Faith Over Fear - Stephen A. Hart

Stephen A. Hart left a six-figure corporate leadership role after doctors warned him about the physical toll of chronic stress. What looked like success on paper was quietly becoming unsustainable.

In this conversation, Stephen shares how burnout, high blood pressure, and a cardiologist’s warning forced him to confront what his career was really costing him. He opens up about turning down a six-figure safety net, betting on himself, and building a purpose-driven business rooted in legacy and impact.

Then the mic flips.

Brian reflects on what 100 resignation stories have revealed about fear, authenticity, and leadership in a changing world.

If you are navigating burnout, questioning your next move, or wondering what courage actually looks like in real life, this episode is for you.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Stephen A. Hart
Website: https://stephenahart.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamstephenahart/
Blu Oak Marketing: https://bluoakmarketing.com/ 

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Transcript

Brian Aquart (00:22)
Today marks a special milestone, the 100th episode of Why I Left. To celebrate, I'm joined by someone who's been instrumental to my own podcasting journey, Stephen A. Hart, branding strategist, entrepreneur, and host of the award-winning channel, I Am Black Success. Not only does Stephen have a powerful resignation story of his own, but he helped spark the very beginnings of this show.

So today feels like a full circle moment. We'll hear his story and then we'll flip the mic and he'll ask me about mine. Let's go celebrate and thank you for always tuning in.

Brian Aquart (01:05)
All right. Welcome back to a very, very special episode today. My guest is Stephen A Hart, entrepreneur, branding strategist, and the creative force behind I am Black Success and Blu Oak Marketing. Now, Stephen

a promising corporate career to build a life centered on storytelling, impact, and legacy. And he's also advised professionals and entrepreneurs on how to clarify their message, amplify their voice,

and truthfully live with purpose, which I love. And for me, his work has been especially meaningful because it was Steven's example that gave me some of my earliest inspiration to start Why I Left. So Steven A, welcome to Why I Left. How you doing, man?

Stephen A. Hart (01:50)
Brian, I'm so happy to be one of the first people to say, happy 100th episode.

Brian Aquart (01:57)
⁓

nice, nice. Thank you. Thank you. This is a big one. And you know, it started off very eventful, right? So ⁓ finally got in here after, you know, much trials and tribulations with the internet. But I guess it's only fitting that, you know, get this far in the space, you know, it doesn't come without a few hangups. So. ⁓

Stephen A. Hart (02:21)
You know, that's

that speaks to the all the things that you go through as an independent podcaster to get to this milestone. Right. And I know there's a lot of commitment and perseverance and a lot of tech tech headaches that come along the way. So it's it's fitting that this would be the hundredth.

Brian Aquart (02:29)
Right, right.

Yes. Yes, indeed.

Absolutely. Well, as I said, I'm very excited to have you here and you know, we're it's a special episode obviously because of 100, but we're going to do a different flow without do our normal piece. And then, you know, we get a chance to ask me a little bit about, about what it means to be here and just, you know, we have a nice back and forth. And so for those who may not be familiar with your work, you know, you, been in this space for a very long time.

but also our background as a marketer. So what path did you take before launching into entrepreneurship?

Stephen A. Hart (03:11)
Wow, that's such a good question. There are several paths, right? How many of those listening right now can attest to the fact that progress is not always linear, right? There's ups and downs. so my kids laugh when I share the story, but my journey started, Brian, with me having 12 jobs in the first three years out of college.

but you know, searching for myself, before true Jamaican, going into mortgages for services and sales, then failing at launching my very first business, a business card franchise. then still while being in mortgages, started up a partnership with a college friend, that eventually became an investment firm.

Brian Aquart (03:37)
true Jamaican.

Stephen A. Hart (03:58)
And we succeeded, we failed miserably. And then we came back and it was okay. And decided to sell my partnership stake and go back into corporate. And, ⁓ was there for about a decade before making the decision as a senior marketing lead, to now step out. And hopefully this is the last time that I'll step out into full-time entrepreneurship. so presently building out.

Blu Oak marketing and agency, as well as looking at a reboot of I Am Black Success.

Brian Aquart (04:32)
So you've built this name as a storyteller internally with the organizations that you were part of and obviously externally and you're this branding expert space. So what drew you here in the first place?

Stephen A. Hart (04:45)
That's a good question. Branding and marketing have always been things that I was good at, but even more so, I think I had a skill for, I had a love for, and most importantly, people were willing to pay me to do it. And so I have, I like to say my dad is a creative. He's a chef by training but

a florist, a decorator, a playwright. I mean, the list goes on. I didn't necessarily get his creative, you know, list rolling off to me, but my creative talents came through in the branding and the design and the marketing and storytelling.

Brian Aquart (05:38)
I love that. So let's go back to that, that pivot moment. What made you decide to, like you said, hopefully it's the last time, but what made you decide to leave corporate life?

Stephen A. Hart (05:48)
The most recent pivot was driven by my health and burnout. I was in senior marketing leadership and two summers ago, walked into annual doctor visit and my blood pressure was through the roof and didn't feel any different, but they put me on

on BP meds and they were so concerned and they're like, you need to go see a cardiologist. We need to make sure your heart's fine. And six months and a bunch of stress tests later, they're like, Hey, you're good. This is all work stress. And I distinctly remember my cardiologist saying, Hey, we can control what's going on with medicine.

But if you don't control the stress, you're to put yourself in a box. And I followed myself over the next six months, sort of quiet quitting, like taking the foot off the gas, which is not me. I'm somebody that is very passionate about something. I'm a go all in, I'm, you know, giving it my all. But I found myself just dialing back and I was this of 75 marketers in the organization I was in.

was one of the few people driving demand. And a lot of people were like, Hey, we need you to keep doing. And I found myself bumping heads with executives and it just was not good for my mental or my physical wellbeing. And I got to the back half of last year and I was like, you know what? I need to make a decision for me. That's going to be somewhat selfish, but

A good friend of mine, Brian, said to me, hey, remember you have two weddings to attend? And I was like, what is he talking about? And he's like, look, dude, you got two young kids. You can kill yourself paying for private school right now. But what does that mean if you're not here when they get married? To see them, you know, and be present downhill. And so in December of last year, made a very tough decision.

Brian Aquart (07:33)
you

bit.

Stephen A. Hart (07:56)
Uh, one that freaked my wife out, right? You're walking away from 200 and comp and you know, we have two kids in private school and what are you doing? At time I was consulting to, one university locally, but that wasn't anywhere near, replacing that, that salary. but made that step nonetheless.

Brian Aquart (08:19)
Yeah. And you raise a good point, around the fear and uncertainty probably on your end too, but especially on, on your wife's end. So what were some of those? And did you, did you, like, what did you do in like making that leap? How did you work through them navigating those fears and uncertainties?

Stephen A. Hart (08:39)
Faith, faith over the fear. I tell you, I haven't said this. I don't think I've said this publicly, but the moment I resigned before the two weeks was even up, my wife immediately started talking to friends. She came home. She's like, I got you a flex role that you can do on the side. It at least pays, you know, a low six figure. We can at least and literally got a job offer before

New Year's Day and like that fast within two weeks and I thought about it for a day and came back and we had a very tough conversation to say I wasn't gonna take it. I was gonna bet on me and it has been a journey of faith. I shared with you University was the only retainer client I had.

Brian Aquart (09:08)
Bye.

Stephen A. Hart (09:31)
But the moment I turn in that resignation Brian the moment I cleared that driveway of that broken car, right? The very next day, like before I even closed my two weeks, somebody reached out and said, Hey, do you have capacity to come in and do a workshop for four hours to our marketing team? It's part of a $2 billion data security firm. And

paid me 7,500 to come in and deliver a four hour talk virtually. And I'm like, God, what are you doing? Right? this is, and we stepped into the new year. Before we step into somebody else calls, hey, how you doing? Just wanted to let you know, I'm doing a rebrand come January. I just need you to take care of doing everything. And I just started getting these calls, Brian.

Brian Aquart (10:05)
Mm-hmm.

I just wanted to let you know.

Stephen A. Hart (10:22)
And I could tell you a ⁓ handful of those stories to the point whereby in the January, it's actually pause and be like, Hey, I was doing this as a side hustle. Now as a full time, I didn't have the established workflow to handle the volume coming in all at once. But yeah, it was, it was a step in faith. And every time I still don't have the retainers to replace the

the lost salary, but I've had big projects coming through. And so every time I'm approaching the end of a project and I'm looking ahead to like, all right, I'm probably a month from this being a problem. Somebody else calls.

Brian Aquart (10:54)
Mm-hmm.

Stephen A. Hart (11:06)
somebody else calls. And, and so I have learned that this is a year and this is a step in the journey that is going to be faith over the fear. And I can't tell you, I've said this ⁓ a dozen times to friends, I haven't replaced that comp, but I haven't been healthier. I, I am so mentally at peace, physically.

Brian Aquart (11:06)
I love that.

I love that.

Basically,

Stephen A. Hart (11:31)
I could lose some LBs, know,

Brian Aquart (11:31)
I could use some LVs.

Stephen A. Hart (11:33)
probably, probably need to be walking and exercising more. But there's a difference between me working 12 hours a day for somebody else and me working as much as I need to for myself. Right. I will work 18 hours a day. So I never have to go work eight hours a day for somebody else ever again.

Brian Aquart (11:49)
Damn.

I love that discovery and I've heard that multiple times throughout the seasons that people get that drive, that flow once you're in the space. But it has to be that true break, right? And so kudos to you for having faith. And Faith Over Fear is a theme that popped up in season one, and actually throughout, but definitely season one too.

So let's talk a little bit about some of the platforms that you've built. You've built things like I am black success and now Blu Oak marketing. How do these reflect your mission and legacy?

Stephen A. Hart (12:32)
I'd had several businesses back in early 2000s that business card business, my investment firm. Those are all centered on monetary. was chasing the dollar, chasing milestones, being a millionaire by 30 and.

When I made the decision to start trailblazers.fm, that was fueled by my daughter. I walked into daycare at Goddard school and I'm looking to the left and right of her cubby and I'm meeting parents who are crushing it as amazing black professionals in all different sectors. And it started to, yeah, it started to,

be a constant recurring theme and thought that what she sees, what my daughter sees in media, what she will continue to see in mainstream media, does not represent all that she could become.

And was the first time that I actually created something, literally that wasn't about money.

It was about impact. It was about representation. It was about something so much bigger that hopefully would outlive me. And that started a mental pivot for me over these last 10 years where, yes, again, there has to be a monetization path. But beyond that, how am I?

creating something that outlives me.

And so I found that with trailblazers now I am black success. I've been blessed to have interviewed probably 300 plus people over the 10 years. and then now with blu oak, it similarly has, start to it that yes, I'm looking to build an agency.

But I'm looking right now at how can I help a small business owner, an industry expert to take their expertise and leverage visibility, right, through video specifically, to build equity, to build income, to build influence, to build independence.

So it really is an expansion on what I started with Trailblazers, which is much more information driven. With Blu Oak, I'm taking those skills, the branding, the marketing, the media skills that I have, and I'm helping people who have an expertise to build, right, and to grow.

Brian Aquart (15:01)
I that. I love that in it. Very similar to, know, we had talked about it too. There's I've kind of fallen into a little bit of that space as well. And it's just so important for people to raise their voice in that way. And one of the things you often talk about is this, this authentic branding, which I love. So for someone in transition, what does building an authentic brand actually look like in practice?

Stephen A. Hart (15:29)
showing up whole before. So my controlling idea, my simple message going forward, right? That's driving a lot of what I'm doing with Blu Oak is that we can leverage visibility to turn our expertise into equity. But we have to really look at how we show up to ourselves first.

Are we happy with who we're seeing in the mirror? And that doesn't necessarily mean that in the present moment, you look in the mirror and you're not happy with all the boxes that are unchecked, but are you happy with the person you're becoming?

And if you can show up, I can show up right here right now. you know, I'm, I'm, hope everybody appreciates that I'm not just sharing the IG, the best sides of me. I'm telling you some of the vulnerable elements too, right? I have to first be okay with that for me before I can openly share that and help others. And so I think.

being authentic, that word is, is so often used right now, right? But I think it comes back to looking at yourself, being okay, being, you know, in love with who you are and who you're becoming and then saying, all right, as a believer, I believe what's happening to me, if I can leverage my testimony to help somebody else on their journey, great.

Brian Aquart (16:36)
you

Stephen A. Hart (16:57)
⁓ you know, I don't think that some of the things that happened to me were intended just for me to keep to myself. Right. So, there are elements of you that when you open up about your vulnerabilities, about the whole, you become relatable in a way that helps somebody else connect and, realize that we both have had.

hundreds of episodes between us. And I know you know, that listeners will sometimes look at somebody you've interviewed, who is all the way at this unreachable point of success. And they're like, I can never attain that because I'm way down in this gully. I'm in this valley right now. But when you open up when you are able to share those vulnerabilities and be your authentic quote unquote self,

You let people realize that, you know what? This person also went through this struggle. They also share these similar things. They become connection points. They build real relationships. And then it opens that person up to what you have to share in terms of your expertise.

Brian Aquart (18:09)
Yeah, that hits so well for me because one of the themes of the show, I the tagline for the show is real stories from real people. And that's the point, right? There is so much glitz and glam online that being authentic, showing up, in these spaces and let people know at times it hasn't been easy. Right. And so I'm glad that you often tout that. And I am I'm here right there with you. You know, one of the things

Two that has been really amazing to see in your work is how representation and legacy are really a central focus, why does telling success stories of Black leaders matter so deeply to you?

Stephen A. Hart (18:51)
I'm raising two young black persons, right? Two little people who I want to look around and see representation of success that looks like them, that sounds like them. That was the inspiration, the mission fuel that got it started. And I think it's more important today, Brian, in the climate that we're in, right, to

to be able to archive success stories, right? To be able to have that be something that we can look at and where imposter syndrome shows up, where other people, where the noise is telling you you can't, you can look at this person's story and say, yes, I can, right? And I will.

Brian Aquart (19:38)
I love that. So looking back, what surprised you most about entrepreneurship compared to what you expected when you first left?

Stephen A. Hart (19:46)
⁓ man, I, one of the things I think about often is that the clients I thought were going to be there over the long term aren't anymore. And the clients I thought maybe couldn't afford me.

have been the ones who have been with me through the journey so far. And it's different circumstances, right? I had somebody who had a very high net worth, couldn't pay the bill. I had a really great two-year run with a university, but with executive orders this year and budgets that went by the wayside, right? But

I've found the, I've just been able to, again, it comes back to the faith, Aspect, it's, look, you don't know everything or what's about to happen, but you just need to take the next step in faith. Cause there's so much that's gonna not show up the way you want it, but you're still walking in the right direction.

And you just have to have the faith to take that next step.

Brian Aquart (20:54)
Yeah, that hits so deep. Would love to talk with you a little bit now about some lessons that you've learned throughout this. You know, if you could go back to the day that you resigned, what's one piece of advice you'd give that version of yourself?

Stephen A. Hart (21:12)
I did not have the clarity, man. You know, I there's so much that I sat down and knowing, OK, you know, everyone is depending on you and you're taking this step in faith. But. And I think this is so true for so many people listening. There are lot of people who are getting laid off now, right? And.

They're like, man, I would love to do. There's so many people that said to me, I'd love to have the courage that you do or to be able to take that step. And they're sitting in that stress that I left. Right out of fear. And I would say you're not going to have the clarity. You're not going to have all the answers. And that's okay.

but you should keep moving towards the next step, not staying paralyzed in where you are.

Brian Aquart (22:03)
And that does a great, great segue from, so from an advice standpoint, for people who are in that someone listening right now, they feel stuck in their job. What's the first question they should ask themselves before making a leap.

Stephen A. Hart (22:18)
think the first thing that you really need to do because anxiety is real. I battle with anxiety and I've been talking with so many people who that's real for them.

And I often like to make sure I level set. For me, I believe anxiety is us projecting a future what if scenario into our present and often is the case. It's the worst possible scenario that likely will never happen.

So what I would encourage people to do is to just be real, like sit down and say, what is the worst case scenario that really could potentially happen if I opted to make a step and leave? if that is something that you can come out the other side on, what really is holding you back from taking that?

that leap, right? I think when we get clear about, you know, if I leave and I just like I shared, I kind of gave myself a six month runway. And I have to tell you, six months before I left, I was praying to God about leaving, right? I was like, mess around and give me, you know, God, I just want you to and he did.

Brian Aquart (23:32)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Stephen A. Hart (23:39)
He provided

exactly what I needed. And so that was part of me saying to my wife, Hey, I feel like God actually provided me exactly what I prayed for. And if I don't take this next step, I'm being disobedient.

Brian Aquart (23:53)
Mmm.

Stephen A. Hart (23:53)
So I think the first step is again, what's the worst case scenario? I think from there, you need to take inventory of what you know. I think we dismiss so much of our knowledge and our skills and our talents and our wisdom. And it's just because we do it over and over. We do it in our sleep and we dismiss.

that what is obvious to us is magic to somebody else and something they would pay for.

And so we need to take inventory and it takes time because you're going to sit down with a note app or pen and paper and you can quickly write out 14 things you know. But over the next two weeks, you're to be like, actually somebody would gladly pay me for this. I don't know why, but it's cause it took you years to develop that skill and experience and talent.

Brian Aquart (24:37)
Hmph.

Stephen A. Hart (24:45)
and somebody else has to start and learn that and they would gladly pay you to not have that long runway. And so when we are able to inventory or complete scope of skills, talents, knowledge,

Now we can start to look at where could I, who needs these things, right? Who has problems where my skills, knowledge, expertise could help. We all talk about AI replacing jobs and that's our fear. But I can tell you that there are firms that are raising billions of dollars right now to get experts to...

be the human validators, verifiers of what's coming out to the AI. You have that ability to be, that consultant, that verifier of knowledge, because you have that domain knowledge.

Brian Aquart (25:37)
Yeah, I love that. And how can someone begin sharing their own story in a way that creates real opportunity?

Stephen A. Hart (25:47)
Story, yes, Brian your story, maybe not the place to start. What you need to understand before you can do this, you need to understand who it is you're trying to serve. And in the marketing speak, we call that your ideal clients, your ideal client persona. ICP is what sometimes we'll tag that as, but you need to understand.

one person at one group of people you're trying to serve, you understand what problem those talent skills, wisdom is going to help serve, you know, provide a solution for. And a story you need to be telling is one that invites that ideal client in.

You can't have two leads in a story. So if I'm telling a story about me and I position myself as a hero, you are already blocking me out because you're the hero in the story trying to solve your problem. What you need Brian is a guide to come in and help you solve the problem. So what

we each need to do is we need to tell stories, but we need to understand the person we're serving, the problem that they have. And when we understand that problem to where we can really be clear about it and we throw that problem out there, do you have a problem with this? And immediately it wakes you up out of your subconscious because you're seeing 10,000 messages a day. You have to mentally filter out all the noise.

subconsciously we're going through the day and our mind is just, you know, in sleep mode, right? We're daydreaming until somebody brings up a problem that we have that we are needing to solve. And it stops us in our tracks. And it's like, Hey, Brian, are you dealing with the problem of this? And it wakes you up and you say, well, I am Steven A Hart. I am a guide.

a plan of action that will help you achieve success and avoid failure. And you're gonna be like, I need to hear what this brother is talking about.

Brian Aquart (27:55)
man, this is why we've been so cool over these past years. When I just say you just dropped a master class on this, this is why we've been cool. And I probably should have mentioned, know, we've known each other now a good bit, seven, eight years or so. And what I'll share with the folks here is the gentleman who closed out season four for me was a gentleman by the name of Craig the barber. And Craig the barber,

Stephen A. Hart (28:09)
Good bit.

You troll Bridget.

Brian Aquart (28:24)
and Steven A. Hart are like the best of friends. And so when we talk about small world, Craig connected me with Steven and we hit it off right away, like pre-COVID, actually way before COVID. And so, and it was this type of insight that just hooked me to you because I'm like, man, I just love the way you think about things and I appreciate you sharing that. for folks listening, that is a true masterclass in how they start setting themselves up.

for opportunities. I appreciate that.

Stephen A. Hart (28:56)
The interesting thing and the full circle moment, Craig was when I left, when I sold my partnership stake and I was thinking to get into branding and marketing, Craig was one of the first people that came back and I've known Craig almost 30 years, but he was one of my first people that I did some consulting and service work for with TMR and Craig the Barber

Brian Aquart (29:20)
Yeah, I'll throw back, yeah. I love that. I love that, I love that. I love that. Well see, there you go, love it. So now, typically I do the, what's one question you have for me, this is a big episode and so I'm actually gonna turn the mic fully over to you and if there's some questions you'd love to ask by all means and I'd love to just share as we celebrate 100.

Stephen A. Hart (29:23)
Yeah. Actually was talking to him last night. We were sharing some, some dad jokes.

Congrats again on 100, man. This is, this is an amazing milestone. ⁓ and there is so much that happens behind the scenes to keep a show like why I left, going, right? There's ups and downs being an independent podcast or being an indie, ads, think even more complexity, right? Cause you're doing all the work. Oftentimes you're doing it without funding. Right.

Brian Aquart (29:50)
Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Yes.

Stephen A. Hart (30:16)
Brian, was there ever a moment where you thought about just stopping this show?

Brian Aquart (30:22)
So no, I haven't thought about stopping the show, but there were times in the beginning I wondered, this show adding any value? Like am I, you know, I had this idea, is it resonating with people? You know, like is it, am I just talking into the void? And there were a lot of things that started happening.

in that first season, first and second, where I was like, wow, like this is something you just never know. One, what people are going through and you never know who's listening. that's, truthfully, those are a lot of things that have kept me going. You talked about impact. This too was my opportunity to get opportunity to start something where making money wasn't the initial focus. It was truly about

sharing these stories at a time that none of us had ever lived through. And so I hadn't, I did not think about stopping it, but I would, I did use to wonder, it like, you know, is this thing on right? Like are people listening? And so, ⁓ but I've, I've, I've gotten the answer to that,

Stephen A. Hart (31:25)
I know a little bit about where you're going there just now. It's so hard to record and you can see in what is our audio host, right? We upload an MP3 into a host and it does its magic and it sends it out to the Apple and the Spotify and all the different places. And we look in the back and we see

thousands of downloads, but so often we don't know who's the person listening. And it could be one person to shoot you a DM, to send you an email to say, Hey Brian, I just wanted to let you know that episode changed. You know, my life, it helps me make a pivot. Tell me about one of those stories.

Brian Aquart (31:56)
Right?

yeah, yeah, as you were just saying that, I just felt the chill because that was a moment for me. I'll go back to actually season one where, you know, the show started initially with this great resignation focus. And obviously now it's, you know, resignations at any time. But I interviewed a nurse who was in London or is still in London, Joan Pons Laplana.

And we talked about his pivot from nursing and in that conversation, I mean, it was no holds bar, right? And I didn't know which route he was going to go, but he talked about, you know, he is originally from Spain and he was like the machismo of it all didn't let me feel what I needed to feel in this, in this moment of, of stress and peril. And I acted like things weren't wrong when they really were.

And he started having, you know, suicidal ideations and all these things and not being who he truly was. And then he, until he got help. And so the phrase that he used was he's like, if I, if I had, if I had gotten help earlier, I would have still been a nurse today. And so this whole mental health piece, all of that had just opened up a lot. And like I said, I didn't know that was coming after that episode, cause I work in healthcare day to day.

I got a few messages around, thank you for sharing some of the things that we've been going through in this space. And one young lady was like, I listened to this. Thank you so much. I needed to hear that because sometimes I thought I was the only one and it sparked something in me. Like, you know what? Do I have a, I mean, I'm small, I'm in the season one, right? And so I'm small time creator. It's nothing, but I was like,

I wonder if I have a duty to talk a little bit more about mental health because you can't separate the leaving of a job and the great resignation without some piece of mental health attached to it. And obviously it was a unilateral decision. I made the decision. But for season two, what I ended up doing was then dedicating two months of content to mental health month and mental health month in May, April and May. And so

That was something, that was a story where you never know who's listening, you never know who's watching, but it was such a moment where I recognized that, wow, once you start putting your voice out there, you almost have a duty at times to help and support and provide guidance if people are taking their time to come and listen to you.

Stephen A. Hart (34:53)
I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. And I'll just add to that a lesson for for those listening who are creators. Sometimes I talked about looking at the downloads and seeing all the thousands, but truly when we start out as small creators and we look in and we see 20 downloads or we see 67 downloads on what we thought was going to be 2000.

Brian Aquart (35:19)
you

Stephen A. Hart (35:20)
and we get wound up on the metric. And I just want to impart those 67 souls are all that matters at that moment in time. And you just need to impact one, right? Cause if you had 67 people in a room, it feel like a lot.

Brian Aquart (35:36)
it would for sure.

Stephen A. Hart (35:37)
Brian I believe your first episode was around mid 22.

Brian Aquart (35:43)
Yes, yes.

Stephen A. Hart (35:45)
And you've shared that the show was fueled by the great resignation. Today we feel like. I feel like it's almost this great reckoning.

Brian Aquart (35:54)
Yeah.

Stephen A. Hart (35:54)
Right? So many large corporations, even this week, I'm seeing several big names laying off tens of thousands of people. And when this airs, it could be applicable to that moment in time. Cause it's almost every single week you're hearing the thousands of people being let go. and while they don't outright say it, right. We can kind of infer that it's, it's AI.

Brian Aquart (36:17)
Mm-hmm.

Stephen A. Hart (36:18)
⁓

driving much of that. You've now shared a hundred resignation stories. What's a theme that maybe resonates deeply with you that might also be able to fuel and help those who aren't leaving voluntarily. But it would benefit them tremendously to have that wisdom from those who did.

Brian Aquart (36:42)
Yeah. I think the, you, when you started talking about this earlier, it made me think about something that a gentleman said in season one as well. Because those, and the reason I often go back to there and, you know, we're five seasons in now, it's because those first few, those first episodes, that first couple of seasons, the great reason it was so raw, right? And some of the emotions were so raw. And Brad Hicks mentioned,

Don't let fear take the fun out of life. And when I say it hit me, it's something I often, I mean, if folks have heard, like I often reference this quote because it's so applicable to not only everyday life, but life in corporate, life in solopreneurship, and some of the things that you just referenced as well. Don't let fear take the fun out of life.

And then if I can, I'll add one more. And I think that's related to a lot of the things you're doing now in marketing and some of the things I'm with helping people better tell their stories is there was a woman a couple of seasons ago, Rachel B Lee, who mentioned, you know, if you are not telling and sharing your story in some way out there online, you're really robbing the world of your own greatness or your own message.

And that, you you talked about you being a believer, I am as well. These things come up in conversation. Yeah, I mean, I have my questions that I'll go through, but the things that people just say and off the top of their heads and coming from their hearts, they just really sit with me because it is so true, right?

we do, and I think those, those two phrases that I mentioned are related because we do often let fear dictate some of the things that we're doing. And when that fear dictates us not sharing, something that we could, that could potentially benefit others, we do a disservice. And so those, those are some of the themes that have just really crucial for me.

Stephen A. Hart (38:45)
I've heard I'll add to what you just shared because I've heard it a couple times through Sean Dove through Patrice Washington. Somebody is waiting on you. To take action. With your talents, with your skills, they need what you have to share. In order for them to bless the world with what they have to share.

But until you take action and share your message, they're missing a puzzle piece they need in order to move in their own walk.

Brian Aquart (39:20)
I love that. I love that. And you know what's interesting is, as you say that I've, I'm watching people who I've worked with over this past year, starting to, you know, you arm them with the tools to start better telling their stories. And then you just watch it unfold on LinkedIn or elsewhere. And when I say like,

proud Papa Bear moment is just one of those like, wow. Like I was I'm so I'm honored to have played some small, you're doing this, but honored to have to your point, maybe have been that piece for you to then boom, elevate. And that oftentimes makes things just, you know, the time is worth it.

Stephen A. Hart (40:07)
And that's the piece that outlives you. Let's talk about you for a second. What has the podcast revealed to you about you?

Brian Aquart (40:09)
Yes, yes, absolutely.

you know that despite how, you know, I work a very full-time job, when I put my, I've always been very dedicated to stuff, but like, the show has revealed to me that.

I may have said like, yeah, I'm a quick study for this thing, but I had to pick up this podcasting thing and learn on the fly, build on the fly, become a marketer on the fly. Like I just, I just essentially created, I was able to create a space for myself that gave me creative outlet that I think I was really needing.

you know, cause often people ask like, were you leaving a job? Like, no, I'm not interested in leaving at all, but, but there's certain creative juices that flow through me that I'm, you I needed an outlet and, this has revealed to me like, you know what? Like, wow, like you, you can do this. And you know what you're actually like, I'm a former investigator, so I'm, I'm used to a certain type of interview, but I'm like, you can, you can be, a bit more like,

Stephen A. Hart (41:15)
Yeah.

Brian Aquart (41:20)
interview -esque like, okay, let's work. Let's work on that. And so, you know, it's a craft, you know, continue to practice, right? I don't know about you, but I, I've listened to some of the first few episodes and don't get me wrong. I'm proud of the show. Don't get me wrong. But sometimes I'm sitting there. I'm like, Brian, shut up. Like all the, the, the, the, yeah, I love that. Right. That doesn't show up well on audio or video. And so being an active listener in a show,

looks differently than in real life. And that's something I've had to learn. And so it's revealed that, I can be flexible and I can teach myself new things. So you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Stephen A. Hart (42:01)
That is so funny

because, and I still to this day, I mean, I have sort of a bulleted, you know, bit to off to the side on things I want to cover. But often as a new creator, right, we're having to check all the boxes. I must ask all these questions and you lose focus on the conversation that's happening because you're tuned in to what you think.

Brian Aquart (42:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Stephen A. Hart (42:30)
it should be and you miss gold where you need to unpack something that could just put all of that to the side, right? And be what your listener needs to hear. So that's awesome then. ⁓ When you think of the next 100 episodes of Why I Left,

Brian Aquart (42:40)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Stephen A. Hart (42:53)
What's come into mind? What do you think you might want to experiment with or try differently?

Brian Aquart (42:58)
Yeah. You know, I think for next I, the show is always going to be about career pivots and transitions to some degree. I wonder, I've been thinking about, that's actually a good question around. Do I do a bit more like the theme is leaving but do I do a bit more themes around the industry? Right. And so like last season,

and this season too, I've had folks who were transitioning from the military, right? And that has, especially last season, it's opened up this new space for me that, wow. I wonder if I should explore that. Right. Military transitions. There's another one too. I've been talking with a few folks around the transition from being an athlete either.

you know, a high level college or definitely professional into work life and what that transition is like. And so I've been thinking about that too. Now granted, I'm not trying to become one of those shows, right? Like the athlete show, but, and they do, they do good work, but, but as it relates to work, career transition and the mindset, I don't know if we talk about, I don't think we talk about that enough because yes, you talk about the

you know, a lot of the famous athletes have their shows, but what about the folks who aren't so famous and, but still played at a very high level and now they're working in marketing or working in sales at some place in middle America? I think there's a lot to unpack there. Yeah. So I'm, I think about that. Like, do I do themes within industries?

Stephen A. Hart (44:35)
There is.

Brian Aquart (44:43)
Do I do where are they now type of themes in some of these spaces?

Stephen A. Hart (44:48)
think the themes

in industry brand could be interesting because I'm an associative thinker. So I'll often look at something that could be happening in healthcare and apply it to cybersecurity, right? Like, you know, if there are frameworks that work, it likely work across different sectors, across different industries, across different job titles.

Brian Aquart (45:01)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Stephen A. Hart (45:13)
And so I really love this athlete thought. I've had conversations with so many athletes. You're talking about people who have tremendous discipline and drive and, but also fueled by the energy of a big crowd, right? You know, competing on the largest stage and then you take that stage away and no one's watching.

And, so figuring out how they apply the strength of mindset and discipline and commitment to navigating that pivot could be very interesting and be informative in how we could take some of what works for them into our own journey.

Brian Aquart (45:59)
Great.

Stephen A. Hart (45:59)
I am so excited for you, man. I'm looking forward to this next chapter for you and what that would bring. And I'm humbled, that you asked me to be part of the 100th episode. So thank you. I'm ⁓ really appreciative of this.

Brian Aquart (46:04)
Thank you, thank you.

Yes.

without a doubt. And thank you so much. Like I said, it's just meant a lot to watch you grow and having you be a part of this has been really cool. As we kind of start wrapping it up a little bit, would love to talk a little bit about legacy and we can go back and forth on this one. But when you think about legacy, what does that mean to you right now?

Stephen A. Hart (46:37)
Right now, man, I am trying to leave this place better than, you know, I came into it and legacy for me, it starts with my two kids. But it's so much more. And especially because of my journey with Trailblazers and I Am Black Success.

I have been fueled over the last eight years by ⁓ a study called A Road to Zero Wealth that in September 2017 was published by a couple different institutions that were doing research and found that if nothing happened, and we had a big old pandemic since, nothing happened, black median household wealth

was set to trend to zero by the year 2053 and Hispanic median household wealth was trending to zero by 2073. So in the space of the next 50 years, what will be the majority population in the country are on a path to having no wealth. And.

That shook me to my core and it's always been a low-key driver in how do I do my part to bring awareness to this, creating, leveraging what we can to create generational wealth and to never let that be a metric that comes true, right?

And so I look now, Brian, at AI and this future world of AI agents and robotics. And I'm thinking of how can we take advantage of that to shift our legacy, to create that generational wealth, to position ourselves for, you know, our next gen.

to be able to be successful.

Brian Aquart (48:28)
Yeah, I love that. I think about it as well. Obviously, I've two two little guys as well. And it's important for me to show them that. Yes, you can have a focus, you can have a career if you say no traditional path, but don't be afraid to flex as well. And that at times, even though the show is.

from a monetary standpoint, may not, it's not replacing anything, right? But it provides an outlet and an opportunity for you to recognize that you have different skills and you can showcase them. That could lead to potential opportunities, who knows? But don't be afraid to do that. And I just wanna make sure that they know that, there's some freedom in the framework, as I like to say. And so.

Stephen A. Hart (49:19)
I love it.

Brian Aquart (49:19)
Yeah,

I hope I hope that they pick that up and they they have been intimately involved in this actually told them today I was you know 100 and they're like, oh my god, so you know, just so they know that there's a lot of things that you can be doing in life. You don't necessarily have to always be pigeonholed. can have you can have your home base, but you can you know if you have other outlets by all means feel free to you know do them take care of home first, but but you can definitely do them.

Stephen A. Hart (49:47)
I love that. I love that.

Brian Aquart (49:47)
So I love that, yeah.

Well, Stephen A. Hart, I just wanna thank you so much for celebrating 100 with me and why I left. A lot of people don't make it to 10. I remember reading some stats. And so to make it to 100, I'm just honored that you came on this episode and said yes to the 100th episode.

You being here, like I mentioned earlier, does mean a lot. You've been such an inspiration to me personally. And shout out to Craig again for connecting us many moons, many moons ago. And we'd love for you to share where can our listeners find you and support you in all the work that you're doing.

Stephen A. Hart (50:29)
You can find me at I am Stephen A Hart on all the platforms. Connect with me on LinkedIn, connect with me on YouTube, Insta, wherever you show up online. And my website is stephenahart.com.

Brian Aquart (50:43)
Love that. And so thank you for the info. That'll do it for today's episode. As I mentioned, a milestone 100th episode of Why I Left Today. And thank you to the audience for continuing to tune in. You all truthfully keep me going as well. And again, I wanna thank my guest, Stephen A. Hart, for coming on the show. yeah.

Stephen A. Hart (51:01)
Hey Brian,

big celebration. We're going to do it LeBron style. Woo! Got you some confetti!

Brian Aquart (51:06)
Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. You got me.

I love that. I love that. See, that's perfect. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much. But look, I'll share all the Stephen's information in our show notes. Hope you all have a great week. Keep tuning in. The show is going strong and we'll definitely see you next time. Stephen A. Thank you so much, man.

Stephen A. Hart (51:15)
Happy 100 my brother.

Congrats, my brother.

Brian Aquart (51:35)
Thanks for listening to Why I Left. Join us next time for more inspiring stories about growth, resilience, and transformation. Visit us online at www.whyileft.co. That's whyileft.co.