2023 Closer!!!

Yes , we are going to talk about experiences that happen inside the prison system , outside of prison systems . We will use language that might be offensive , but we intend to keep it real . And if that's not for you , we totally understand , but please do what's best for your listening ears .

It is called Backtrack 2023 . And in that they did a full recap of our podcast stats and it was pretty cool . We did 48 episodes this year , which gives us the weekly warrior tag , and they say that our podcast grew by 826% . So for that I would like to thank you all . Man , that is awesome . That is a great stat indeed .

I can't even begin to say how grateful I am for that and for all of you . I mean , I can tell , as I said before , I can tell where our loyal fan base is , and then it's always surprising to me too to notice a few listens pop up here and there in other countries . So this year we have been listened to in 19 countries , which is mind blowing to me .

That earns us the jet setter tag . Our top five countries were the United States , of course , second followed by Canada . We got 42 listeners in Canada , 13 in Germany , four in Russia and three in the UK . So that's huge , and I know of at least one in Germany , but the rest is kind of big .

It's a big surprise that we have such listeners in Canada , which I didn't even know of . So shout out to you guys , shout out to Canada , shout out to Germany , russia , uk and all the other countries . We're starting to catch on in , man , that's really cool .

And so we got a few top episodes too , which , in my opinion , I was also surprised , because you know they're not my favorites , but they're your favorites , and that's what matters . Number one was our Vacation unbelievable part two Followed by prison education programming . Number three is visitation . And then number four is vacation unbelievable part one .

And and fifth was trading cars , trading bars for cars , the Sullivan Roger story from our summer legacy series . So Shout out to Sullivan . You know he was great , gracious enough to come on here , man , as I said before , he was one of my first mentors and really Really set me on the right track for success after I came home from prison .

And then the rest of those man , if you ain't checked them out , I mean they're , they're topping a list for a reason . There's this good content there , so you go ahead and Give it a listen . You know , for you new listeners , please feel free , go to our socials . You know Facebook , instagram , wherever you know , drop a line , let us know how you like it .

And also for all of our , our legacy listeners , you know , if you guys got any new ideas that you want to see us , you know , possibly do for 2024 Same thing . You know , hit us up socials , email . You know , lock down the late stories at lockdown legacy , calm and let us know . Man , I'm open . So I'm like I said before .

826% growth in 2023 , which is huge , you know , and we're still trying to figure out some new stuff To do to continue that growth . 19 countries , man , that's huge . 40 episodes and we're gonna keep it coming . You know , we're gonna keep it coming for 2024 and beyond .

So new I don't know if you guys have been paying attention lately I've been trying to do more episode art , so that's something new that I'm trying out . Like I said before , in a few episodes back . You know , I'm gonna try to start posting stuff monthly which will give you guys a heads up of what episodes are coming out .

So you know the episode art , a schedule , and also I'm gonna try to get some type of form or application process for people who might be interested in being on the podcast , because we love guests , so be looking forward to that , and we're also looking for some structure changes .

So , if you guys haven't noticed , I've I went in and changed some of the titles for our warren episodes and so that segment is going to be called warren's wisdom , and then I'm gonna try to get wise back on here , because I got some good feedback about wise too .

So apparently you guys love our correspondence on the inside , so that's gonna be warren's with wise , this world and warren's wisdom . So we're gonna try to bring those back in regularly . You know , of course , warren is already a monthly contributor , so we're gonna try to do the same thing with wise .

He's got some guys on the inside that are doing poetry , so he's actually trying to recreate another branch of the poetic companions in the prison he's in now , and so we're gonna try to do it to where , you know , the standout participants can and also be featured on show every night and to showcase their talent . I think that'd be Pretty cool , pretty dope .

So , with all that being said of you know what's coming up let's talk about . This is the end of another year and you know the relevance of that is time . You know we got a lot of people on the inside doing time and In some ways , it's no different than out here .

You know me myself I've like I just went and had a physical done at the doctor and stuff and you know I gave some weight . Man , I didn't gain some weight since I got out . When I got out of prison in 2018 , I was 204 pounds . I had just lost 20 pounds . I was pretty solid on the muscle side , man . I Was helping like personal training guys .

I was pretty strict on my eating and you know life started life in . You know I'm not gonna front man . Life started life and I got real focused on work and less focused on what I eat and how much , and so , to be all the way transparent man , I gained about 80 pounds , who you know .

But you know you know back then , my whole mind state was I got nothing but time . So I will work out like two or three hours a day and Not saying that I need to do that again , but I did have a lot of discipline and self Determination when it came to like making change , positive change .

So when I said I'm not eating this anymore , like I gave up beef and pork in 2016 for no reason other than that I wanted to see what the side effects would be , and it was cold turkey , like I was , just like . Now I'm not eating anymore and I love beef and pork .

Now I love a steak , I love some ribs , I love bacon , but you know I gave it up , so I'm trying to find a more soul of that discipline again . So for two , twenty twenty four , you know I'm making the , the New Year's resolutions and stuff to get back To be an actor man . I played basketball a lot .

I played soccer , play softball , so there's no reason why I can't do that , even with family , like that's just an excuse . So Well , no , maybe I shout you out . You know some updates and stuff of how it's going . That'd be a way to keep me accountable to it as well . Try to rope DJ in .

You know she's got her own goals and you know we can all be accountable to each other and you guys can keep us accountable as well . But , with that being said , I just I'm not gonna go so far as like to share pictures of what I was and what I am , but it's a big difference , man .

It's a big difference and Also had that same discipline and self-determination when it came to stuff like education , reading , you know , working out , like I said , and Keeping in touch with people .

So that's another thing I want to do for 2024 keep in touch with my friends , with my family , and Also I want to work diligently on this podcast , because I know that you guys like it and I know that there's a difference when I'm on my game and when I'm not .

So my goal is to be on my game and all of those areas and and you know , no excuses , man , there's no reason for that Um , I , we can keep it moving , like in another aspect of this . You could say like you only get old when you start acting old , when you stop moving . You know you stop moving , you start getting rusty .

Yeah , that's , that's not me , so I'm gonna kick it up . You know I'm gonna kick it up a notch . And in all of that , I want to get my kids involved . That's another way to keep me accountable , too is because I got a set , a good example for my kids . So my oldest daughter is a pretty good swimmer .

You know she's out there Breaking records every week and swim practice and I love it and so I need to be a good example for her and also the kids under her that you know living an active lifestyle is great and Most of the records that she's breaking are against herself . So she's like you know I shave X amount of seconds off my lap time .

You know all this stuff and I love that because I've always been very competitive with myself . So I need to Keep that going and it's still that in them and shout out to all my dudes inside , on my ladies inside , who you know this year is coming to a close or starting a new one . We got goals for the next year . We always trying to be better .

On the inside is the best place to have goals because it's the easiest place to sit and stagnate . I knew many people , include myself , for a few years that you know it's easy to just sleep in . It's easy to just , you know , stay up until 1 am Doing absolutely nothing and then sleep in until you know noon like it's horrible .

So on the inside , man , you guys keeping contact with your people on the inside , make sure you motivate them , make sure that you , you know , converse with them and ask , like , what they wanted a new year , and then try to Foster that and and keep motivating them throughout the year , and vice versa , because I'm gonna tell you right now , even behind prison bars

, I was there for a lot of people . I Was that person that kept people accountable . People wanted to lean on me . So , even if you think like , yeah , they're in prison , they can't do nothing for me , that's not true . Like they could be just as much as a Support for you as you could be for them , you know .

So , with that said , this is the last episode of the year . Once again , I would like to thank everybody . All of our lockdown on legacy listeners Anybody , of course , anybody who has shared the podcast Because I feel like that is the majority of the growth is very organic .

It's , like , you know , word of mouth and that is huge , because people who you , who you know , trust your judgment and if you tell them , hey , this is something good to listen to , of course they're gonna check it out , as opposed to a commercial or a Facebook post or anything like that .

So , thank you all , thank you all , thank you all and , like I said , we're gonna come back 2024 Bigger and better , and we're gonna keep that growth going . Check out the post . I'm gonna post a graphic from bus sprout where it shows the those key stats that I just mentioned . And that's it , guys . Thank you , love you , peace .

network . Lockdown to legacy is recorded at Kohatch in their lovely Audio file room . Thanks for your scholarship . Audio engineering is done by our very own Remy Jones . You can reach us with any feedback , questions , comments or share the love by emailing stories at lockdown number two Legacy comm . Stories at lockdown to legacy comm .

You can reach out there too for a free sticker , and you can find us on Instagram and Twitter with the handle at lockdown to legacy and on Facebook at the lockdown to legacy podcast . Thanks for listening , oh .