We were lucky to catch up with D.A. Medina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi D.A. , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on lately has to be the El Camino N’golo rehabilitation center in Buellton California. This project is the love child of another faith based organization called Beyond Sycamore. Beyond Sycamore was established as a graphic novel ministry that found its place in correctional facilities, juvenile facilities, and foster homes for abused boys in California and Texas. The graphic novel, Below Sycamore, is about the demonic and parasitic nature of addiction set in Los Angeles during the 90s. Beyond Sycamore donated over $100,000 of books in the last 2 years spreading the message of the power of addiction in our communities. After teaming up with Daniel Duron and Kamal Humphrey we decided we needed to look for a place where anyone could recover from addiction regardless of resources, at that moment El Camino N’golo was born.

We believe healing should take place in the body, mind and soul. We will be offering a free 90 day program as soon as we settle on the land and real estate purchase.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I am the only child of a Mexican-Cuban father, a professional musician with the East LA band The Ambertones, and a Hawaiian-born Portuguese mother who worked in the medical field. For the first 3 years of my life I was on the tour bus with my father, who later taught me to play piano and hand drums. That is where this love for music was born. Even though I never gave up singing and writing music I wasn’t able to pursue my creative aspirations and still have time to raise up a beautiful family. After battling alcoholism for over 2 decades, I began creating art out of the darkness and the idea for Below Sycamore was born.

Below Sycamore, the play, opened at the Shelton Theater in San Francisco to sold-out crowds in 2019. The play’s successful six-week run inspired me to expand on the Below Sycamore universe and develop an episodic series for film or television. As discussions for optioning the project for distribution were developing, COVID hit and the production landscape became uncertain, so, with the help of entertainment industry lawyer Brandon Dorsky, Esq., we pivoted to creating a graphic novel series to continue reaching audiences.

After recruiting comic book illustrator Fernando Kern to design the “Below Sycamore” environment, the buzz surrounding the graphic novel received the attention and interest of former addict and esteemed actor Danny Trejo and cultural icon and artist Taz Arnold who are among the various notable talents lending their name and image to the entire project and also star as prominent characters.

Issues #1 and #2 are available now! Please visit us on all social media platforms @belowsycamore

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In May 2020 I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and rushed to the emergency room where I almost died. The last three years have been marred with disease and uncertainty at the same time they have been the most transformative years of my life. In 2021 I wrote an album of beautiful music and recorded it in the old fashioned analog way like my father and all the real musicians used to do before computer programs came along and turned everyone into producers. Later that year we released the first comic book about the demonic and parasitic nature of addiction. In 2022 we finished the first season of the television series Below Sycamore and are currently shopping the project in Hollywood.

I could have just sat around and took pain, pills and wallowed in the misery of chronic disease but instead, I decided to fight and the good Lord blessed me and gave me the strength I needed to continue to be creative and remain sober.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There is a book called Awareness by Anthony De Mello that illustrates how to live life as it is and not how you want it to be. This is one of the most profound lessons I have learned in life because it shows me that I don’t need the world to change to be just fine with living in it. For me this book shines the light on that perspective we all need in life; this is not my world act accordingly

Contact Info:

• Website: BelowSycamore.com
• Instagram: BelowSycamore
• Facebook: BelowSycamore
• Twitter: BelowSycamore
• Youtube: BelowSycamore
• Other: https://www.kreatr.co/belowsycamore