The Back to Me Podcast

What if your interest in building things could become a career dedicated to improving lives? As we wrap up our “Built to Move” Trade and Transportation series, we welcome Ian Sequeira, Vice President of Port and Marine for U.S. West at AECOM. Raised in a Christian home in India, Mr. Sequeira developed an early interest in construction and a commitment to serving others. He shares how his journey a...

What if a high school field trip introduced you to your future career and eventually brought you back to teach the next generation? As we continue our “Built to Move” Trade and Transportation series, we welcome Steve Borio, Automotive Technology Instructor and Ford ASSET Instructor at Cerritos College. With 30 years of automotive experience, including 27 years at a Ford dealership, Mr. Borio share...

Ready to explore working with your hands and using your brain in ways you never expected? As we continue our “Built to Move” Trade and Transportation series, we welcome Stephen Shute, HVAC/R Organizer at United Association (UA) Local 250 and Industry and Technology Instructor at El Camino College. With 44 years of experience in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration, Mr. Shute s...

What does it mean to prepare students not only to earn a degree, but to thrive in a rapidly changing workforce? This month, we introduce ‘Built to Move,’ our new Trade and Transportation series! In this episode, Dr. Thomas O’Brien, Associate Dean in the College of Professional and Continuing Education at California State University, Long Beach, returns to share how higher education, workforce deve...

As September comes to a close, we want to recognize National Suicide Prevention Month. Our founder and host, Yoli Tamu, introduces The C.L.E.A.R. Pathway™ and explores five practices for moving forward: Clarity, Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Action, and Reciprocal Relationships. This episode is a compassionate reminder that clarity is not the absence of background noise, it is the decision t...

The good news is that there is no replacement for being human. In the final episode of our “AI With Purpose: Student Pathways to What’s Next” series, we are joined by Christine White, Assistant Professor of Practice and the Director of Partnerships and Growth Initiatives at the University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business. In addition, she serves as the Managing Director of the MS in Marke...

As headlines raise serious questions about AI safety and human control, this conversation invites students to move beyond fear and consider how they can help shape technology with responsibility, curiosity, and care. In this week’s episode of our “AI With Purpose: Student Pathways to What’s Next” series, we are joined by Will Croushorn, an AI product leader, educator and the force behind Wendy’s F...

As we continue our “AI With Purpose: Student Pathways to What’s Next” series, we are joined by Nicholas Beaudoin, Director of AI Programs at Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education. He works across industry and education to make artificial intelligence practical and useful for organizations, and he emphasizes that there is no single route into an AI-related career. In this episode...

In this opening episode of our “AI With Purpose: Student Pathways to What’s Next” series, we welcome Dr. Stephen Sutton, Vice Chancellor Emeritus for Student Affairs at UC Berkeley. Recorded shortly before his retirement, this timely conversation explores what students need to thrive in an AI-influenced world. With four decades of leadership in student affairs, Dr. Sutton explores students’ unders...

Whether it’s your first year or your last, finding your community on campus is an important part of helping you stay engaged and motivated while you pursue both your academic and professional goals. In this week’s episode, we are joined by Dr. T Gage, Counseling Coordinator for Umoja-UBAKA at Laney College in Oakland, California. Dr. Gage shares how intentional guidance and a “my brother’s keeper”...

School is back in session and we hope you had a restful summer! Have you mapped out your game plan for the semester yet? If not, get ready to be inspired by two student athletes who are learning the benefits of preparation, discipline and leadership both on and off the court! In this week’s episode, we are joined by Chris Plantey and Laolu Kalejaiye, two Business majors and Basketball Point Guards...

Congratulations, Graduates! As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, our host and founder, Yoli Tamu invites you to pause and reflect on the difference between performing for approval and living with purpose. Using her personal freshman-year story as the backdrop, she explores how boredom, peer pressure, and the desire to fit in can quietly shape our choices if we’re not paying attention. If...

Our ‘Campus Care Collective’ series for Mental Health Awareness Month continues with Elise Sturdivant, Vice President of Student Affairs at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead. Mrs. Sturdivant shares how higher ed chose her after growing up surrounded by educators, advocates, admissions recruiters, and financial aid support that helped her feel she belonged, even as a young...

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we continue our ‘Campus Care Collective’ series with Dr. Jerell Hill, Dean of Counseling and Guided Pathways at Los Angeles City College. This Education Leader, author, and international speaker feels privileged to transform student struggles into strength. From full academic scholarship recipient to administrative healer, Dr. Hill shares lived wisdom from his ne...

It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and we're launching our “Campus Care Collective” series with William Middlebrooks, Deputy Athletic Director, Leadership Strategist, and Basketball Program Director at Lincoln University in Oakland, California. From college basketball player to high school coach at age 18, Coach Middlebrooks shares how mental health fuels athletic success and lifelong prosperity....

This Financial Literacy month has truly been inspiring our students to take their financial futures to the next level! Our ‘Money Masterclass’ series continues with Eric Clay, Financial Wellbeing Coach at Operation HOPE, who turned his own student credit struggles into a mission teaching families how to build credit health that lasts. Mr. Clay reveals how credit tells your life story and breaks do...

Our ‘Money Masterclass’ series for Financial Literacy Month continues with Anika Jackson, USC Annenberg Professor of Digital Media Management, founder of Your Brand Amplified, and co-host of Mediascape and Zen Power Hour. This entrepreneurship powerhouse shares how she went from club promoter to thriving brand-builder by teaching clients and students to first know themselves as a brand. Ms. Jackso...

We’re back from Spring Break and we hope you had some time to rest! Financial Literacy Month is here and our ‘Money Masterclass’ series of well-sought after financial educators and professionals are going to make you want to share them with all of your friends! This series opens with Patricia Kelly, University of California, Santa Cruz Lecturer, Speaker, and Financial Literacy Advocate, who is als...

Our ‘Women Leading with Heart’ series for Women’s History Month closes powerfully with the return of Dr. Theresa Price, CEO and Founder of The National College Resources Foundation (NCRF) - home of the renowned Black College Expo and Latino College Expo. This beloved community trailblazer shares her philosophy and secrets to living and investing in a spiritually filled life. She believes being sma...

Our ‘Women Leading with Heart’ series for Women's History Month continues with Dr. Khalilah Doss, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Strategic Enrollment Management at California State University, Fullerton. This first-generation Jamaican track scholar became an educational trailblazer who simply wanted to “be who I needed.” Dr. Doss shares why seeing the humanity in students—as someone’s...

Women’s History Month continues with our ‘Women Leading with Heart’ series! In this week’s episode, we spotlight an emerging change-maker in education, the Assistant Director of the First Gen Scholars Program at Jackson State University, Ms. Shandell Lewis. She is a first-generation college graduate, former counselor, and passionate advocate for Mississippi education that is bridging K-12 and high...

To wrap up our Love Series, “Rooted in Love”, we dive into agape love—selfless, unconditional care for others with LaMar-Octavious L. Scott, Vice President of Student Affairs at LeMoyne-Owen College. As a leader at the fifth oldest HBCU, Mr. Scott shares his journey from early ministry roots to helping students develop unapologetic critical thinking and global cultural understanding. Spirituality...

As we continue our ‘Rooted in Love’ series, this week’s episode explores the power of conviction and community love with Marita Asamoah, a first-generation Political Science major at Coppin State University. Born in the Bronx and raised partly in Ghana, Marita brings a global perspective to student leadership as Vice President of the NAACP and Chief Justice of Coppin’s SGA Executive Board. Dedicat...

Love in college can feel like the biggest story of your life, but what if it’s actually the classroom where you learn who you are? In this week’s episode of our ‘Rooted in Love’ series, our host and founder, Yoli Tamu takes you back to her years at Howard University to share real experiences with dating, music, and self‑discovery on and off campus, from supper‑club stages to difficult conversation...

For our annual ‘Love Series: Rooted in Love’ kickoff, we explore the power of self-love with Dr. D’Wan Carpenter, a board-certified physician in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and founder of DJC Medical Group. Blending evidence-based lifestyle medicine with faith, Dr. Dee shares how balance, preparation, and spiritual grounding can help prevent and even reverse chronic conditions like heart...