Today we’d like to introduce you to Goodlookinlee.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. My grandmother was my only parent, and we shared a three-bedroom apartment with more people than it was ever meant to hold. It wasn’t always easy, but it taught me resilience long before I had the words for it.
Looking back, I was the kid who fell through the cracks. I spent so much of my childhood on punishment that I never really learned how to build or maintain lasting friendships. I wasn’t invisible—I had friends during different seasons of my life—but I never quite felt like I belonged anywhere. That experience shaped the way I move through the world even today.
By the fall of 2018, I was searching for purpose. Mentally, I felt like I was all over the place, and I needed somewhere to put my thoughts. That’s how the Thank Me Later Podcast was born. At first, it was simply a space for me to talk, process life, and make sense of my experiences. What I didn’t expect was how many people it would reach. The podcast opened doors, connected me with incredible people, and showed me the power of storytelling.
Then the world stopped.
When the pandemic hit, everything changed. Like so many creative projects, the podcast struggled to find its footing once life started moving again. The world was different, I was different, and Thank Me Later never fully recovered. Slowly, I disappeared from media.
But disappearing wasn’t the end of the story.
Life has a way of teaching you in seasons, and this season feels different. Lately, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that it’s time to come back. I miss creating. I miss telling stories. I miss building community through conversations. I don’t know exactly what that return will look like. It may not be Thank Me Later, and it may not even be a podcast. What I do know is that media has always felt like home, and finding my way back to it has been weighing heavily on my mind.
This isn’t a comeback because I have everything figured out. It’s a comeback because I’m finally ready to tell the next chapter.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Hell no.
I wasn’t a child who had the kind of family foundation that I believe every kid deserves just to survive, let alone thrive. My mother has siblings, and they have children, but I didn’t grow up with a close network of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Outside of a very select few, my family has always felt distant—both emotionally and physically.
For a long time, I carried that absence with me. Through therapy, I’ve been learning how to build the family I choose instead of only grieving the one I didn’t have. That’s been one of the hardest and most healing lessons of my life.
Even with that growth, I’d be lying if I said those foundational cracks don’t still sting. They do. Some wounds don’t disappear; you just learn how to live with them differently. But I’ve stopped letting those cracks define my future. Instead, they’re shaping the kind of relationships I want to build and the kind of person I strive to be.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Right now, I’m a Program Director with Harlem Lacrosse. Every day, the young people I coach and mentor get the bulk of my energy, time, and support. It’s a role that goes far beyond teaching a sport—it’s about showing up consistently, creating safe spaces, and helping them believe in themselves. Things I had no idea I could even do.
The thing I’m most proud of isn’t a championship or a win-loss record. It’s the relationships I’ve been able to build and sustain with my players and their peers.
That might sound simple, but for me it’s deeply personal. Growing up, I never really had a healthy blueprint for building and maintaining relationships. It’s something I’m still learning, and I know I can be a little rigid at times. But this work has taught me that trust is earned through consistency, patience, and genuine care.
Watching these young people grow while also realizing how much I’ve grown alongside them has been the biggest reward of my career. More than anything, this job has shown me the power of relationship-building—and that’s a lesson I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I listen to a lot of audio books. Cudi by Kid Cudi stood out to me this year as well as Simply More by Cynthia Erivo, and You Owe You by Eric Thomas
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Goodlookinlee_
