Reimagining Your Truth

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The past couple weeks we went deep into nutrition. Now it’s time to take a new direction. To delve into spirit. Creativity. And art. All powerful vehicles for connecting with, unlocking and ultimately expressing the authentic truth of who you are — the crux of life transformation.

Today we Reimagine Your Truth.

Today we meet IN-Q.

Rapper. Actor. Teacher. Songwriter & internationally revered spoken word artist.

Wait a minute — what?? A poet? How could spoken word, rap music and this guy possibly have anything to do with the themes of this show?

I can read your mind. I get it. But I ask you to please reserve whatever preconceived ideas or opinions you may have about what’s to come. Because ignorance is contempt prior to investigation. I promise you this — after this interview you won’t be asking yourself that question.

I first met IN-Q up at a thing called Summit Series  — an organization that began in 2008 with a small group of young entrepreneurs harboring a giant collective dream to change the world. Led by an enterprising young man named Eliot Bisnow (who coincidentally went to my high school), Summit began as an annual four-day events for 1,000 of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, artists, scientists, athletes, and change makers with the intention of driving positive growth and collaboration.

The events were extremely successful. But Summit has since evolved far beyond a mere producer of TED-like events. Today, it stands tall as a truly unique community of compelling thought leaders who truly are changing the world. About a year ago, the Summit organization took up permanent residence in Eden, Utah — a quiet hamlet north of Salt Lake nestled in the Wasatch Mountains — when they purchased a mountain. That’s right: an entire mountain & functioning ski resort called Powder Mountain. Not just any ski resort, “PowMow” is in fact the largest ski mountain in the entire United States.

Ambitious? It’s just the beginning. Summit’s goal is to unite thought leaders and innovators of today and tomorrow by over time growing this now small community into an international epicenter of culture and innovation across all disciplines of art, music, technology, entertainment, science, literature, social entrepreneurism and education.

Eliot invited Julie and I up to Powder Mountain this past winter to speak and simply enjoy a weekend getting to know Summit.  Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect.  I had known the Summit crew for a couple years – in fact Julie taught them a yoga class back in 2008 when it was just a small group of people with big dreams cohabitating in a house in Malibu — but had yet to experience it for myself.

I have to say it was a transformative experience. I left completely inspired.

One of the most compelling people we met was none other than today’s guest — IN-Q.

I’ll be upfront. I’m not a poetry guy. I’m not a hip hop guy. These are foreign worlds I know very little to nothing about. On the surface, IN-Q is therefore an unlikely choice for the podcast. But I was so impressed with this man. The moment I met him I knew instantly that I had to have him on the show.

Before each group dinner up at Summit, IN-Q would deliver a poem – a true demonstration of performance art to set the energy of the evening.  More prayer than poem. More inspirational panegyric than prayer even. I simply had never heard anything like it before. It was completely unique.

But it’s not just IN-Q’s mad skills that left my jaw agape.  To be sure, he is oozing with talent and displays total command over his instrument and art. It was his spirit that truly moved me. The way he conducts himself with complete integrity, gratitude and grace; with a rare openness and palpable, unguarded honesty. And the positive resonating message he chooses to convey through his art, writing and voice. IN-Q is a special, special guy.  One of those people who is touched in a very real, tactile way.

To paint the picture a bit, IN-Q is a national poetry slam champion who has shared the stage with Barack Obama, De La Soul, Eminem, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Legend and is the first poet to ever share a stage with Cirque de Soleil. He has toured over 70 colleges with his one man show; written songs for Miley Cyrus & Rock Mafia; co-wrote Selena Gomez’s hit song “Love You Like a Love Song”; and has been featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, Versus & Flow, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel. Nickelodeon, EA Sports, ABC, NBC, and A&E.

I won’t give away his story – that’s what the podcast is for.  But I will say it’s a story you won’t want to miss. A story and a message that will no doubt make a powerful impression on you. Not only will it move and inspire you, it will help you reframe your perception on your own life.

Let IN-Q help you reimagine YOUR truth.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the conversation.

PS – here is one of my favorite IN-Q jams:

SHOW NOTES

• IN-Q Website:  http://in-q.com/
• IN-Q on Twitter: @INQLIFE
• IN-Q on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/INQlife
• Summit Series:  http://www.summit.co/