you know, free lunches.

I'm not going to lie to you. And all the stuff that I experienced, everything that has happened in my life, my goodness, everything that I've experienced, everything that has happened, when I think about the things that I've been brought from, I remember at the bus stop, you'd be a fight every day. So I got serious about fighting. I started off with mixed martial arts and then I got into boxing.

And the reason I got into boxing and I began to take it more serious was because I was told that I would never be a champion. I was told by my teacher, by even my family members, nobody believed in me because they said I'm an intellectual or I'm too soft or whatever reason. You know, and what that did is it inspired me to inspire others that you can achieve what it is that you want to achieve despite what people say.

You know, it's not so much what everybody says about us, but it's about what we say about ourselves. And I'm not going to lie to you. Listen, I've had over 100 fights in the ring. I'm very gracious, very thankful that, you know, I still have my neurological functioning is pretty normal. You know, I can talk and have a conversation. You know, I was offered various contracts, millions of dollars to go different places, but...

You know, as I said before, my life is about helping people and I get so much appreciation. I believe within myself, I appreciate it when I have an opportunity just to. So fighting, man, I just I love fighting still to this day. I love I'm a professor. I love training people as well. So I'm a celebrity trainer and I also train people that are in need. And I have a program as well that I do when I'm not out on the road.

Okay. Yes, sir. That's some good stuff, man. So like I might have to become a client. We might have to get like a podcaster celebrity podcasting match or something. You know, I'll get some of my guys and I'll let you trade me so I win. Yes. Yes. So you talked about your purpose today, right? Is helping others and giving back. So what inspired you to start working with

specifically abuse and not youth street youth, man. Like what was, what was that inspiration that led you to say, I'm the one that's supposed to be there to help? Okay. Well, I'll be honest with you. I didn't even, I encountered this unexpectedly, uh,

When these individuals that were, when they confided in me and they've disclosed the things that they disclosed, I mean, I've worked for different organizations. I've developed programs. I've had a life vision and purpose programs. I've been in prisons across the country with my life vision and purpose program and meeting different people. You know, it's like you would be blown away of how many people have actually experienced things like trafficking.

It's actually happening more than we actually realize. These are invisible chains. And I actually talk about that in the book, about the invisible chains being broken. They're invisible because we don't, a lot of society doesn't see them. But having the opportunity to, you know, to go into prisons across the country. I had a program, it was called Freestyle Fridays.

where I was the host of the show and we had inner city youth that came in. So that's really how it started. And, you know, I've done work in different agencies as well. That's awesome, man. And I'd love to hear a little bit or a lot of bit of the impact that this work is having, because

Again, one of the things that I love is you're about that action, right? So it's not just you're doing things to glorify you or you're doing things for press. You're doing things that have actual impact. And I'm going to say it because Isaac isn't the person that's going to humble brag.

He does a lot that goes unseen, right? And so I would love for you to just share a little bit about the impact that some of this work is having. Okay, well, the first thing that I could think about was, I remember I was doing a television interview and there were some UFC fighters that were in the gym where my program was. It was actually a guy that fought against Anderson Silva and he actually beat Anderson Silva. And I'm standing there and I'm doing an interview and I got done the interview and as soon as I got done, there was a man standing there

Young dude was standing on the side and he had some people with him. And it looked like almost like he was combative for a second. I said, what's going on here? Right. So I just finished interviewing. I walk off and he walked up to me. So you don't know who I am, do you? You don't know who I am, do you? I said, no, man, I don't know. So I'm wondering why he's posting up. I'm like, what's good right now? Come on now. You know what I do. And I ain't trying to, you know, you know, I'm like, like, what's going on? He said, yeah.

You came in to see me. I said, yeah. He said, yeah, why?

He said, my whole life was messed up. My whole life was in shambles. And your vision, your life vision and purpose program, when by the time I got done serving and doing what I was doing, he said, I have become not only a better dad, a better brother, a better son. He said, I'm a multimillionaire and I own a business. Yes, I own this business and I fly there.

I fly UFC fighters into Canada. I said, are you kidding me? And listen, my eyes filled up and his eyes filled up. And in moments like that, I know that it's worth it. It's worth, you know, serving. It's worth helping people. It's worth putting in that time, you know, and just believing that

Believing in myself, believing in God. And when I can do that, I can believe in other people. I can see the potential. I can see the greatness inside individuals. That was one story. That's so amazing, man. That's so amazing. And you highlighted one of the programs that you have.

I'd love for you to take a few moments for the listeners and viewers, man, and break down a couple of the programs that you have that you're doing and the impact that they're driving as well, too. Okay. Well, some of the programs that I have, I would say mobile boxing. Mobile boxing is a program that I have. It's something that's actually, it's reached globally. I've worked with individuals on the West Coast of the United States.

all across Canada and soon we'll be going to Europe. And in this program, what I do is I incorporate some of my, the life skills, as I mentioned before, I'm a life coach as well.

So I'm able to help people to unravel, you know, the things that they don't see in them that's linked to their greatness. You know, I don't believe that potential can be measured. And, you know, indirectly, I believe that this was one of the things that helped me to write the book that I wrote, which is called Traffic Fight. I mean, Think Fearlessly was a book that reached over hundreds of millions of people globally. I don't say this boastfully, but I say that, you know, I get people telling me how their lives have changed.

But at the same time, I have to live by my words. In the book Traffic Fight, listen, I was hesitant to do it. I'm going to be honest with you. I was a little bit intimidated. I was intimidated for the book Traffic Fight. I was a little intimidated. And the reason I was intimidated is because I knew that because I've had access to the most sensitive files in the nation,

Without breaching anybody's confidentiality, with respecting people's privacy, I still was able to devise and develop a story in relation to Traffic Fight. It's more than just a story. It's a movement. It's volume one of the series Fight the Shadows.

And it delves into like, man, it does so many incredible things. And it's about two powerful women, two powerful women that they're beacons of light and their resilience and their strength and their determinations. And not just to survive, but to thrive. The things that they experience and the things that have happened in the book is a reflection of real life stuff.

Man, what are a couple of insights into Traffic Fight, right? So if, and we're going to have access, I'm going to make sure I have links to the book and everything that you have in the show notes and in the description. But what are a couple of takeaways that you want the

the listeners and viewers of Mick Unplugged to know about the book? Like, why should I go get this book right now? And what is it going to help me through or show me? Right. So I would say, I mean, for instance, there's a character, her name is Chelsea, and she has a sister, her name is Estella. And Chelsea has, she has the ability to box. She's a boxer. Right.

which means that I am aware of that realm, the realm of boxing. And Stella, on the other hand, she has a unique way of fighting. And both are mentally and physically fighters. One's a boxer, her greatest strength comes from the ability to rise above fear. They're symbols of hope and resilience. I would say people without, why you should look into traffic fight is because this is something that is actually happening today as we speak. But these things are hidden.

It's not just a story, as I mentioned before, it's a reflection of real struggles that many people are going through right now. We don't even hear about it. You know, it's about fighting back that, you know, and when the odds are against you, it's about showing courage, right?

You know, we got to show courage when it's overwhelming, when fear is overwhelming. We still have, you know, there was a man by the name of Customado that was Mike Tyson's trainer. He said, there's the hero and the coward. They both feel the same. It's what they do that makes them different. So in the story, man, and beyond the story, it's part of a bigger movement.

It addresses the important issues that are happening in life. When someone can be ripped from their family, what does that look like when they're ripped from their family? What does it look like when, see, this is the difference. Now, when you read the literature, what it does, when I said it is empowering, it brings an awareness to how our DNA and what we're actually supposed to be like. Let's just say, for instance, for women and our perception of women.

Look at the world the way the world is. Instead of looking at women as, some women as sex symbols, why not look at them as symbols of success or objects of divine attention? No one can enter into the earth realm, into this place, unless they enter into through the womb of a woman. That's in the book. It gives an overview of that. Men, we're called to protect. We're called to serve. We're called to be examples of how to lead.

And I believe that children are people too. So I would say that one of the five pillars of society, one of the greatest things within society, I believe is family. Some people experience dysfunction in their family, but it's still family. I think that this book, it's so real. I've had people that have read it and said, I went through that. That's what I went through. I went through that. Not everybody has been trafficked. I understand that. It's a traffic fight, but

indirectly, it's affecting us. Communities are being affected. You know, families are being affected. So, you know, I would just say, hey, this greater movement, this movement, if we try to ignore it, we have to do something about it because if we ignore it, we can only ignore it for so long because God forbid that it hits the door of the individual's house that ignores it.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's amazing, brother. And, you know, I said in the opener, you're multifaceted, right? So we talked about boxing. We talk about what you're doing in the community. We talked about one of the books. You're also a recording artist, right? What are some of the key messages that you aim to convey through your music and more importantly, your writing? I'll be honest, when it comes to music, I'm not really, I haven't recorded in

Yes, sir.

by the grace of God. And I'm, you know, but music is something I love to listen to. The purpose of me doing it initially was because I saw that there was a need for different messages. You know, I did pure love songs. I did conscious songs. I did stuff that was, you know, just emotional,

What society needs. What we need. And the music that I did for that time period, you know, I thought about dropping another one. I thought about dropping another project. But, you know, that's something that it takes time because, you know, I don't want to have to do anything. You know, when it comes to music, I love music. And, you know, music is such a powerful instrument. Music is shaping society.

You know, music is shaping. It's shaping our lives. You know, there are seeds that are being planted. Every time you hear a song that enters into the ears, the gates of our ears, you know, there is a message that

that's going to resonate if we hear it enough. It's called auto-suggestion. You know, when you hear something over and over again and all of a sudden it becomes part of your DNA? Yeah. Well, this is why I say the importance of us listening, you know, just to stuff that's going to be uplifting and good. So that's why I went into music. I said I won't be a spectator about this, but, you know, honestly, I just found it was extraordinary for me to experience music

Because people told me that I would never be able to do music that was positive, that was clean, that was uplifting, that was wholesome, and it'd go anywhere. But I ended up hitting the charts and, as I said, number six in the country, number 21 in the country. I'd be walking through a store and I'd hear my songs playing or I'm walking down the street.

the car drive by and they play them, you know, playing the music and stuff. And I did it independently. That's amazing. That's amazing. One of the things that I love about you, brother, is you believe in the power of mentorship, right? And you talk about that quite a bit. For the listeners and viewers, can you discuss the importance of mentorship and the role that it plays in helping to shape our future? Yes, yes. You know, I would say that the way that we think is

The way that we act and the way that we feel, that's our personality. And we're connected to people. We're all interconnected. So the way we think, the way we act, the way we feel is our personality. And what our personality does, even when we have connected ourselves to someone, it can affect their personal reality because there are messages that are being conveyed on a continual basis when we are in touch with people.

Our communications and how we speak when it comes to mentorship, there's some good mentors and there's some bad mentors. You find that in the novel as well, in Traffic Fight. You find that there's individuals that are actually bad mentors. They're actually helping people to do bad things. But I believe that the responsibility that we have, it's shaping society differently.

And mentorship is crucial when it comes to the development, you know, of people. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Potential can't be measured. Potential cannot be measured. We know that. And when you have a mentor that tells you that in the messages that are being conveyed, and as someone processes that, and they begin to believe in themselves, that person has the potential to help other people as well. So it's a chain reaction. This is the importance of us

And understanding, you know, what mentorship really is. No, there is no perfect mentor. Come on. We all make mistakes. I know I make a lot of mistakes. But, you know, grace. You know, I just I'm thankful that I learned from my mistakes. I tried to. Yeah. You hit on something I want to go a little bit deeper in. So, Grace.

Every mentor is not a good mentor. And that's something that just hit me just now, man. Like, what are some traits or what are some things that people can look out for when you don't have that good mentor? What are some things that people can look out for?

I think that when an individual is incapable or unwilling to mentor someone in a way that is positive, in a way that is progressive, in a good way, that is functional, I think that the reason for that happening and the sign of that, the potential of that happening even more is when a mentor does not

have their own healing of their soul. If a soul is broken and there's things that haven't been dealt with and haven't been healed, then there is the potential. You know, there's an old saying that hurt people hurt people. But if you have received healing inside, if you have received, if you've been educated and you have principles, key principles, if you have key principles that you've taken on that are part of your own healing,

I believe that we have the potential to, there is no limitations when it comes to helping people. But when someone's broken, they'll do anything if there's no understanding in the wrong way. It's like money, for instance. My perception of money is that money answers all things. Money is a good thing.

Some people say the money's evil. Money in itself is not evil, but it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Why is that? Because the love can cause an individual to abandon their values just because they love money.

And we see that throughout the story of Traffic Book as well. Traffic Fight, Traffic Book, it's in there. Traffic Fight, we see that, that there are individuals who are hungry for money.

They love money more than humans, more than someone's freedom, you know, more than. And that's when individuals, you know, in the book, you see that their vulnerability is being exploited and they're just they're being taken advantage of. So I think that in a nutshell, if I could just end with with this and this this this question, I think it comes first with inner healing. You can't help somebody if you can't help yourself. Right.

You said it perfectly, brother. We got to be willing to follow and to learn. Listen, I'll always remain a student. I will always remain a student. I learned from people. Listen, a mentor, I'm going to tell you something. There was a man that was homeless that mentored. He mentored me. How did he mentor me? When I walked by him, he would always have something to say and I would listen to him. And that man that was homeless, did not know this, became a millionaire twice. He became a millionaire twice. He was a millionaire twice.

became homeless and became a millionaire again. I used to walk by him and I would stop and I would listen. Listen, I can learn from anybody. And this was what I believe a mentor, a good mentor is someone who can listen and learn ourselves.

That's the truth. That's the truth. So much wisdom and knowledge, brother. You're dropping it like cake today. I love it, man. So for the listeners and viewers, what's new or what does Just Isaac have going on? What do you want people to know? What are the projects you're working on now? Aside from the book. Well,

Well, if you see Think Fearlessly in the back, you can find that one on Amazon. It's in bars and over stores across the world. I reach over 100 million people. It's a self-help book. That's more to generate the power to overcome fear and to bring a greater awareness of the greatness that's inside and the purpose of obstacles. And it's kind of funny because it bleeds right into Traffic Fight. This book right here, this novel, as I had mentioned before, it's a story, a fictional story.

It has romance in it. It has action in it. It has adventure in it. And it has a little bit of, you know, it's a little bit of a thriller as well. And what I love about it is so far, the people that have read it, I've distributed it to the most influential people in the world who believe in the vision. And they were unable to put the book down. And, you know, if you go online and you go on JustIsaac.com,

J-U-S-T-I-S-A-A-C, JustIsaac.com, you will see, you know, more in depth about the vision itself and what it is that we're, you know, the movement and the people that are connected to it and what's happening. So my prime objective right now is, you know, I'm enjoying the idea of seeing a difference in the world when it comes to individuals that are

hurting and that are vulnerable, receiving their freedom and receiving their justice and receiving their support, receiving that light, you know, in a world of darkness. Because, you know, there is a really dark world that exists

amongst us. And I believe that we are that light. You, you know, you that's listening, you are that light, you know, we're the light, you know, because we can, we can make a difference. And with this story, what it does is it'll enhance our awareness. It enhances the awareness. I've read it

more than once. I've read it myself and I get something out of it as I read it, you know, and it's an easy read. That's another thing. You know, I don't believe that we have to use oratorical finesse and speak with all types of crazy terminology, not crazy terminology, but you know, you know, I'm not a doctor or a lawyer or, but it's, it's everyday English.

So it's really easy to read and it's how we talk every day, most of the book, most of the story. There's some stuff that happens in court where I had to use different terminology and stuff. But overall, I would say that it's an easy read. Anybody can read it. I love it. Well, I'm going to make sure that we have the link to your website, all the places that they can get all of your writings. We're going to make sure that we do our part at Make Unplugged to make this available.

Not that you need our help to make it a bestseller because you're already there, but we can add to that piece that we can contribute our way to. Yeah, I just, you know what, Mike, I just want to make, I want to, I want to make a difference, man. I just want to make a difference. And I want to, you know, I know that through this novel that they're going to be, I've seen it already. You know, the reason why I wrote the novel to begin with was I had a vision. I had a vision. I walked to a window one day and I actually had another book that I was writing and

for a fight film and i saw flashes of children and women in this vision that were chained up that were broken that were taken and i felt that this is time it's time it's time that's amazing brother yes sir that's amazing yes sir just isaac

Bro, I appreciate you more than you know. I know you're a very busy man. So thank you for taking just a little bit of time out of your day to spend with the Mic Unplugged audience, man. I appreciate you having me on you. We appreciate you. Appreciate you too. For all the listeners and viewers, remember, your because is your superpower. Go Unleash It.

Thank you for tuning in to Mic Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.