The Neil Haley Show Featuring James Pickens Jr., Marques Ogden, Evan Craft, and Dr. Anne Cope

The Neil Haley Show Featuring James Pickens Jr., Marques Ogden, Evan Craft, and Dr. Anne CopeThe Storehouse Media Group simulcast with co-host Sherrie Price Clark opened with James Pickens Jr., Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Webber for over two decades and now executive producer and star of the short film Albert's Flower. James shared how the project began as a 12-page play handed to him by director Jim Glossman, evolved into a chamber-piece film shot in a single day in Montclair, New Jersey with co-star Ailis Cahill, and now joins the Montclair Film Festival's short film block on October 22 and 25, alongside the festival's tributes to Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese. He contrasted Grey's Anatomy (a producer-driven medium now hitting its 450th episode and 22nd season) with the actor- and director-driven intimacy of short film. Tickets at montclairfilmfestival.com.Neil then welcomed former NFL offensive lineman turned entrepreneur, speaker, and bestselling author Marques Ogden. Marques traced his path from Howard University, where he was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003, through five NFL seasons learning behind icons like Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, and Hugh Douglas under rookie head coach Jack Del Rio (whose lesson "be your own CEO" stuck with him), to building the largest African American-owned subcontracting company in Baltimore at $25 million in revenue, to losing it all and bottoming out as a custodian in Raleigh with $400 to his name and a literal spoiled-milk rock-bottom moment. After years of grinding, he landed his first paid speaking job in 2016, was developed by Mel Robbins (motivation is short-term, inspiration is long-term), and has now spoken for 85+ Fortune 500 clients with his podcast Get Authentic with Marques Ogden topping 800,000 downloads since June 1. Visit MarquesOgden.com.Greg Hanna then joined Neil on Celebrity Interviews Live from the Grotto for a conversation with Billboard-charting bilingual Christian artist Evan Craft, whose debut book The Extra Mile (K-LOVE Books) tells the true story of his 1,200-mile coast-to-coast cycling trek across South America from Chile to Argentina. After playing in front of 80,000 people in Colombia and feeling like he had hit his peak at 25, Evan and his friends built Ciclo Vida, raising money for local nonprofits and prosthetics for two Venezuelan Paralympic athletes whose participation transformed the entire mission. Inspired by missionary Reinhard Bonnke's biography, he urged listeners to "love your neighbor as yourself" and live the extra mile. Visit EvanCraftMusic.com.Neil closed with a wildfire-preparedness conversation featuring Michael of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and Dr. Anne Cope of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. Michael walked through pre-loss financial preparation, including the annual insurance checkup, extended replacement cost coverage, ordinance and law coverage, the difference between replacement cost and actual cash value policies, and the importance of updating policies for home improvements and considering renters insurance. He noted that materials are up 39 percent, labor up 26 percent, rentals up 28 percent, and home furnishings up 20 percent under recent inflationary pressures. Anne explained the three conditions that drive catastrophic wildfires (high density, drought, and high wind), why wind-borne embers are the real threat, and three concrete home-hardening steps: a Class A roof, ember-resistant or 1/8-inch mesh vents, and a five-foot non-combustible safety zone around the home (no wood mulch, wood fences, garbage cans, or bushes touching the walls). Visit APCI.org/wildfire.You said: do the same