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A 10th-round pick flew to Tokyo to get noticed. A first-time author flew that story all the way to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This one is about the outsider road. Aaron Fischman is an award-winning sports writer and the author of A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back, the true story of pitcher Tony Barnette's six years in Japan's NPB and his MLB debut at 32. The book was named a CASEY Award finalist for Best Baseball Book of 2024 and earned Aaron a seat in the Baseball Hall of Fame author series. In this episode of Leaders & Learners, Tonya McKenzie gets into resilience, identity, the gaijin path, and what it really costs to bet on a story nobody asked you to tell. In this episode: Why an unknown pitcher made the perfect first book The 41 saves and 1.29 ERA the league still made him wait on How the 2011 Tohoku disaster shaped the story From blank page to CASEY Award finalist to Cooperstown Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, media, and narrative control. New episodes drop on the channel. For the full written breakdown, read CTRL the Narrative on Substack. Guest: Aaron Fischman | aaronfischman.com  |  @byAaronFisch on X and Instagram Host: Tonya McKenzie, Founder of Sand & Shores  |  sandandshores.com  |  [email protected] #Baseball #JapaneseBaseball #ABaseballGaijin #SportsBooks #CTRLtheNarrative #LeadersAndLearners #TonyBarnette #HallOfFame #SportsMedia #Resilience

He was one step from the Major Leagues. Triple-A. The doorstep. Then he got cut. No backup plan. Negative net worth. Identity shattered. Most people don’t talk about what happens when the dream dies. Jac Oujo did. In this episode, the founder of Oujo Wealth Strategies and author of Too Smart to Be an Umpire breaks down: ⚾ The brutal reality of professional sports careers 💰 Why hard work alone does NOT guarantee success 📉 What rebuilding from financial rock bottom actually looks like 🧠 How emotional discipline matters more than talent 📊 Why trust compounds faster than money This isn’t just a baseball story. It’s a masterclass in reinvention, resilience, and learning how to win after public failure. If you’ve ever had to pivot, rebuild, or quietly start over while everybody thought you were “doing fine,” this episode is going to hit different. 👇🏾 DROP A COMMENT: What’s one setback that completely changed the direction of your life? And if you’re serious about leadership, business, sports, money, and controlling your narrative: ✅ LIKE ✅ SUBSCRIBE ✅ SHARE THIS WITH SOMEBODY STUCK IN THEIR “WHAT NOW?” SEASON #Leadership #SportsBusiness #FinancialLiteracy #Baseball #Entrepreneurship #CareerPivot #Mindset #WealthBuilding #CTRLtheNarrative

Eight Candidates. Two Debates. California Governor's Race Roundtable. California's gubernatorial race has all the ingredients of a political drama. A billionaire self-funding at $132 million. A Fox News host leading in a blue state. A scandal that reshuffled the entire field. And 26% of voters still undecided with the primary weeks away. Host Tonya McKenzie sits down with scholar and actor Jeff Sneed and author/podcaster Myron Clifton to break down what the debates revealed, who has a real shot in the jungle primary, and what none of these candidates are saying that voters actually need to hear. SUBSCRIBE. SHARE. CTRL the Narrative.

They opened the first urban day spa in California in 1984, convinced an entire culture that rest was medicine, and built a skincare line that has touched over 5 millionfaces.  Bill & Theresa Armour are the Co-Foundersof Burke Williams and the people behind H2V, and in this episode of Leaders and Learners we get into everything: the early days of building an industry from a parking garage, the shift from pampering to preventative wellness, why yourskin barrier is basically your body's first press conference, and what 40 years of real-world results look like when you lead with science and human dignity atthe same time.  This is not a spacommercial. This is a leadership and longevity conversation.  Subscribe. Press play. CTRL the Narrative.#LeadersAndLearners #BurkeWilliams #H2V #PreventativeWellness

In this episode of Leaders and Learners, host Tonya McKenzie sits down with award-winning actor, director, producer, and author Blair Underwood to talk about his new book A Soldier's Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood (April 14, 2026).Marilyn Ann Scales Underwood was the first Black female executive at Barmon Brothers Company, a trained fashion designer, a military wife who moved 22 times, a 30-year MS warrior, and the woman who quietly built the foundation for one of Hollywood's most enduring careers.This conversation covers grief as a love language, Black motherhood as unrecognized leadership, what it cost Blair to write this book, and the fraternal bond that makes this interview unlike any other.Like. Comment. Share. And come back for more. Subscribe to the CTRL the Narrative Newsletter: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com

She grew up under the Duvalier regime. She survived an earthquake that shook an entire nation. She uncovered a family secret that changed everything she thought she knew about herself. And then she wrote the book. Monique Clesca's memoir Silence and Resistance: A Girlhood in Haiti is about growing up where fear, silence, and family secrets shaped everything (Busboys and Poets) and then deciding that silence was no longer an option. On this episode of Leaders and Learners, we go there. Identity. Trauma. What it means to CTRL the narrative when the narrative is your own bloodline. This one is not for the faint. It IS for the ready. Listen now. Leave a review. Share with somebody who is carrying a secret that is carrying them. Tonya McKenzieFounder, Sand & Shores PR | Host, Leaders& Learners Podcast🌐 sandandshores.com| 🎙️ Leaders & Learners Podcast 💻 Editor, CTRLthe Narrative Newsletter

Black women have always led. The question is, who benefits from our leadership? The authors of The Next Little Black Book of Success break down the new rules of power, strategy, and sustainability in a climate that feels increasingly hostile to progress. Kudos to the authors: Elaine Meryl BrownMarsha HaygoodRhonda Joy McLeanIf you are ambitious, exhausted, brilliant, and ready to stop shrinking, this episode is your blueprint. Subscribe. Share. And let’s control the narrative.

They won a conference championship. They graduated. And then the sport they gave everything to had nowhere for them to go. Getting On Base is a documentary that follows the Cal State Fullerton Titans through their championship season and asks the question women's softball has been waiting for someone to ask out loud: why doesn't elite talent have a professional destination? I sat down with writer and director Carolyn Coal for 40-minutes that will change how you think about Title IX, women's sports, and who we decide is worth investing in. Watch the full episode now. Like, subscribe, and drop a comment: what do YOU think a real professional pathway for women's softball looks like? #LeadersAndLearners #GettingOnBase #WomenInSports #Softball #TitleIX #GenderEquity #Documentary #CTRLtheNarrative #SandAndShores

She didn’t wait for access. She created it. On this episode of Leaders & Learners, I’m joined by Kelsey Nicole Nelson, award-winning sports journalist, professor, founder, and full-on table builder. From launching Listen In With KNN to leading internship pipelines and founding Books Breaking Borders, KNN is proof that legacy beats labels every time. We talk:• Building power in sports media as a Black woman• Creating opportunity when the gatekeepers stall• Balancing academia, entrepreneurship, and brand• Why being humble is different than being humbled If you’re in sports, media, leadership, or trying to bet on yourself louder this year, this one is for you. 🎧 Watch now on YouTube🎙️ Listen on Spotify💬 Drop a comment: Are you waiting for a seat, or building the table? #CTRLtheNarrative #WomenInSports #BlackWomenInMedia

Everyone says they’re evolving.Few actually are. I’m sitting down with Steve Goldstein, author of Blogosphere Five: Evolver and LA's Graveside Companion: Where the V.I.P.s R.I.P.. He’s not just an author, he’s a respected business owner and was named Man of the Year in Redondo Beach. That’s community and credibility. We’re talking evolution in business, staying relevant, and why some leaders adapt while others get stuck telling stories about “back when.” Here’s the question: Are you building for what’s next, or protecting what used to work? Watch. Subscribe. Then tell me in the comments where you really stand.

Her father was murdered in 1999. Most people would grieve quietly. Khadijah Butler built an institution. As Founder and President of the Craig D. Butler Scholarship Foundation, she turned personal loss into policy-level impact, attacking the school-to-prison pipeline with scholarships, data, and strategy. In Philly, only 14 percent of college degrees go to Black students compared to 53 percent for white students. That is not a “bad neighborhood” problem. That is a systems problem. And she is calling it out brick by brick. We talk about:• Education as violence interruption• Why prevention gets less funding than punishment• The nonprofit industrial complex and who it really serves• Reclaiming power as an Around-the-Way girl with a plan She is not here for sympathy. She is here for structural change. She is also an author, Laying the Foundation Brick by Brick Tap in. Subscribe. Share it with someone who believes education is the real revolution.

I’m sitting down with Matthew Melvin, author of Bullied Behind Bars.He committed a crime. He did the time.He’s gay, Christian, a Trump supporter, and says prison punished him far beyond the sentence.This conversation is about accountability, identity, prison culture, and where the system flat-out fails people it doesn’t know what to do with.👇 Drop your questions in the comments📩 Subscribe to CTRL The Narrative newsletterhttps://substack.com/@tonyamckenziepr📺 Subscribe to my YouTube channel to catch the full interviewIf you don't control the narrative, the streets will, and it won't be in your favor. www.SandAndShores.com | TonyaMcKenzie.comFollow us on Twitter & Instagram @SandAndShoresFollow Tonya on Twitter & Instagram @TonyaMcKenziePR

College doesn’t fail students.The system does.One missed form. One quiet deadline. One assumption that “someone told you already” and graduation gets pushed back a year… or never happens.In this episode, Dr. James L Henry, author of Application to Graduation, longtime CSUN leader, and Alpha Phi Alpha man, breaks down the real game of higher education. Not the glossy brochure version, the paperwork, the politics, and the playbook nobody gives first-gen and Black students.This is about access vs. completion.About brotherhood as accountability.About legacy, not titles.🎓 If you’ve ever been “one class away,” this episode is for you.👇🏾 Drop your questions in the comments👍🏾 Like, subscribe, and share with someone who needs this📚 Control the narrative, or the system will do it for youSubscribe to the CTRL the Narrative Newsletter: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com

I sat down with stunning Rhona Bennett, formerly of En Vogue and the Disney family. She is also my Sorority Sister of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated... if you didn’t know, now you know 💙🤍.Rhona Bennett is a Grammy-nominated R&B singer whose journey reflects the realities many artists face, navigating fame, contracts, identity, and life and out of the spotlight. Today, she stands as a voice for authenticity, resilience, and reclaiming narrative power in an industry that often writes your story for you. This is how you #CTRLtheNarrative.This is not a fluff interview.This is music, business, womanhood, legacy, and truth. 👉🏽 Check out what she has going on, her coaching, and new music: https://www.rhonabennett.com/👉🏽 Subscribe to the YouTube channel👉🏽 Do NOT miss this conversationGet in the comments. www.SandAndShores.com Follow Tonya on Twitter & Instagram @TonyaMcKenziePR

Education is not broken; it’s just been leaving too many people out.In this episode of Leaders & Learners, I sit down with Matthew Hale, Founder of We Gonna Learn Today Inc., a Tampa-based nonprofit that turns culture into curriculum and closes gaps that schools often discuss but rarely address.From Black history and financial literacy to music-driven learning and tech-powered education, Matthew breaks down how WGLT has impacted 1,500+ students in just two years and why culturally responsive education is not optional, it’s essential.We talk ownership, storytelling, scale, and what it really takes to build an education model that works for our kids and our communities.🎯 Watch. Learn. Share.📌 Subscribe for more conversations with leaders who are actually doing the work.💬 Drop a comment, what subject do you think schools are still getting wrong?#LeadersAndLearners #CTRLtheNarrative #EducationMattersSubscribe to the CTRL the Narrative Newsletter: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5164451187916800