Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tyrell Hughes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Tyrell thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

In  2020, during a global pandemic and a time of civil unrest in America, I asked myself what I could do to get involved in a positive way which promoted change. Tensions were high after the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police., The stories being reported all over the news included a lot of negativity and I wanted to change that. I began a Podcast that focused in on positivity and highlighting organizations and individuals to inspire others. Too many times we hear of all the negatives things going on in this world and I wanted to balance that with positive stories. My life has been all about turning negatives into positives and my new business endeavor was designed to do the same. A lot of people don’t really know this but even my company’s logo, the image of a back, is the actual silhouette of my back after a run in with the police I had. I ended up being tasered and detained unjustifiably. It was later resolved and rectified but it was a negative experience for me none the less. Instead of focusing on the negative experience I flipped all the hurt and pain of that experience into create The BACK Community, LLC which now inspires others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

By profession, I work for the federal government and have done so for the past seventeen years. I don’t publicly speak too much on what I do there. It’s a secret, lol! That is not what I am most noted for anyway. What people know me for is my work with The BACK Community, LLC and MODEL, Inc. The BACK in The BACK Community stands for “Bringing All Communities Knowledge. I created this to use the power of stories to inspire others. We learn from the successes and failures of others who look like us, so it is important to see fair representations of that. On my Podcast, I uniquely highlight organizations and individuals promoting what they do and teaching others how they too can go on to accomplish great things. The BACK Community, LLC also serves as Publisher for Just A Kid From Arbor Hill: A Story of Beating the Odds which is my first book and is a memoir of my life.

Before that I ran a mentoring organization called MODEL, Inc. (Men Organized to Develop, Empower and Lead) which was a 501 (c) 3 organization that worked with young men on their personal, professional and educational development. Working with others and inspiring others to do better is very important to me. I mentored 12-18 year olds exposing them to activities in their neighborhoods and outside of their communities. We exposed them to skiing, camping, college tours and field trips across America. Our young men, have gone on to accomplish great things.

Today, I am most proud of being a happy, healthy and whole adult after all I have gone through in life. I consistently give, I am a good father and I am a good husband. Hopefully, my kids and my wife would say the same, lol. If you are looking to be inspired follow my show The BACK Community on all streaming services if you want my real life personal story, read my book.

Have you ever had to pivot?

MODEL, Inc was my first business and I poured a lot of money into it. We got great sponsorships over the years but to make it sustainable, myself and my partners used a lot of our own resources to keep it a float. I was still in my early 20’s when I became a businessman but to be honest, I wasn’t stable enough on my own to handle this huge responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, we did amazing work but knowing what I know now, if I was a bit more mature and financially stable we could have taken MODEL, Inc to even higher heights. I eventually chose to close it down to focus on getting my personal life and finances in order. It crushed me, but it was the best decision I could have ever made. It gave me time to refocus, it gave me time to reprioritize my life. My losses made me better. I learned so many lessons of how to properly manage a business over the years. By stepping away and learning how to manage my own finances I became a better businessman. Years later, my wife and I embarked on a debt free journey with our church using the tools provided by Dave Ramsey to eradicate debt and that decision changed my families trajectory forever. I grew up in a household where finances weren’t discussed or stressed enough but I wish they were. I get it now,  and those earlier mistakes that caused me to pivot were useful in the long term. Now I understand the importance of good credit, budgeting and the power of saying ‘no” But I had to pivot from my old mindset to walk into a new way of living, a new way of life.

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

When I was younger, I did everything you could possible think of. I detail a lot of it in my book Just A Kid From Arbor Hill: A Story of Beating the Odds. From dealing drugs, to gang life, to getting kicked out of school, any one of these situations alone could have easily derailed my life permanently. But they didn’t. I learned a lot of valuable lessons early in my life, one of them being the importance of endurance. You may not be able to control what happens to you in life but how you respond to those things are very important. I have endured a lot but I have always learned from each experience. I didn’t give up on myself or become stagnant where I was. I didn’t limit myself to my experiences,I didn’t limit myself to my community and I didn’t limit my relationships to only the people I knew or looked like me, I kept striving for better, I kept learning and I still do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebackcommunity.info
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebackcommunity
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thebackcommunity
• Youtube: www.youtube.com@thebackcommunity