A single college football play can end a season. For Ken Kunken, it rewrote an entire life. Ken joins us to tell the story of a Halloween 1970 tackle at Cornell that broke his neck and caused a high cervical spinal cord injury, leaving him a quadriplegic and dependent on others for daily living. What follows is not a “feel good” shortcut, but an honest walk through fear, frustration, and the hard work of rebuilding a future when the world expects you to shrink.

We talk about rehab and the moment Ken reads a bleak career forecast that suggests he might someday sell magazine subscriptions by phone, even though he couldn’t dial a rotary phone or take notes. From there, Ken explains the mindset shift that mattered most: betting on his mental ability, returning to school, and leaning into psychology, counseling, and rehabilitation counseling so he can give back. He shares what it was like to mail 200+ resumes in the 1970s, get rejected again and again, and finally find an organization willing to hire a person with a visible disability long before the Americans with Disabilities Act changed accessibility expectations.

Ken also opens up about the day-to-day reality of dependence, the discipline of asking clearly for help, and the personal surprise he never expected: love, marriage, and becoming a father of triplets through IVF. We close with his leap into law, his years as an assistant district attorney in Nassau County, and his unapologetic belief that disability inclusion and DEI make workplaces better for everyone.

Subscribe for more one-on-one stories, share this with someone who needs a reset, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what “impossible” thing are you willing to try anyway?

Support the show

Are you a guest with a message of hope and faith, overcome tragedy and addiction, creativity, invention, or you just have questions about society and culture? The “They Can Me Mista Yu” brand of podcasts is looking for guests!

Book your interview today: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/theycallmemistayu

Give the shows a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/they-call-me-mista-yu/id1535535535

Faith. Society & Culture. Your Inspirational Stories. Mental Health. Entrepreneurship. We talk about what matters to you!

Join Mista Yu across our shows:

🎙 Inspiration Station

🎙 They Call Me Mista Yu

🎙 One on One With Mista Yu

🎙 The Men’s Roundtable Series / MRTS Interview Spotlight

If you would like to support the show, here’s how you can do that: https://www.patreon.com/cw/theycallmemistayu and https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu

Thank you for watching and listening!

“Free traffic” sounds like hype until you understand what SEO actually is and why it matters for creators. We sit down one-on-one with SEO Optimizer Brandon Leibowitz to unpack search engine optimization in plain English, from how organic results work to why paying for ads is only one slice of digital marketing. If you’re a podcaster, author, speaker, coach, or content creator trying to grow sustainably, this conversation is built for you.

We get into the real-world risks of building your entire audience on rented platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or even a marketplace listing. Brandon shares why a website is the one place you truly own, how it removes distractions like competitor ads and recommended videos, and why buying your domain early can help build trust and authority over time. We also talk WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace, what “site age” means for rankings, and how creators can start simple without needing a business, a book, or a massive tech skill set.

To round it out, Brandon explains practical posting strategy in the age of algorithms, when timing still matters, and how to automate distribution using tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Zapier so you look omnipresent without burning your day on manual uploads. His biggest takeaway is refreshingly straightforward: stay consistent, niche down when you can, and play the long game.

If you got value from this, subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a creator friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.

Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

Coffee aficionados and Health Conscious listeners, our show has some new sponsors and they’re offering you the best discounts their stores have. Links are below. Start saving now!

Quantum Squares: Support the show

Are you a guest with a message of hope and faith, overcome tragedy and addiction, creativity, invention, or you just have questions about society and culture? The “They Can Me Mista Yu” brand of podcasts is looking for guests!

Book your interview today: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/theycallmemistayu

Give the shows a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/they-call-me-mista-yu/id1535535535

Faith. Society & Culture. Your Inspirational Stories. Mental Health. Entrepreneurship. We talk about what matters to you!

Join Mista Yu across our shows:

🎙 Inspiration Station

🎙 They Call Me Mista Yu

🎙 One on One With Mista Yu

🎙 The Men’s Roundtable Series / MRTS Interview Spotlight

If you would like to support the show, here’s how you can do that: https://www.patreon.com/cw/theycallmemistayu and https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu

Thank you for watching and listening!

One WhatsApp call. Jasper Hall expected a small group. The camera turns on and there are more than 800 people in the room, listening closely and asking a question every parent recognizes: what do we do about YouTube for our children? That moment captures why Pure Hope exists and why this conversation matters for anyone navigating a sexualized culture, pornography pressure, and the everyday reality of raising kids with screens everywhere.

We talk with Jasper, the founder of Pure Hope, about his path from music and worship leading to two decades at Microsoft and then a leap into full-time Christian ministry. Along the way, he learned that the common denominator is always people and that families don’t just need information, they need sustainable support. You’ll hear how Pure Hope refined its focus to “families restored, hope renewed,” how the “better story” of biblical sexuality starts with identity in Christ, and why shame and fear can’t carry real change for long.

Jasper also unpacks Pure Hope’s practical tools: free downloads, pocket guides for parent conversations, devotionals, and recovery resources for those struggling with pornography. We dig into spiritual advisory, a biblically based coaching approach distinct from clinical counseling, plus the premarital framework he calls the “big three” of marriage: communication, money, and intimacy. If you’re looking for clarity, guardrails, and hope that feels personal rather than abstract, this one will land.

Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with someone who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more families can find these resources. What part of the digital world is hardest to navigate in your home right now?

Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

Coffee aficionados and Health Conscious listeners, our show has some new sponsors and they’re offering you the best discounts their stores have. Links are below. Start saving now!

Quantum Squares: Support the show

Are you a guest with a message of hope and faith, overcome tragedy and addiction, creativity, invention, or you just have questions about society and culture? The “They Can Me Mista Yu” brand of podcasts is looking for guests!

Book your interview today: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/theycallmemistayu

Give the shows a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/they-call-me-mista-yu/id1535535535

Faith. Society & Culture. Your Inspirational Stories. Mental Health. Entrepreneurship. We talk about what matters to you!

Join Mista Yu across our shows:

🎙 Inspiration Station

🎙 They Call Me Mista Yu

🎙 One on One With Mista Yu

🎙 The Men’s Roundtable Series / MRTS Interview Spotlight

If you would like to support the show, here’s how you can do that: https://www.patreon.com/cw/theycallmemistayu and https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu

Thank you for watching and listening!