Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Randal Wells. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Randal, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience is tied into my purpose. While times in my life were hard, I knew in those moments of darkness, that this pain was temporary. I find many former foster youth to be extremely resilient individuals. When you lose everything and everyone, you depend on yourself for a lot. I’ve been starved, beaten, and abused, but still found times in the day to smile. I have faith, and that is the source of my purpose and resilience.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Randal Wells. I’m a R&B singer, songwriter and host of the Foster Tales Podcast. I’ve been making music for the last 19 years. I’ve been fortunate to have played festivals, performed on television, and have my music placed on global platforms.
Ever since I was 6 years old, I was part of the foster care system. I was placed in more than 10 different homes. While in care, I became a youth advocate and helped to pass legislation that extended foster care benefits for youth who have aged out of the system until they are 23 years old.
I now get to share my experiences in foster care, worldwide on the Foster Tales Podcast. Each week, I interview someone who either lived through or works directly with foster and/or adoptive youth. I never had an example of a success story from the foster care system, so I wanted to make sure people knew how many of our stories exist.
Foster Tales is now in its 4th season and available wherever you stream your podcasts. This past November , I was honored at Paramount Studios, by Kids in the Spotlight, as the recipient of the Jordan Award for my community work with foster youth.
My music can be found on all streaming platforms, under Randal Wells.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I always believed that my story was bigger than me. The moments I was in, were temporary. I can’t credit that to any sort of wisdom, but I did believe in my talent. In my darkest moments, I sang. I wrote songs to escape the chaos that I was living through. I think the ability to channel that through my art has paid off in spades.
As I got older, I started realizing that my communication skills needed improving. I got frustrated because not many people could understand what I was living through and I didn’t have the language to effectively communicate what was going on in my life. As a result, I make sure I speak up. I’m not afraid to disagree. I like having discussions so I can better understand an issue.
As a result of the pain and trauma I lived through, I find myself being compassionate to those who don’t have a voice. I am able to talk to people from a place of understanding. I think living through trauma takes so much time to process and unpack, the best thing I’ve been able to do, is find gratitude in what I have, and not dwell on the things that could’ve been.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I think there are fewer and fewer opportunities for new voices to be heard. In music, the opportunities to perform are basically impossible. A lot of work has to be done online. And the space to be discovered is virtually impossible without some sort of built in fan base or viral moment.
The same can be said in the foster care space. There are many well-to-do initiatives that exist for foster youth, but very little look back is being done to engage former foster youth to have a voice and seat at the table. Former foster youth are rarely consulted by the organizations that are supporting them, but that’s also not to say there aren’t some incredible organizations that are helping to start the conversations that need to be had to impact change.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wells?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wells?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: @iamrandalwells
Image Credits
Karim Saafir
