CHAPTER THREE · THE MAN I BECAME
The story continued when I came home.
What happened to me shaped parts of my life. It did not decide every part of who I would become.
FATHERHOOD · WORK · GROWTH
A son of Fort Smith. A father of my own.
Becoming a father changed what mattered most to me. It is one thing to talk about responsibility; it is another to wake up knowing a child is looking to you for safety, consistency, and an example.
Raising my son has been one of the deepest commitments of my life. In him, I saw the importance of giving a young person guidance, patience, and room to grow—the things I now understand differently when I think about myself at fourteen.
Music and entrepreneurship gave me ways to create something lasting. I founded Money To Blow Music Group in 2007, and over time my projects grew to include media, storytelling, and community work. Each project carries a different piece of my history.
JD YOUTH FOUNDATION
Giving something back to Fort Smith.
Fort Smith is where my life began, and it is still a place I feel connected to. I know what it means for a young person to need someone who sees more in them than their mistakes.
Through the JD Youth Foundation, a charitable initiative I operate personally, I try to reach young people with encouragement, practical support, and the kind of conversations I wish I had better understood when I was growing up.
Our Thanksgiving turkey giveaways have been one way of showing up for families in the community. The 2023 drive honored my late godfather, Donald Eugene Carter. Helping families in the place where I grew up makes those memories of home feel especially close.
CHAPTER FOUR · MUSIC & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Building beyond the past.
The next part of my journey took shape through music, business, and a belief that I could create something lasting.
EXPLORE MONEY TO BLOW MUSIC GROUP →