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Some people are exactly who they've always been. The world just had to catch up.

Ramone Giles is a creative — an artist, photographer, and lover of all things that broaden the mind and stir the soul.

From Detroit to Chicago, his journey has been anything but linear. But through every chapter, every transition, every moment of being misunderstood, Ramon stayed true to himself.

And that loyalty to self? It cost him something. But it also built him into everything he is today.

In this conversation, Ramone opens up about identity, judgment, and what it really means to live without apology. He talks about the power of creativity as a spiritual practice, the role Buddhism has played in grounding him, and what happens when you stop letting the world's noise drown out your own inner voice.

This is a conversation about knowing who you are — even when the people around you don't.

In this episode, we cover:

🎙️ Ramone's journey from Detroit to Chicago and what shaped him along the way.

🎙️ Growing up as a creative in spaces that didn't always make room for him.

🎙️ How staying true to himself through adversity built the man he is today.

🎙️ Buddhism as a through line — spirituality woven into everyday life.

🎙️ The fear of judgment and why it shows up in more places than we think.

🎙️ What it means to be a Black man who lives fully and unapologetically.

🎙️ Creativity as expression, healing, and identity.

This episode will have you asking yourself — how much of who you are have you been hiding to make other people comfortable?

🔔 Hit subscribe and tap the notification bell — you won't want to miss this one.

💬 What's one part of yourself you've always protected, no matter what? Let us know in the comments.

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The most radical thing you can do is remain exactly who you are. 💜✨️

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #LGBTQ #Creativity #Buddhism #BeyondLabels #UnapologeticallyYou

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Some people are written off before they ever had a chance to be understood.

Adolfo Davis grew up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago — and from an early age, the system saw him one way and one way only. Not as a child who needed help. Not as a kid who deserved someone to ask the right questions. Just as a problem to be dealt with.

That perception followed him. And it cost him decades.

After spending 29 years incarcerated, Adolfo fought his way to freedom — through a legal battle that stretched longer than it ever should have, fueled by the love he carries for his grandmother and a refusal to give up on himself.

When he finally came home, he didn't run from the community that raised him. He ran straight back to it.

Today, Adolfo manages violence prevention and intervention programs at Phalanx Family Services, walking alongside young people who are systems-impacted and caught between cycles of harm. Through his own organization, Saving Our Urban Leaders (SOUL), he and community leaders show up — feeding people, pouring into others, and building something lasting from the ground up.

This is a story about what it means to come home. To choose your people. And to turn the hardest chapters of your life into the foundation of someone else's future.

In this episode, we cover:

🎙️Adolfo's early life and how the system failed to see him as a child.

🎙️What it means to spend your adult life incarcerated — and hold on anyway.

🎙️ The love he has for his grandmother and how she kept him anchored.

🎙️ Coming home and rediscovering what most of us take for granted.

🎙️ His work at Phalanx Family Services and what real violence prevention and intervention looks like.

🎙️Saving Our Urban Leaders (SOUL) and why giving back was never a question.

This episode will remind you that every story has more layers than the one the world decided to tell.

🔔 Hit subscribe and tap the notification bell — you won't want to miss this one.

What's something you take for granted that someone else might be longing for? Let us know in the comments!

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Some doors take longer to open. But when they do, watch what walks through.

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #AdolfoDavis #SavingOurUrbanLeaders #PhalanxFamilyServices #ChicagoStrong #ViolencePrevention #HealingOutLoud #JuvenileJustice #FromSurvivalToStrength #EnglewoodChicago

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Some people show up to talk about one part of their story… and end up revealing something so much bigger.

We sit down with Sarai Graves — a voice from the LGBTQ+ community who joined us to talk about identity, experience, and upbringing. But what unfolded was so much more than that.

This conversation took a turn none of us quite expected, but that is what made it beautiful. Sarai opened up truths that have long been dismissed, buried, or labeled as "too much" — the kind of hidden knowledge that's slowly being uncovered as the world catches up.

Not conspiracy for the sake of controversy. Just truth that's been waiting for someone willing to say it out loud.

What became clear by the end of this conversation: Sarai is not defined by any single label. She is a wealth of wisdom, a truth-teller, and a reminder that every person carries far more depth than the one thing the world tries to categorize them by.

In this episode, we cover:

🎙️Sarai's journey and experience within the LGBTQ plus community.

🎙️The moment the conversation shifted into something much deeper.

🎙️Hidden truths and forbidden knowledge she's carried and uncovered.

🎙️Why identity is never just one thing.

🎙️What it means to hold wisdom the world isn't always ready for.

This episode will leave you chasing truths your soul already knew.

🔔Hit subscribe and tap the notification bell — because the stories we're telling? They need to be heard.

What's a truth you've carried that took time for the world to catch up to? Drop it below.

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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together.

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #BeyondLabels #RealStories #ChicagoStrong #HiddenTruths #TruthTeller #WisdomKeeper

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Some people walk through fire and come out carrying a torch for everyone else.

In this episode of You Don't Know What I Been Through, we sit down with Tracey G. Lee — Director of Administration & Training with Trajectory Changing Solutions, LLC — an organization that trains on Community Violence Intervention best practices globally.

Tracey is also a pastor, domestic violence survivor, community advocate, and one of the most grace-filled, grounded voices in the violence prevention and intervention space.

Tracey's story doesn't start at the pulpit or the podium. It starts in some of the toughest, trauma-filled places. It starts with the challenges that shaped her early on, a marriage to a man who was supposed to protect and serve, and a moment of unimaginable trauma that would have broken most people beyond repair.

But Tracey didn't break. She built.

She built a ministry. She built a life of service. She embedded herself deeply into communities carrying the heaviest kinds of pain — not from a distance, but as a humble servant who shows up and stays.

In this conversation, we go into her faith — not as a concept, but as the living, breathing force that has guided every chapter of her life. And we talk about what it looks like when expansion isn't something you chase, but something that becomes inevitable when you stay rooted in your purpose.

This is one of those episodes that will touch the depths of your soul long after it's over.

In this episode, we cover:

🎙️The challenges Tracey faced as a young person and how they shaped her.

🎙️ Surviving domestic violence at the hands of someone who was meant to protect.

🎙️The unimaginable moment that changed everything — and how she moved forward.

🎙️How faith became her anchor through every season of life.

🎙️Her journey into ministry and deep community service.

🎙️ What it means to move with grace, strength, and class through the hardest of circumstances.

🎙️ Why expansion in her life was inevitable — and what that looks like.

If you've ever wondered how someone finds the strength to keep going when life asks the impossible of them — this episode holds the answer.

Hit subscribe — because the stories we're telling? They need to be heard.

What keeps you grounded when life gets hard? Drop it below. This is a safe space.

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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together.

May every person listening remember this: you are not what happened to you. You are what you chose to become on the other side.

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #TraceyGLee #TrajectoryChangingSolutionsLLC #DomesticViolence #FaithAndHealing #SurvivorStory #ViolencePrevention #ChicagoStrong #HealingOutLoud #GraceAndStrength

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Your story matters. And sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is admit when you're not okay.

In this episode of You Don't Know What I Been Through, it's just us, Gerald G The Mentor and Steph Harmony, two people diving deeper into what healing means to us.

We explore what real healing looks like. Not the fairytale version. The raw, real one. The kind where you cry when you need to, say no without guilt, and stop explaining yourself to people who were never going to understand you anyway.

We talk about self-care in your healing journey, why it matters, what it costs when you don't prioritize it, and how honoring your own healing directly impacts everyone around you. Because you owe it to yourself and to others.

We talk about how people's journeys look different. How people are in different places on their healing path. And why that matters. Your story matters. Your healing matters.
And we speak more vulnerably about the personal experiences that shaped who we are and why we do this work.

We speak more of ourselves, more authentically, and remind you that even the people doing the healing need to be healing too.

In this episode, we cover:
The truth about what healing is and what it isn't.
What it means to release and let it go.
Why self-care isn't optional for anyone, anywhere.
How self-care and healing work impacts your relationships, your work, and your community.
Honoring people where they are on their healing journey.
Why your story matters and your healing matters.
Speaking vulnerably about the experiences that shaped us.
Learning to use your voice and speak your truth.

If you've ever wondered what healing actually looks like when you clear out the noise, stop listening to everyone else, and start listening to yourself, this episode is for you.
New episodes every week — tap in so you don't miss it.
What does healing mean to you? Drop it below. This is a safe space.
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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together.

May every person listening remember this: you are worthy of healing. Your journey matters. And it's okay to not be okay.

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #HealingJourney #SelfCare #MentalHealth #VulnerabilityIsStrength #YourStoryMatters #StephHarmony #GeraldGTheMentor #ItsOkayToNotBeOkay

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Some people show up when the world looks away. She shows up when it's falling apart.

In this episode of You Don't Know What I Been Through, we sit down with Saleshea Peterson — founder of Hug A Child, NFP. When violence strikes, when grief is fresh, when communities are trying to hold themselves together — she's already there.

Saleshea is an advocate and survivor who has dedicated her life to serving survivors of violence and leading violence prevention programming for young people across Chicago. She doesn't just understand this work intellectually — she has lived it. As a survivor of domestic violence and gun violence, she turned her deepest wounds into her greatest calling. And that is exactly what makes her voice undeniable.

And when the news stories stop airing, when the vigils are over, when the world moves on — she stays. Months later. Years later. Still showing up. Still checking in. Still making sure survivors know they haven't been forgotten. That kind of commitment doesn't come from a job description. It comes from lived experience and a calling that runs deeper than most people will ever understand.

But her mission doesn't stop with survivors. Saleshea wraps her arms around the youth too — literally and figuratively — creating experiences that remind them what it feels like to just be a kid. Because she understands that something as powerful as a hug — love, attention, and genuine investment in a child — can reshape their future and ignite something in them that the world truly needs.

Prevention and intervention aren't separate strategies. They are both necessary. And she lives that truth every single day.

This conversation goes deep — into the rooms most people never enter, the internal work behind the strength you see, and the weight of being the one everyone calls. This is the episode that reminds you why the work matters and what it truly costs the people who show up to do it.

In this episode, we cover:

🎙️ Her origin story and the experiences that shaped her calling.

🎙️ Surviving domestic violence — and the truth about the journey of healing.

🎙️ What survivors of gun violence need most in the first hours after tragedy.

🎙️ How trust is built in the most sacred and painful spaces.

🎙️ Navigating systems to make sure survivors don't get lost.

🎙️ Why she named her organization Hug A Child — and the power behind that simple act.

🎙️ How pouring into young people today can minimize violence tomorrow.

🎙️ Why this work requires both prevention and intervention — and why one without the other isn't enough.

🎙️ Rebuilding yourself after trauma while showing up for others.

🎙️ What healing really looks like — for her and the people she serves.

🎙️ How everyday people can be part of the solution.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to build something powerful from your most broken moments — this episode holds the blueprint. 🔥

🔔 Hit subscribe — because the stories we're telling? They need to be heard.

💬 What does showing up for your community mean to you? Drop it in the comments. This is a safe space. 🕊️

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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together. 💙🤞🏾

May every survivor listening remember this: you are worthy of safety, worthy of support, and worthy of healing. Your story does not end in pain — it evolves in power. 💜✨️

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #HugAChildMakeAChange #SalesheaPeterson #SurvivorStory #ChicagoStrong #HealingIsPossible #CommunityHealing #GunViolence #DomesticViolenceAwareness #HealingInAction

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Sometimes healing starts with a moment you can't unsee.

She looked in the mirror and saw the truth her mind had been trying to silence.

And in that moment — something shifted.

Some people hit rock bottom and stay there. But then there are people who hear something deeper — a voice that cuts through the noise, through the pain — and choose to rise.

Our guest Dawn C. Ewing has a story that will stop you in your tracks. She's been through things most people wouldn't survive. And what she did next?

Nobody saw it coming.
Have you ever heard that still small voice in your darkest moment? Drop it below. This is a safe space.
New episodes dropping — subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together.

#YouDontKnowWhatIBeenThrough #GodsVoice #AddictionRecovery #HealingIsPossible #FaithOverFear #RealStories #HealingJourney #Transformation #FromSurvivalToStrength

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Some communities carry pain that most people never have to see. And then there are people who walk straight into it — every single day — because someone has to.

In this episode of You Don't Know What I Been Through, Gerald G The Mentor and Steph Harmony sit down Sidney Johnson, a mental health specialist doing some of the most necessary — and most invisible — work on the far south side of Chicago. This is someone who shows up for people navigating grief, trauma, violence, and survival. Not in theory. In real life.

We go deep on what it actually means to support a community that has every reason not to trust the systems that were supposed to protect them. We talk about burnout, boundaries, and what keeps you going when the weight of other people's pain starts to feel like your own.

This conversation is for the helpers. The healers. The ones who hold space for everyone else and rarely get asked — but who's holding space for you?

In this episode we explore:

The human side of community mental health work.

💙 Why trust is everything — and how you build it with people who've been let down.

💙 What it really means to meet people where they are.

💙 The emotional weight of showing up consistently in crisis.

💙 Breaking the stigma around therapy in underserved communities.

💙 What healing actually looks like outside of social media.

💙 How to protect your own peace while carrying

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You Don't Know What I Been Through — but we're figuring it out together

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