Unscripted With Akeem Haynes

This Week I'm joined by a retired US Army veteran, motivational speakers and the Co-founder of Sweethearts and Heroes which is a game-changing organization helping to stamp out bullying and promote a positive culture in schools and communities across the US and Canada. Rick Yarosh joins me on the show.

On September 1, 2006, Ricks's life would be changed and impacted for the rest of his life. Rick was part of a routine military mission in the Abu Ghraib region of Iraq. While on the mission, the Bradley was hit with an IED and the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Within 40 hours after the explosion, Rick and his two comrades arrived at the military burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Now retired from the Army, Rick gives inspirational talks to anyone who would like to hear his story. His story, although tragic in parts, is not a story of tragedy. It is one of being able to get through anything with a positive attitude. Most importantly, Rick can honestly say he is happier than he has ever been in his entire life.

Episode highlights:
- his upbringing playing sports
-Why he enrolled in the army
-the moment his life was changed forever on September 1, 2006
- Why he wouldn't change anything that happened to him
-How he handles the low moments
-Why he decided to fight for his life after wanting to stop fighting
-The everyday challenges he faces after his incident
-How he found hope after feeling hopeless
-Becoming a father and a husband after his incident

and so much more

Rick's story is a touching one and reminder for all, that you are much stronger than you think. and as long as you have breath in your body you have the strength to keep going.

Before you go, Do me a favour and leave a rating and review of the podcast and let me know your thoughts and what you got from the episode

Follow Rick Yarosh On Social:
Website: https://www.rickyarosh.net/
Sweethearts & Heroes Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SweetheartsandHeroes/videos
Sweethearts & Heroes Website: https://www.sweetheartsandheroes.com/

Follow Unscripted On IG:
@Unscriptedwak

This Week I'm joined by the author of multiple books. I think he's written 4 but he's probably working on another one now. but his most recent book entitled stop living on Auto-pilot: take Responsibility for your life and Rediscover a Bolder, happier You which was a best seller in a few categories. He's an internationally recognized speaker and success coach. A dynamic speaker at that. He's an award-winning broadcast journalist. he's been a host and producer with some of the top television networks such as NBC, PBS, and a few others. He's the founder of Man Morning which is a dynamic global community and weekly newsletter tailored for the growth-minded man who wants to upgrade his money, health, and relationships. The mission is to combat isolation and loneliness by fostering deep connections, community, and empowerment. He's a father, a husband and someone who's trying to make an impact everywhere he goes. But throughout this conversation, you'll realize he's more proud of being a father to his twins and his wife. This week my guest is Antonio Neves.

I had a great conversation with Antonio, filled with raw honesty, transparency, reflection and a few laughs in between.

Episode Highlights:

- From walking on to earning a scholarship at Western Michigan University

- Lessons he learned from his coach that sticks with him today

-Reflections on what he learned from his parents

-How his father's passing affected him & How he got through those times.

-Why men tend to put on masks with their emotions & why most men are hurting behind closed doors

-how he handles setbacks and pressure and why it's important to cultivate good habits

- The importance of asking the right questions and so much more

There's a lot of great advice and transparent moments of truth in this episode. Men specifically this is an episode you do not want to miss.

Sometimes you dont know what you need to hear until you hear it. you might need to hear this today.

Before you go, if your enjoying the episodes do me a favour and leave a rating and review of the podcast and let is know what stuck out to you!

Follow Antonio Below:

Website: https://theantonioneves.com/
Social links + Man Morning + Podcast: https://linktr.ee/theantonioneves

Follow Unscripted On Social:
@Underdogakh

In this week's episode, Akeem reminds us why consistency is essential to everyday life. He discusses three different areas of our lives - physical health, goals/dreams/aspirations, and relationships- and what being consistent in these areas of our lives looks like.

Before you go, if you've been enjoying the episodes and getting value from them. Do me a favour and leave a rating and review of the show and let us know your thoughts.

Follow Unscripted & Akeem On Socal
IG: @Underdogakh
IG: @Unscriptedwak

This week on the show I'm joined by a good friend of mine. She represented sierra leone at the 2016 olympic games and in those same games she was the flag bearer for sierra leone during the closing ceremony. She's an advocate for education for women's rights in sports and out. She's done a lot of work bringing light to issues back in sierra leone. She's a digital strategist and currently leads a team with a highlighter which is a broadcasting and media company that highlights women in sports and culture. She's also worked with overtime sports, bleacher reports and House of Highlights. She's a woman that wears many hats with a heart to match. My guest this week is Hafsa Kamara.

Had a great conversation with Hafsa, In this episode, we get into:

• The importance of Ramadan and reflecting on this time

• Early childhood stories of growing up with her siblings

-Building a relationship with her stepfather

-Why she didn't start taking track and field seriously until she was in college

-Why she uses her platforms to bring light to sierra leone and women's right

-We touch on why the title "Olympian" doesn't mean your life changes financially

• How she got into the digital marketing space

• Track and field stories

and so much more. Hafsa says a lot of great things in this episode and it's not one you're going to want to miss.

Before you go, if you've been enjoying the episodes and getting value from them. Do me a favour and leave a rating and review of the show. This helps the show out a lot and if you can, share this episode with a friend. check out the visual episode on our new youtube channel. Links are Attached Below

Follow Hafsa On Social:

@Hafsakamara
Email: [email protected]

Watch the episode on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@UnscriptedWithAkeemHaynes/videos

This week on the show I'm joined by all Conference / All - American Small Forward at barton community college, St. Bonaventure university stand out and currently playing for Rouen Métropole Basket in France. Andell Cumberbatch joins me on the show.

Had a great conversation with Andell. Our paths crossed when we both attended barton community college (the best Juco in the country). This episode is a great reminder for all of us that no matter what comes our way, all we can do is control what's in front of us and make the most out of what we have.

This Episode we get into:

-Growing Up In East Orange, New Jersey

-The Challenges of growing up in a single parent household

-Similarities between a "Bodega" Vs "Corner Store"

-How He Ended Up At Barton Community College & what he learned about himself during that time

-St. Bonaventure Adjustment & Experience

-St. Bonaventure's Upset win against the then-ranked #18 VCU (Virginia commonwealth university) recap

-Playing overseas and the difference between playing in Europe Vs America

-How he deals with pressure & the growth within himself over the years

• His comeback journey from ACL & Meniscus tear

• Friendships, relationships and keeping good people around

and so much more! You don't want to miss this episode.

The visual episode will be up on your new youtube channel on Wednesday.

If you've been enjoying the show over the years, leave a rating and review of the show. This small act goes a long way in the growth of the show. It would be greatly appreciated!

Enjoy the episode

Follow Andell Below:
Twitter: @Smooveace
Instagram: @smooveace

This Week on the Show. She's the Finnish National Record Holder in the 100m hurdles. An olympian in the recent olympic games, she's a former sports journalist which she might come back to once she retires from the sport. She graduated summa cum laude in 2011 and she doubled back and got her master's at st mary's university in London in 2013. A woman of many talents and skills, my guest this week is Annimari Korte joins me on the show.

Annimari 's story has a lot of twists and turns in it from an early age. At the age of 14, she was battling a few different injuries. usually when you get hurt and have some nicks and nacks the pain goes away after a while but for animate the pain didn't get better, it kinda got worse. In 2008 she wasn't even able to train for the sport she'd been doing since she was young. She couldn't even walk up the stairs because she couldn't lift her legs because of the back pain. nor could she stand and or sit for more than 5 minutes without excruciating pain. by the end of the year she had seen many different doctors and they all sort of told her the same thing. "maybe you should do something else." in December of that same year she found a doctor who wanted to try something new and different and that doctor was able to help her get back t training and running again.

Things were seemingly going to get better, but then more things started to happen. Annimari was forced to retire from the sport of track and field in 2012 before making her comeback in 2017. There's a lot that took place in between and we get into that in the episode, but in 2020 she won the Finlands athlete of the year in athletics and comeback athlete of the year.

In this episode we get into:

-What drew her to the sport

-The internal feeling of hurdling

- Battling with undiagnosed injuries from an early age then kept her from sitting for too long and standing for too long

- Frustration with the pain, doctors and not being able to find answers

- How she lives with Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Tietze Syndrome

-Why she was forced to retire in 2012, and what made her come back in 2017

-Why she didn't quit

- Breaking the national record & making the olympic team

And so much much more.

Follow Annimari on social:
IG: Annimarikk

This week my guest was on the show. He's got over 20+ years in sports journalism. He spent 15+ years as a writer for the Toronto Star As a sports reporter where he covered everything from the CFL to MLB to the UFC, writing daily stories but specializing in longer features that explore the intersection of sports and social issues. He is now CBC sport's first senior contributor. In 2004 he won the National Newspaper Award for "Long Shots," a serial narrative about a high school basketball team from Scarborough. 5 years ago he stepped on stage to give a Ted talk where he touched on race, sports and telling true stories. I encourage you to check it out if you have a few minutes on hand. he's been featured in the new york times where he writes on boxing news. if you a boxing fan like me, you'll love the articles he writes. My guest this week is Morgan Campbell.

Morgan is well-decorated in his field that isn't afraid to share his honest thoughts about what he writes about. He's built a reputation, a following and a brand by examining the game behind the game. In his ted talk, something he said towards the end of the video stuck with me. he said "Once you get rid of the cliches, and get rid of the safety nets, you are left with the truth. And journalists are in the truth business.

I had a great conversation with Morgan. We touched on a lot of different topics, including:

- The process of writing his memoir (Coming soon)
- Cultural shifts Growing up as an American/Canadian
- Losing his father as a teenager to cancer
- The backstory behind the start of his journalism career
- Stories from his years with the Toronto star + Anson Carter incident
- Why integrity and truth should be the foundation of every story
- The backstory behind why he left the Toronto star
- His Ted Talk Entited: "Race, Sports and telling true stories."
- Gervonta Davis Vs Ryan Garcia

And so much more. But before you check out the episode, if you could do me a huge favour and leave a rating and review of the podcast? that would greatly help out the show. If you prefer watching your podcast, subscribe to the youtube channel and check out the visual episodes there. a link will be in the show notes.

Now with all that being said, enjoy the episode.

Follow Morgan Here:
IG & Twitter: @MorganPCambell

Ted Talk 

Watch The Visual Here: https://www.youtube.com/@UnscriptedWithAkeemHaynes

Welcome back to Season Four Of Unscripted! thank you to all of our listeners that continue to tune into the episode. Your support is greatly appreciated. With all that being said, let's pick up where we left off!

This week on the show.

I'm joined by one of the greatest sprinters of all time. The top 100m sprinter during his time. He's got 12 world medals. Including 2 Gold medals at the Olympic games, and 3 Gold medals at the world championships across his time. in 1996 he went into the atlanta olympic games maybe not the favourite, but came out and showed why he probably should have been. He crossed the line in a world record at the time. He Ran 9.84 then doubled back and helped his team break the Canadian record in the men's 4x100. He's still the current record holder in the 50m spring as well as still the Canadian record holder in the 100m. if you haven't guessed by now, I'm talking about the hall of fame, Philanthropist, track & Field commentator for CBC, Newly minted published author (Book drops in the fall of this year) Donovan Bailey joins me on the show.

In this episode:
- Early days In Jamaica

- The importance of structure & Responsibility

- His Experience At Champs(Jamaican high school championships)

- The Transition To Canada

-Why He decided to leave the corporate space to pursue a career in track and field

- 1994-1996 build-up to the Olympic games

- The back story behind the 1996 Olympic games including the bombing that almost stopped the games from happening

- The mentality of a champion in high-pressure situations

-Reflecting on his career

- His new book coming in the fall and so much more stories are in between.

Enjoy the episode!

Watch the visual episode on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-LY3dKLM7LUFVPEMIXBgxA

If you enjoy the episodes, Hit the follow button before you go and let us know your thoughts on the episode by leaving a rating and review of the show!

Thank you to all of our unscripted listeners this season. I appreciate each of you taking the time to tune in each week.

This is the season finale of unscripted! this episode we talk about reflection and how is the best way to reflect. You might have your own way of reflecting on how the year has been, but in this episode, I share 7 questions that I ask myself as I do my yearly recap and breakdown of the year for me.

1). What went right this year? what good things happened this year?
2). What didn't go right?
3). What unexpected event came? and how I respond to it?
4). What are the levels of my relationship with those around me?
5). How was my effort toward my work, relationships, workouts, and conversations?
6). Have I given myself enough time to be still?
7). What do I need to change? Am I open to doing things a new way?

Before you go, if this show has added value to your life in any form, do me a favour and leave a rating and review of the podcast. This goes a long way in moving the podcast forward. I'd greatly appreciate it!

God bless happy holidays to you and your family.

We'll see you next time.

This week on the show (Episode 126) He's the lead pastor of Christ Uncensored House of Worship in Staten Island New York. Ro is about loving God, loving people and loving life. The mission of his church is to spread the message of Jesus to as many people as possible. With a reach of almost 1 million people across his social platforms, he's taken an evolving approach when it comes to sharing and spreading his message. This week on the show, Pastor Rolando Remedios joins me on the show.

I had a great conversation with Ro, we spoke about a bunch of topics that some pastors wouldn't feel comfortable talking about but he was real, honest and transparent with his responses and very relatable even if you aren't someone with a faith background.

This episode we get into:

-Growing Up In Tough Environments
-How our traumas as kids carry over as adults if not dealt with
-How he found his purpose
-How he dealt with frustration with God's plans
-Tips to help you find your purpose & Gifts

• How to endure the wait until your breakthrough comes
• Why he uses his social platforms to reach more people
• A Powerful word of encouragement

Follow Ro On His Social Platforms:
Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube : @Iamroremedios
Website: https://www.cuhow.com/