Voices for Voices®

What Will You Regret Not Trying? | Ep 259

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 259

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What Will You Regret Not Trying? | Ep 259

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We celebrate reaching our 260th episode milestone and reflect on the growth of Voices for Voices over the past two and a half years, from an audio-only format to a show reaching over 60 countries and 700+ cities worldwide.

• Sharing difficult or taboo topics helps people realize they're not alone in their experiences
• Free speech and First Amendment rights provide the foundation for our mission to amplify diverse voices
• Reaching 250+ episodes puts us in an elite category, as many podcasts never reach this milestone
• Trying new things despite uncertainty of outcome is better than living with regrets about what you never attempted
• The principle that "nobody is above the law" applies universally, regardless of status or position
• Good outweighs bad ethically, morally, and spiritually as we continue our journey to help others

Thank you for your love, support, thumbs up, subscriptions, and shares. God bless the United States of America and God bless the world and all of humanity.

#RegretNotTrying #LifeChoices #TakeTheLeap #NoRegrets #TryNewThings #FutureHappiness #LiveBoldly #EmbraceChange #ChaseYourDreams #PersonalGrowth #OvercomeFears #MindsetMatters #ExploreOpportunities #PassionPursuit #InspirationDaily #MakeItCount #Instagram #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion

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Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Hi everyone, Justin Alan Hayes, here again with the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. We are over 250 episodes. We're just actually about the 260th total in-studio and out-of-studio episodes, which is just remarkable. Thank you for your love and support, thank you for your prayers, your blessings, thank you for your donations, for sponsorships and being again a light for those who aren't able to share their voice, or you, by sharing your voice and inspiring others to do whatever they decide to do. Whatever that they decide to do, they take the information, they disseminate it, they make their judgment and it's our hope that we are inspiring individuals to again just say and think I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And once we get past that then we can really ramp up the process. It's been a fast pace past couple of months. We have produced and dropped quite a bit of content really in the last 30 days. But if you look at the last 60, it really paints a picture. That again for me to take a step back and look at that, look at the topics, look at the guests, look at the importance of public safety, the importance of First Amendment, free speech in the United States of America Constitution and, just being an American, I love it, but I wouldn't rather be anywhere else to call home, and so some of the flurry of activity that is going on a little bit behind the scenes we're not quite at a point where we can really comment on those things as we've mentioned in prior shows that if we think of things from a spiritual side, of things that doesn't even just have to be spiritual, you know there's things that are good, there's things that are not not so good. And when we talk about things that are not so good and we share and talk about the, the tough topics because again, we have this huge goal of wanting to help 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, and some of the topics we have spoken about and spoken on touch on some of these taboo topics we don't talk about very much or as much as we should.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

But as you may be a parent, you may be an aunt, an uncle, grandma, grandpa, we want to keep society, especially we want to keep children safe and we want parents to feel like their child is safe, wherever that may be At school, at a friend's, at a birthday party. The list really goes on and on. And it's again, it's an honor, it's a privilege to even have this show to spark research, spark ideas, spark information that may not have been known and when that information is shared, it's up to that individual on the other end to make that next action, whatever that may be. Whatever that may be, and we feel very optimistic in that With everything we do, there's good days, there's bad days, but that has nothing to do with sharing information under the First Amendment, talking about experiences, and then any action that's taken after that. Again, we don't hit the mouse. We don't book, unbook a flight, book unbook a hotel, book, unbook a registration to anything a sporting event, a concert, a conference, a convention, conference, a convention. We just know that the decision-making of putting things into action is very, very important and very important to distinguish.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And we're I'm just going to continue to mention this we are very grateful to everybody who has ever tuned in to even one millisecond of our Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. You know, from the beginning we have these thoughts, these goals, but we don't have a crystal ball. And so here to sit here, two, two and a half years I think it is when we first started this show which started audio only, and now we are blessed, grateful, humbled, to be able to have the show just like this, as you see it, as you hear it, whether it is remotely or whether it is in the studio, and that's again, it's just an incredible feat to be where we're at. Like I said, we just passed episode 250. And so we unlocked an achievement, or a milestone achievement, where we understand that, with the analytics, that many podcasts, one reason or another, they don't last, they don't go on as long as ours has and continues to, and so that just warms my heart that we're with some of the elite from an episode number standpoint. There are some that are way above us in the thousands and there are some that are right around 250, 300. So to be in that type of company is a very good feeling, a very validating, in that we were able to share so much. We're able to share with so many people.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And I remember growing up, you know, we didn't really have the internet. Podcasting, doing shows like this was really unheard of because a lot of the technology wasn't developed at that time. But as the years gone on, that technology has evolved, we've evolved and here we are. It's incredible to be where we're at. It's incredible the guests we've had on. It's incredible that you want to watch and listen and continue to watch and listen. It's incredible that you give and continue to give thumbs up, subscribe like, share, all those free things. It's very humbling to look over where the analytics are this year versus where they were last year, and that can be attributed to a whole variety of reasons.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

But we talk about negative so much that we don't really spend a lot of time celebrating the wins Like I said, hitting that 250 episode milestone, knowing that a higher percentage don't make it. Higher percentage of shows never make it that far. And I think, because we're programmed to make things as efficient as possible, to make it better, that we look at errors like what we did wrong and how we can grow, and not enough time is spent on the good things that we do and have done, do and have done. The media they're looking for clicks and advertising and so they're not as much tied into the authenticity. They're authentic in what they believe and what they do good, the bad, the ugly and we're able to share the good, even if that means less clicks, less traffic, less donations, because we've talked about this on show after show.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

You know time's so limited here on Earth, it is so limited here on earth. It is so limited and I talked about in that episode. You know what, what happens, and you know the final days of our lives and how we feel and our thoughts and do we have regrets and and and what are they? I'm not going to be one of these individuals that looks back and says, well, you know, I didn't try that. Instead, it's going to be the opposite. I tried it, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but nonetheless I tried it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but nonetheless we earn over 60 countries. You just hit over 700 cities here in the United States and across the world.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

It's really, really incredible to see that and, like I said, it's little, really incredible to see that and, like I said, it's a little old me, a little old organization. We're not meaning we're an old organization, just that. We're a very small, very small team, very small team that's active, and we do it because we're passionate team, very small team that's active, and we do it because we're passionate. We have skin in the game. I have skin in the game because of my mental illnesses and my past background and my current state.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

In my current state that I'm able to talk about some of these I think I said the word taboo but some of these topics that don't want to be talked about as much and don't want to, let's put it this way for anything, any topic, anything, the easiest thing to do is the quickest thing to do. The quickest thing to do a lot of times may not a lot of times sometimes may not be the best option to pick do thing one or do thing two. Sometimes may not be the best option to pick Do thing one or do thing two. And if we constantly pick, the faster, the faster, the more efficient, the more efficient. That's all well and good, but just think about how many lives getting to that point, how many livelihoods were lost, how many jobs were lost. And that's a humanity problem. It's not a voices for voices problem. It's not a Justin Allen Hayes or anybody else on the team's problem. It's just. It is what it is, that whole thing. That's just the way it is.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And individuals you're out there watching, listening, reach out to me. You want to be a guest on the show? Let's talk about it. That's how. Probably about 70, 80% of theE we do book are individuals or organizations represented by individuals that reach out and want to share their story and talk about some tough topics to them, because they may be ready to do that. They may be ready on day one after the trauma, or it could take 15, 20, 30 years, but none of that changes us as an organization of limiting our guests. We have quite the diverse guest pool just up till now, and it's only going to get more diverse as we continue. But it's just a helpful reminder to know good is better than bad. Good outweighs bad, ethically, morally, spiritually, and if we're going to go on this continued journey to help others, to help others in large numbers, we've got to do it together. There's going to be detractors there's going to be that, but that's everywhere. They're entitled to their free speech and so are we.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

It's incredibly important to think and to understand that that the law and laws that are on the books are for everyone. You know, we heard and saw prior to the 2024 presidential election here in the United States. We saw many lawsuits, many cases brought forth wanting the 45th president and now the 47th president to appear in person and go through court cases and go through trials and discovery just the way he has been targeted. Again, not judging the situation or just stating the facts. If they can hack up into him, not judging the situation or just stating the facts If it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody. And the judges and the attorneys and the clerk of courts and security, all that it's hard to do when you're in a big, big city, but that's what what these agencies do. Well, that's their job is to adapt to, you know, a changing landscape, to a changing landscape. And so we were told nobody's above the law. Nobody's above the law in that case, in those cases. So I'd like to reiterate that well, regardless of the side of the aisle that you're on here in the United States, that nobody's above the law. And whatever's happened in the past, whatever has been said and reported, and all that reported and all that Again, I mean I remember going through high school and then university and jobs where there were things I liked, that I was hoping to spend more time on, and there's things that I didn't like, like entering information for an expense report, the travel depending on where it works too, and that you handle business, that you don't take advantage of organizations that are covering airfares and trains and hotel and meals and all these things and all that.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

To think that, okay, well, nobody's above the law, and so if there were laws that were broken in that expense report period, then there were laws that were broken Pretty cut and dry. Free speech, I believe, is very cut and dry. So again I harken back to university days where I'd have projects, papers, you name it tests, exams, quizzes, and there were some answers that I got right and there were some answers I did not get right, and that was just the case. But it was to learn and to get better. And to get better from exam one to exam two, exam one do the studying, not knowing exactly what the exact format is, and so we're better prepared for that second exam. Just from a layout perspective, we're talking about multiple choice, true and false, fill in the blank essay, and that's huge. And so we learn from those situations.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And again, I might not have liked if I got a question or questions not right, because right, we want the highest grade possible, we want to do well, we want that to reflect in our GPA, and so then we're able to share that on our resume and to feel accomplished and all these different things and to feel accomplished and all these different things. But the important thing is that I wasn't always right. There may be a couple times where I answered all the questions correctly and I got 100%, but that doesn't make me or anybody perfect. It's just for that exam, that presentation, that I was able to answer all the questions correctly. And then I would take the following project and I would get questions and points taken off for reasons I should have known and should have asked questions, more questions.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Same thing is here with an organization. People are going to, some people are going to like what we have to say and what we talk about and some people won't. So I go back to well, there's some things that maybe I or somebody else doesn't like, for whatever reason, about an organization, about a product that feel like say, well, okay, you're advertising it's a 12-inch sub and it's not, it's an 8 or it's a 9. And so that big organization could be in the wrong, no matter what, that Goliath could be in the wrong, whether they like it or not, they could be in the wrong. And with a little guy, little person, stature and you know, finance-wise brings it up, seems like a long shot, seems like it's not possible to overcome, seems like, oh, I'm just going to be that bystander, just walk by and just buy this hypothetical sandwich and just continue on our day. Because, again, to bring topics, to bring things to light is hard to do. For these reasons, for most of these reasons, because that's you know, we're sharing and talking about information it might be uncomfortable.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Again, there's many other podcasts and shows out there. Change the channel, go to a I mentioned before, go to a different donut shop. If you're looking for glazed donuts and the first two or three places don't have any, well, go to another place. Don't like it, don't like driving to multiple places. But if that's the case, that's the case.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

We can be upset, we can be mad. That's the case. We can be upset, we can be mad. However, if we're looking for something, are we going to be like, oh, you should have had this when I came in? That's neither here nor there. So people can be wrong. No matter how small, how less powerful, less connected, less not deep pockets, can still be a, a person, an organization that is still sharing relevant information. Because what we leave it up to the listener, the viewer Take information, don't take it. At the end of the day, you make your decision and we make ours. So thank you for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We'll catch you on a future episode and thank you so much for joining us, following us, liking us, giving us a big thumbs up. We love you. Thank you for your love, support. God bless the United States of America and God bless the world and all of humanity. We'll see you later.

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Justin Alan Hayes

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