How He Started From Scratch and Built a Movement

If your present self were to travel back in time, what would you tell to your younger self? >> I would tell him wait your turn, you know, when we lived in the room in the basement, no one would think that we would own multiple properties later on in life. >> Hey everyone, my name is Carmen De Waard and I will be hosting today's episode of Behind the Founders and today I will be interviewing Rick. Rick, welcome. How are you doing today? >> How you doing? >> Good, good. Glad to have you here. So Rick, could you briefly introduce yourself, who you are and what you're currently working on?

>> Sure. My name is Elder Ricardy Noel. I am the executive director and founder of the Real Word Ministries, which is a 501c3 nonprofit. We started back in 2015 when I first was offered the opportunity to preach. My first sermon was called the Reincarnation of Ricardy Noel, where I used my life story from when I first came to America from Haiti to college graduation. I'm just as a introductory to myself and my life thus far. And from there I guess my ministry started. I had a second sermon called Lay Huge Without Sin and by my third sermon Empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that's when I went viral on Facebook. That was during the time when Facebook was popular. That was before Instagram and >> Yeah.

>> all those other things, TikTok. So one morning I woke up I had over 800 notifications and then people just kept contacting me and then I had all these followings. I had a couple videos that hit 100,000, 120,000, 150,000 views and then it just kept going up from there. So then I told myself, I don't see myself as a pulpit preacher that's going to preach every week. How can I reach people? And I started studying the book of Matthew, which is the book of the life of Christ and Christ didn't preach it out of church every week. He met people where they were at. So you know, when people were hungry, he fed them. When they were sick, he healed them. He made the blind see and the crippled to walk. So, we applied those same principles. So, one of the things we did was during the global pandemic, the COVID pandemic, we went out to Harlem. We went to 125th and Lexington, which is known for a high

drug user population, mostly crack cocaine users, heroin users, and K2 users. I'm in the middle of the pandemic where when everyone was scared and staying in their home, we fed over 300 people. And we made the news, AM news in New York for that one. We do a annual turkey drive, an annual coat drive, an annual toy drive, an annual back to school drive, where we go into our low-income neighborhoods and provide them with food, clothing, and shelter. I also worked professionally at one point as a housing specialist, where I would use housing vouchers to place homeless people into homes.

>> Mhm. >> Um so, with that, we placed over 50 families into homes. And also, right now, we're working on supportive housing, um purchasing a building so that we can provide housing to those formerly homeless and dealing with substance abuse and other illnesses. >> Great. Rick, thank you so much for sharing. It's definitely very interesting, and I do have a couple of follow-up questions about that. You mentioned that it was It has been quite a journey for you to move from Haiti to the US. Could you share with us a little bit about your journey with that?

>> Yes. Um when I was 2 years old, 2 and 1/2, we moved to America from Haiti. During the time, we were political refugees, I guess you could say. Haiti had a lot of um political unrest. They still do. But back then, there was very little opportunity. And so, my parents we first immigrated to Turks and Caicos Islands, and then the Bahamas, and then eventually they came to America. We weren't on vacation at those places. We just We didn't get a visa. At the time, my dad was doing construction. He was helping to build those resorts on those islands, ironically. Eventually, we moved to Brooklyn. I lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn, for a little bit, for over 2 years. Growing up in Brooklyn as an immigrant wasn't really easy, but, you know, we just stayed determined. Our parents always kept us encouraged. They always kept us in school. All four of us, my parents have four children.

Um four surviving children. I lost one sister, and when she was an infant. But, out of the four surviving children, all four of us graduated college. Three of us have master's degree. One of us is working on a PhD currently. So, they always held education high with God. Yeah, but through progression and hard work, you know, um you could say that we did better in America. >> Yeah. Definitely, it's, you know, moving to a new country as an immigrant, it definitely comes with a lot of hurdles, a lot of challenges, because you're basically starting from zero, starting from scratch, and no one talks a lot about the hardships that it comes with it as well. But, I'm pretty sure that if you were to look back or I would say if your present self were to travel back in time to meet your younger self, what would you tell to your younger self?

>> I would tell him to wait his turn, you know? >> Okay. >> When we first came into America, it was the five of us. It was my mother, my father, me, and my sister, and my mom was pregnant with my brother, and the five of us lived in a room in a basement, not an apartment, a room. And in the other rooms were other family members. I remember my older cousins lived in one of the rooms, well, my mom's cousins, so they were older. They're like my mom's age, 30s, 40s. And it was like multiple families, but we was all one family. We was all related, but, you know, we all lived in that basement, and I remember living in that basement, and they used to make fun of us cuz my mom, she had a lot of kids at the time, you know, four kids.

But, you know, our parents stayed together. Um they persevered. They put us through college. They worked hard. And, you know, eventually, economically, we made strides, you know? >> Mhm. >> So, that's what I would tell him, wait your turn, you know? When we lived in the room in the basement, no one would think that we would own multiple properties later on in life, but >> Yeah, definitely. >> Don't curse the days of small beginnings, you know? So, that's that's how I look at it. Like, 2 years ago I went back to Haiti after a good 30 after good 35 years, I went back to Haiti. We had invested in a house that we built together. It's a pretty big house, and that was the first time I ever stayed in that house.

>> Wow. >> So, you know, coming from Haiti, being in America for 35 years, and then going back there to see, you know, it's just a full circle moment, and I was able to go there with with with my nonprofit. We fed over 400 people that day. We gave them money, and we gave them food. We was able to give money and food for over 30 minutes, so that's a lot of time giving out the food and money. >> Yeah. >> So, you know, and we did it during social unrest, you know, around the same time when the president was assassinated in Haiti, Jovenel. And so, you know, a lot of people like, "Don't go. Don't go.

Don't go." But, it was the same year that I had won that I was honored by another Haitian nonprofit charity called Mippo, Making the Impossible Possible. They provide scholarships so low-income children could go to um summer camp in Haiti, and also they give scholarships so low-income children could go to college. So, during my acceptance speech, I told them that I've done all this stuff for people in America, but I haven't done anything for back home. So, they were scheduled to go to do a camp in Haiti that summer, so I told them I was going to go with them, but for whatever reason, they did not go, so I ended up going alone. But, when I got there, a lot of my family members were able to support and people we knew, so they provided security at the time, so it was good, and we did the best we can, you know? No one tried to bring harm to us, even though we were heavily protected. So, I thank God for that.

>> Yeah, definitely for sure. I would say, "Wow, it's it's very beautiful to see that, you know, through all the harsh beginnings that you were going through, that you reached at this point where you're just saying, "You know what? I didn't think that right now today, you know, like you said, you just got to be patient. It's about timing. It's about waiting for your turn." That you'll be able to be where you are today to not only to also even give back as well, especially when you have gone through and have this empathy of the hardships, the challenges, the struggles that you have to face as well. So, I see on your LinkedIn, you have founded the nonprofit organization of Real Word Ministries, and it's been 6 and 1/2 years. So, tell me a little bit about who are you? Who is Real Word Ministries? What is the purpose of Real Word Ministries?

>> Okay, yeah. So, like I said, in 2015, I started preaching. By 2016-17, we started the podcast. The podcast started in the Brooklyn Public Library, the Central Public Library. Just me and a friend sitting in front of the computer talking. That snowballed. Right now, we're in our 10th season. We have over 132 episodes, over a million views total on YouTube alone. Probably on Facebook, we probably hit like 10 million on Facebook. From us doing the podcast, we was able to network with a lot of people from different backgrounds, like rappers, singers, politicians. We helped four politicians get elected, a New York assemblywoman, a council person. Um we worked with Mayor Eric Adams a lot. We've also worked with Mayor de Blasio prior to Eric Adams, even the Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso. We worked with him as well. We helped a federal judge get elected as well. They All these people

came on the podcast. So, we or they've been there at award shows when we were awarded as well. Just coming out in support. So, when the show started snowballing and getting bigger, you know, more people started coming on the a you know, local celebrities, former basketball players, um all different types of people. And so, that helped us to be able to network and also gave us a platform where we could invite and introduce ourselves to other people and also raise money for our nonprofit. So, that was one of the ways we raised money for our nonprofit by the through the podcast and television show.

>> Okay. >> So, while doing the podcast, I had a friend that said, "You should submit your your you you should submit a pilot for television." So, we did that and we were picked up for a season of television. And like I said, right now we're in the 10th season. So, we're on television twice a week, three times a day in New York. And so, the nonprofit for me, I started my career in law. I got a degree in pre-law, my first degree. And then I was working at a law firm for a little bit. And between all that, I did create all those companies.

And then while working at the law firm, that law firm went bankrupt, I ended up working in Bronx Housing Court. And then I ended up doing nonprofit work after that. I ended up working at a shelter, you know, working with the city with the housing vouchers. And it was during that time I really got an understanding of nonprofit organizations, how that work, how to start companies. And I researched and I started my own company. And then I said, "What what's the need I could help?" So, the the Real World is a 501c3 nonprofit public charity that helps individuals living under the 200% poverty line by meeting their everyday needs, like food, clothing, shelter. We provide food and we do food distributions all year round.

During the global pandemic, we used to do an average of two to 300 meals that would be five days worth of food we would distribute through the church. We also did the turkey drive, of course. We give out two to 300 turkeys a year um every Thanksgiving, toy drive, two to three 400 toys, depending on how much donations we get. We have a large social media following on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, obviously. That's how we met, which helps me connect to a lot of different people and also helps us to raise money. So, we haven't had to take out We haven't had to take grants. We've been We've been able to sustain the company just based on peer-to-peer donations.

>> Okay. >> We would like to get capital funding, which is over a million dollars in funding. That way, like I said, we could purchase the building and start really developing and pushing the company to a higher extremes. And right now, we're doing ELA classes, English classes for people that came to America. >> Okay. >> You know, during the Joe Biden administration. >> Yeah. >> A lot of people came under the TPS temporary visa, especially Haitian people like myself. A lot of them came to America, and a lot of them lost a lot of their resources under Trump. So, a lot of them are unable to function. A lot of them are unable to go to work, and their biggest barrier is not knowing English. So, we put that into action as well. Um we was able to buy a $2 million building, which our church is in. It's about, I believe, 10,000 square feet in Brooklyn. So, that's the facility that

we use to do the English courses and to facilitate as well. >> Yeah. Wow, I have like so many follow-up questions based on that, but I can see that, uh you know, a huge part of it is also the power of networking, the power of using podcasts and your social media to be able to grow. I'd be curious to learn a little bit more about You mentioned that on your social media platforms, like YouTube, also your podcast, there has been a lot of growth in terms of the following, in terms of the engagement. What kind of strategies did you implement to drive this this this high level of growth?

>> This is all funny now. It's been almost 10 years, right? Yeah, it's been almost Yeah, it's been 10 years. 10 years ago, I was listening to a rap song by A Boogie wit da Hoodie. He's like a popular New York rapper. And then he said, "I used to figure out I used to try to figure out how to make a million dollars." I used to Google it. And I started laughing, and then one day, I Googled how to become famous. >> Really? >> Yeah, yeah. >> Nice. >> And so, I Googled how to become famous and how to go viral. So, it said, "Make sure at least 10 to 20% of your followers know who you are and they feel like you know who they are." On Facebook, it was even simpler. Like, you know how Facebook everyday send you the notification for people's birthdays?

>> Yeah. >> I just tell them happy birthday everyday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. I copy and paste the same message to all of them and send it, but they don't know that. >> They wouldn't know cuz they don't know each other. >> Yeah, so to them, they're like, "Oh, this guy knows me." And then, Facebook was the easiest cuz I just went like I would look for people who's already popular, like locally popular, and I would just add all their friends. And then, I would look to see who else on their friend list is popular, add all their friends, and then I would either invite them on my podcast or invite them to my church or try to meet them in real life. And then, I got popular love locally where people started to come and want to meet me now. And then, when I started preaching, it made it easier because I was getting invited different places, different states, different

different boroughs, so it's to preach and more people got to know my name. After a while, Facebook got ads. I'll take out because my network was so big, I didn't have to take out expensive ads. I'll take out about like $20 ads, and the $20 ads will help me reach like 300,000 people, 200,000 people. And then, I also added myself to a lot of groups on Facebook, so then I would share all the contents in all the groups, and I would share until they were restricting me, until they blocked me. So, I would do that. And then, on on Instagram, when Instagram came, I did the same thing. Added all my friends' friends, added all them. The people I didn't follow back, I delete them.

And I just kept doing it, kept doing it. And then, I would join like forums and groups, like commenting groups, liking groups, like for like, share for share, you know, when Instagram first started they had those things. >> they did. >> a woman crush Wednesday, all that other stuff, man man crush Monday and I'll tell them make me your crush on Monday. I'll make you my crush on Wednesday. Yeah, you know. >> All sorts of things. >> Yeah, like I hired a social media manager a couple times. Yeah, a lot of paid promotions, a lot of in-person words of word of mouth. We had a merch as well. I have merch, hoodies, shirts, all type of stuff. So, everything to push the culture and just push the movement.

Like, it started out as as a company, became a movement. You know what I'm saying? And then we added a theme song to the podcast which helped a lot. Like, my brother rapped it, my sister sung it. So, then now we have like a slogan now attached to it. >> Okay. >> And you know, I I trademarked the logo. So, then we did all these little small things that, you know, snowballed. And then after a while, you know, famous and important and rich people started noticing us. So, you know, we started getting invited to a lot of galas and charity events and golf course events and all these other stuff. I call them the Illuminati parties. You >> Okay.

I've heard about that term as well, the Illuminati. >> Yeah, the Illuminati parties I call them cuz when you go to those parties where you see all the rich and famous popular people. Like, you know, places I never thought I was going to be at like 475 Park Ave, you know, all these other places I've been that I never thought that I could walk into like the UN, the United Nations I've been to. Not as a visitor, but you know, as someone I'm sitting on a panel, someone I got a seat. I've been to a couple places. I can't remember off off top, but you know, if you look at my social media you'll see. It's been a long time.

>> Yeah, yeah. I can see that, you know, it definitely takes a lot of like extensive networking which really does bring you or open doors and paths to get to where you are today to lead you to even like meet famous people, whether it's musicians, whether it's politicians, whether it's celebrities, whether it's all these events. How How long would you say it took for you to be able to go viral or to to be able to have more reach, so to say? You know, you talked a lot about, you know, you would add other people, message them, uh post in different groups. How long did it take and how much time did you spend doing that?

>> Well, if we calculate it the most simplest way, I started preaching in 2015. The company was incorporated and received a 501c3 in 2018. I received my first award from a newspaper publication 2020. So, if you want to go by that, I'll say five two to five years, I guess. Technically, going viral online, I would say going viral online just has to do with your content, like what content you put out, what you're doing, cuz sometimes it's the simplest thing that I put out that that I'll go viral. I remember one time I I made a post and I was talking about a girl cuz we both went to a party in all white and I said and then she came up to me and said, "You look like you're about to get married." cuz I had a white suit with gold accents and I said, "You look like you're about to get married." cuz she had a white mermaid dress that was almost the same as my ex-wife when we got married. So, I was

like So, I was like, "You look like you got married." So, it was just It was just a coincidence, but it was inspiration for the post. When I posted myself in the picture, I was like like I used that as the intro, like she came up to me and said I look like I'm about to get married. I said, "You look like you're about to get married, too." and then I guess people started to to like research, try to figure out who it who I was talking about and it made this whole thing and I was like and I was like it was almost like I forgot I was popular, you know?

Sometimes I talk like I talk like it's just me and you in the room, like I'm just talking to myself, but I don't realize how big I got with like this thing took a life of its own and then after a while I looked at the post, the post got monetized. That's how much people who was copying on that caption. I'm like, "Really?" So, I'm like I'm like, "Why you guys like going so hard? Cuz they wanted Cuz I've been single for, let me see, 4 5 6 7 8, about 4 5 years. So, I guess they thought I was with someone. So, everybody wanted to know who it was.

>> Mhm. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, yeah. So, they all want the tea. They all want to figure it out. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> Exactly. >> Okay. And during that process, when you were building the Real Word Ministries, like what were the typical challenges that you faced? Because I can imagine, you know, there's some people they don't come from a background of faith, and I can imagine there's a probably a lot of like, I don't know if it's pushback or challenges, but like, what kind of challenges have you faced from during this whole process?

>> The biggest challenge was money, you know? Because >> Yeah. >> Like, I had a partner, and then, you know, because there's multiple facets of my life, you know? Like, I have my 9:00 to 5:00. Like, I have a master's degree in clinical social work. So, I do clinical social work. I got a master's degree from Fordham University. So, I also do psychotherapy. So, from that, that that's a separate revenue, right? Like, I manage programs as as a program director and psychotherapist. But then, I also have my personal companies, right? The nonprofit, and I also have a LLC, a real estate investment development company. And then, I have the church, like the clergy work, and you know, the church has its own body.

We have over 200 members at the church. So, it's like, if someone's just looking at me from afar, and they're looking at how I dress, cuz remember, like I told you before, I was a immigrant from Haiti. Like, I used to have one pair of sneakers for the whole year. I used to wear sneakers till the bottom ran out, and I had to rip rip off the the cardboard at the top of a cereal box, and use that as insoles, so my socks wouldn't get wet. >> Yeah. >> looks at me, they see me with 50 pairs of shoes, they feel a way, you know? So, so you know, they start counting your pockets. So, >> Yeah.

>> after a while, people start to think I'm rich, you know? I'm like, I'm not rich. Like, you know, I'm I'm maybe middle class at best, but you know, they started asking for money and then it came to a point where people thought I was rich already, so they didn't want to donate to the nonprofit. >> Yeah. >> So then I had to go to like rich rich people, you know, wealthy people and then, you know, then came the stigma, oh, why is Rick around all these white people? >> Yeah, okay. >> It's like, you know, black people that giving me money to do the work. So, you know, I have to look for the money somewhere.

>> Okay. >> after that, it's more so like, you know, the bigger a company gets, the more expensive it becomes. So, as it became more expensive, the company started to accrue debts, which I was 100% responsible for. So, you know, every now and then I had to readjust in order to balance out the books of my personal life and the business. I couldn't spend more money on the business and then neglect my personal life. So, every now and then something happens called mailbox money where, you know, people send my charity checks in the mail, just, you know, donations to the charity. So, that has kept us afloat over the years as well. But yeah, just to support and the funds. A lot of people have the crab in the barrel mentality. They think once you make it a little bit, they think you made it all the way, especially when they see you with people that already made it, but they don't understand like you're still

out there trying, you know? So, that's been a a big a big obstacle to to to overcome. And also, you know, jealousy. That's regular, you know, people jealous on you, people trying to sabotage you, people hating on you. You know, sometimes it's people that are next to you. Like I remember I started getting I guess famous, you could say, my ex-wife, she started to get real insecure. She used to try to discourage me and stuff like that, but I just kept persevering and going going forward cuz, you know, sometimes people want to put themselves and they're like, why you? Why did God choose you? Like, the hell, like, what makes you so special? What makes you so popular? And then they try to do things to discredit you, you know, saying, oh yeah, you do this, this, and that, but you don't do that, this, and this. So, you know, I had to deal with that. A lot of people thinking that they're better than me and

they could do better than me. You know, those type of things, the petty things. >> Oh, of course. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, definitely. I mean, sometimes it's also a matter of because it's all about projections, right? Like people want They want what they can have, so it does get projected to envy or jealousy and everything like that. But at the end of the day, you know, like everyone Everyone I believe that everyone has, you know, their own path, own lane, own purpose, and everything like that, too. So, yeah, that that's definitely a lot to juggle as well. And I wanted to ask you because you have multiple things going on. You have the nonprofit, you have the multiple businesses, your 9-to-5. How do you balance all of that?

Or how do you approach and manage it because that's definitely a lot of balls to juggle in the air. >> The golden question. >> Yeah. I mean, I do it one at a time. I mean, my days start early and they end late. Like my days probably start like 5:00, 5:30 a.m. I'mma wake up, get ready, get my kid ready. Um cuz I'm a single dad, so I get my kid ready for school. She's in school by 7:30. By 7:45, 7:50, I'm outside of the church, you know, just walking the grounds, making sure everything is good, making sure there's no repairs, not nobody did anything they not they weren't supposed to do. After I'm finished at the grounds of the church, I'm in my office by 8:30.

And I start my day. I leave the office by like 4:35. By 4:35, I go back to the church to see how everything is going there. I have to record a podcast. I record a podcast from 6:00 to 7:00. Well, by the time I come home around 6:00, 7:00, if my kid have homework, I'll do homework with her. If not, then I'll work out for an hour. After I finish working out for an hour, I'll probably just work on editing a sermon or I'll I'll probably read. I'll probably watch YouTube videos on how to do certain things, like build or create or whatever it may be. By 8:30, I have to put my kid to bed. Um I read her a story, things like that. So, she's in bed by 9:00, 9:30, maybe 10:00 at the latest if she's acting up. And at 10:00, that's when I have my free time. So, from 10:00 to maybe 11:30, 12:00, I'm editing videos and watching and learning things, too. And then I start over the next day.

>> Okay. Well, looks like you have everything all set and planned out. And I guess it goes to show that, you know what? It can be done if you have something planned, if you're really intentional and really disciplined about that, too. >> Yeah. Discipline and organization plays a big role in it. Yeah. Like I have multiple cameras. I have two phones. >> Yeah. You got to do what you got to do to, you know, keep up with everything. So, Rick, I'm actually really curious to learn a little bit about your your experience as a psychotherapist because I see that a lot of the stuff that you're doing is really aligned to giving back, to helping people, to supporting people, and leaving a positive impact on their lives. So, tell me a little bit more about your Yeah, your role as a psychotherapist.

Yeah. >> Okay, sure. So, right now I work as a program director of a housing facility that's called supportive housing. >> Okay. >> So, we're a housing provider and also we provide clinical services as well and case management services. So, I do something called a psychosocial. I also do mental health assessments like I'm able to diagnose people and assess them mentally. Generally, I sit with them. I talk about their entire life. I'll ask them about their childhood. I'll ask them if they had any traumatic moments, if they had any sicknesses, any illnesses, any traumatic losses, their vocation, their level of education, the things that they did, if they have a family, children, things like that. So, just cycle analyze them and get a a sound background. Okay. So, I was working for Brian Weiss Psychology.

That's a psychology firm that's in Midtown Manhattan. We got clients through Zocdoc where we would create our profiles online and then we would solicit patients. The patients would do intake, they would tell us about their lives, what they're going through. The treatment modality that I would use mostly would be CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy. >> Yeah. Changing negative habits and behaviors into positive or replacing negative habits and behaviors with positive habits and behaviors. And so I would first listen to what their problem was whether it be PTSD, depression, postpartum depression, divorce. A lot of my clients, my patients are going through divorce. Some are going through financial crisis, some had issues at home, some had issues based upon their religion. I dealt with people from different backgrounds, different countries. Sometimes it'll be issues with their parents, issues at

work, issues with their spouse or their boyfriend, girlfriend. That came up a lot. Sometimes I would have to do psych analysis for people for jobs. Say for example, if they didn't pass the NYPD psych test, then they would send them to me and I would have to see and then I'm like, yeah, I know why you didn't pass. I didn't tell them that, you know, I just listened to them. Yeah, but yeah, it's an interesting time, you know, just like some people don't like to sit on the couch, you know? >> Yeah. >> In the office, I tell them take a seat on the couch. Some are like, no, I'm not sitting on that couch. I'm not sitting on that couch and they would run out.

They would run out. Some you'll see one time, some you'll see every week. >> Okay. >> For months, some you see a couple times and they think that they're cured. Sometimes they just want to hear a stranger tell them something that they already know. >> Okay. >> Just to, you know, validate. >> Validation. >> Yeah, at at times. Those are mostly the people you only see once or twice and you don't see them again. And then some people have ongoing problems, you know, you diagnose them and you see them every week. You prescribe talk therapy which is what you do and then, you know, you help them the best you can.

>> Mhm. Yeah, definitely not easy as well. And I'd would curious to know from your point of view when it comes to validation, right? I I hear about this a lot. I've had conversations also, you know, with friends and also colleagues about this that often times when people are going through something, they don't really look for, I would say, unsolicited advice. They just want to be heard. They want to be validated. They want to be seen. Why do you think that happens a lot, you know, that, you know, they they just want to be heard or validated or a stranger to validate that what they're feeling is valid?

>> From what I see, majority of those people, the people in their lives don't listen to them, you know? >> They either have their own personal issues or they had trauma growing up where people didn't listen to them or their voice wasn't heard. And, you know, their inner child was damaged. And so, they never found their voice or they never found solid ground to stand on. And so, sometimes they need someone out the box to be like, "Am I crazy or not?" You know? Sometimes I see it as when then you know, you just sit there and you listen to them. You give directions, but I think the best thing to do is help them to find the direction themselves. You just navigate them. It's almost like they're in the dark and, you know, they just need an extra hand to find the light switch, I feel like.

>> Yeah. >> Yeah, that's how I see it as. I don't try to impute too much of myself into my sessions. I mostly listen. And, you know, you listen more most people tell you exactly what the issue is, you know? Sometimes people say that, you know, no one listens to them, but sometimes they don't listen to themselves. >> Okay. That's interesting what you mentioned that no one they don't listen to themselves. What do you mean by that? >> As in sometimes we all hear that voice in the back of our minds or whatever you want to say, whatever Some people say it's the spirit, some people say it's God, some people say, you know, it's it's it's just the inner thoughts.

>> Yeah. >> the soul speaking to you, but sometimes you you hear the voice if you listen a little closely. But then, you know, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So, you know, you might hear that thought, but you want to do what makes you feel good in the moment. And then it is a ripple effect that affects every other part of your life, and then you got to live with the consequences of your actions. And then you're like, "How did I get here?" You kind of block out the cause after the effect at times.

And so, as a psychotherapist, my job is to find how did we get here, you know? Sometimes it takes going all the way back to childhood. >> To go all the way back to the roots as well. And I think also one part of it is the accountability. You know, it's so easy to point out the problems that, you know, it's so easy to place the blame on other people or on external situation. But sometimes it's like it's also about you taking responsibility to do the inner work yourself in order to be able to see change rather than being stuck in the same place, too.

>> Yeah, of course. >> Yeah. And I would love to know all those all the different works that you're doing tied together. What would you say is like the driving force that gets you really excited to found this nonprofit, to be a psychotherapist, to run the real estate, and all these multiple projects? What would you say is like the driving force or what would you say you your calling is? >> Well, the driving force was my daughter. Like my daughter was born in 2018, and I founded the companies in 2018. So, I wanted to create something I wanted to leave a legacy behind, you understand? Like I wanted to do something that would outlive me.

Obviously, after I'm gone, the church is still going to be here, and God willing, the companies are still be here, but our works are still be here, you know? We have a couple plaques, we have a couple trophies, we have couple publications. So, you know, people going to know what we did. Like even if you were to Google us now, you know, we have a couple of pages on Google just based on the the work that we've done. And you know, we wanted to be known for something positive, nothing negative, you know? Helping people meet them where they're at, similar to life of Christ. I feel like that's the motivation after my Well, that's that's the first motivation to be more like Christ, you know, be Christ-centered. Like I'm I'm no doctor.

I can't, you know, heal people, but I prayed over people and they received healing, but they were healed by the grace of God, not by myself, you know, I don't have any special powers. Like I've been able to to to to walk through one twin countries and, you know, poor neighborhoods, you know. >> Yeah, you see it all. Yeah. >> Yeah, if you're working with people under the 200% poverty level, you're not going into, you know, Calabasas. You're not going in there. You're obviously going into lower income where people is on welfare, high crime-ridden areas. And every time we go into those areas, it's love cuz, you know, we come with a sense of healing, you know, and redemption.

You know, God has provided us with grace, so we give it back. >> Yeah. And obviously with everything that you've witnessed and seen so far, what would you say what are the next things that you want to focus on to make the world a better place, to help the people in the less privileged areas? >> Mhm. Like I said, we we want to create the building um that's going to provide housing and we can start with one and then continue with a few others like how other companies do and that way at least we have safe places where people can go and stay.

Um I want to eventually go into politics myself. Like I've helped enough people get elected where I feel like I can get elected and then make change same way. The same way I moved up the ranks in church and was able to do those things in church. Like, you know, I was a youth minister for 10 years, then I became a board member, became a elder, a minister, chaplain, and then, you know, I helped Well, yeah, we bought the building for the church and things like that. So, right now is more so just keep on going, you know, with the real estate company. We want to eventually own the support of housing buildings and then manage it through the nonprofit. So, you know, both companies get to live together and then, you know, we're going to continue the ministry wherever it may go, you know.

Because we're a worldwide ministry now. We've been to several countries, helped people several several places now. Of course, like I said, we want to get capital funding, get a couple million dollars at one time to try to do something really big, but just staying humble and, you know, determined to just push through and persevere. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> For sure. And this is a question that I usually ask with to every founder, but through all those works, do you implement AI to help with any of the process? Or what are your thoughts on AI in general?

>> I have been using AI lately, but that's mainly for video editing. >> Okay. >> I use Periscope, I think it's called. >> Okay. >> No, sorry. Sorry. O- Opus Clip, Opus Clip. Yes. It has made it easier for me because before I used to spend like hours linking a 2-minute clip or 1-minute clip cuz you know, you Say for example, I preach for 45 minutes or we do a podcast for like an hour. I have to sit there and watch the whole thing, maybe sometimes two, three times, and then find the best moments, chop those up short as you can.

>> All manual. >> Chop it up again, then chop it up again, then chop it up again till you get from 45 minutes to 1 minute just to drive traffic into the whole video. So, you know, that used to take days for me. And then, you know, it's kind of awkward sometimes for me to watch myself talk and then watch it play back again. So, I had to get over that. >> Yeah. >> And then I had to like, you know, so that has helped me with the AI clips cuz it gives you the rating, how What's the probability of that video going viral?

And of course, you know, social media I've always been big on and just the different type of softwares. But that's the most I've used in regards to AI. Um Chat GPT I use sometimes. I use Chat GPT to look myself up. Like I I asked Chat GPT, "Who was Ricardo Gino?" And then all these things came up. I started laughing. And then you know, like >> saying about you? >> Yeah. >> exactly. >> Yeah. >> Other than that, I haven't really used AI besides, you know, when it first came out people use it to make cartoon pictures of themselves and things like that. Like that's probably the furthest I've went with it.

>> Okay. Okay. Cool. Cool. >> What about you? You use it a lot? >> AI Well, I would say definitely in some aspects of the process we've used it to accelerate, speed up things, also in terms of our hiring, in terms of finding the right candidates, or I would say just publishing really compelling content. And of course, with this podcast I'm using AI to be able to trim and find the best sound bites as well. So, that's definitely very helpful to be able to assess and see what is very what's going to be viral, what are some good hooks. So, I would say in terms of AI that has been very useful and helpful, but at the same time I also believe that the human element is still got to be there because AI is helpful. I would I like to view AI as an intern, you know, you have to train them and train them, but it can't fully replace all the works that we're doing as well or all our ideas because I do believe

that creativity should still be from the human element if that makes sense. >> Yeah, I agree. >> Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay, great. So, Rick, uh just to close this episode with one final question. >> Mhm. >> If you have a piece of advice or a message that you want to pass on to someone who's thinking of starting something new, building something from scratch, what would it be? >> Start running and don't stop. >> Okay. >> And I always tell people this is a marathon, it's not a race.

Like a race is everybody's trying to finish first. This a marathon, we're just trying to finish alive, you know. Cuz it's a long it's a long run. Um there's going to be a lot of things that's going to happen along the way. You might get hurt, you might trip up, you know, there might be a lot of setbacks, there might be some cautionary signs ahead of you, there might be some distractions, but you got to keep going. You only lose when you quit. I also tell people that all the time, like even my daughter. Like I remember the other day I'm also helping her study for a spelling test and then every time she would give me the words after I told her spell them, she would write them down and give me so I could so I could tell her grade and she had to put her head down. I'm like, "No, don't put your head down. You keep your head up. Good good or bad, like you keep your head up. You got to face whatever comes to you." And

I told the the the youth within my ministry the same thing. Like I told them like I went through a divorce during the global pandemic and I was left with a two-year-old child at the time. She's eight now. She was two and a half at that time. She's eight now. So it's like at the time my church got shut down because the fire department shut it down. You know, we was in a global pandemic, we was on lockdown, there was a lot of things going on, a lot of people were messed up financially, mentally, spiritually and I was ready to sit down, too, but then I saw it and I knew so much people depended on me and I had to put a sermon out called leading while bleeding. It's like I'm bleeding, I'm going through my hardships, but I'm a leader, like I still have to stand up and fight or at least keep walking so that people behind me. Yeah, cuz if I give up, it's like who else is going to do it?

Everybody else is going to give up cuz they're looking to me to move forward and so you know, like like like I said, we pulled a lot of miracles during that time. We was able to purchase the church, we was able to the building, we was able to to do construction and fix it and bring all the members back that was in their home for over a year. You know, grew the church back to over 200 members. You know, we have a $2 million building now, so that's only by the grace of God, you know, and during that time, instead of declining, we did good, like you know, me personally, my salary increased, I started getting a lot of promotions, doing better in life and even the company started growing. So we just have to stay positive cuz at any given moment we we it it was it was easy to quit, especially during the pandemic.

We could have quit and no one would have known. But instead we went even harder and that's why we we here where we at now. >> Yeah, definitely. I think that is a very powerful statement to just just keep on going, keep running, keep your head up and eventually you are going to reap what you sow. So Rick, again, thank you so much for coming on. >> Yeah, I would just like to take this time to thank behind the founder and thank Carmen for her time as well and thank you guys for taking the time out to reach out to me, you know, to invite me on this platform. And if you guys enjoy this conversation and you guys are more curious about our work, you could Google me Ricard Jean-Noel, but also you can follow us on Facebook, facebook.com/ricardjeannoel or facebook.com/therealword7, the number seven like Mike Vick, or The Real Word Ministries on Facebook. You could Google The Real Word Ministries.

Our official website is www.therealwordministriesinc.org. That's therealwordministriesinc.org. You can catch us on YouTube, youtube.com/therealwordtv, The Real Word TV on YouTube. You can put it as one word. Also Ricard Jean-Noel on YouTube to check out my sermons as well. You can catch us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Pandora, SoundCloud. I'm at The Real Word Podcast. You can also catch us on The Brick Network every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 2:00 a.m. every Thursday and Tuesday. Also follow us on Instagram. My Instagram is @rickstar1875.

That's rickstar1875. And the company is @therealwordministriesinc. I'm @therealwordministriesinc. And the church is Herman SDA Youth. So I know it's a lot. But shout out to all of you for the support. >> No worries, Rick. Thank you so much for coming on. >> Yeah. And also on LinkedIn, too, where we found Carmine. >> Be sure to stay tuned and check out all his webpages. We'll definitely put this all in the description of the episode below. See you next time.