207: Battling Perceptions with Brandy Essex and Tony Moore

In this episode of Criminal Thinking Deterred, Tony Moore is joined by our guest speaker Brandy Essex, a minister at Bethlehem Temple Church of Kenosha! Throughout this very transparent and heartfelt conversation, Brandy offers a level of vulnerability that is instantly felt and admired from start to finish. He goes in depth with his complicated past, which ultimately made him into the person that he is today. After meeting Tony within his Living Free Program, he gained experience that not only helped continue to mold his lifestyle in a positive way, but it was there that he cultivated the mindset of being a true leader. Despite this growth, Brandy describes the genuine challenges of what comes with making the decision to change. In his own words, God intervened in his life and provided him with an opportunity to move on to a better situation, yet he still felt indebted to him. Thus ultimately leading him down the righteous path of becoming a minister. Consequently, because of his shift in focus, Brandy endured the judgement that followed swiftly from others who had a difficult time seeing him from anything other than what they were accustomed to previously. For anyone, this is a heavy price to bare; however, our guest confidently speaks on how he embraced these moments and used the strength that God gave him to continue to press forward in his mission to give back to his community. Listen to this truly authentic story of how a man chose to be a living example of who God guided him to be, so that he could become a beacon of change for others.