Same Start, Different Choice | Tyrone Ross Jr. & Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio on Origin Stories and Hope

What separates a superhero from a villain? Not their starting point - both emerge from pain, abandonment, and the feeling that no one has their back. The difference is choice.

Tyrone Ross Jr. and Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio meet for the first time and dig into origin stories that shape how we lead, serve, and show up for others. Tyrone shares how being told he was "athletic" instead of "smart" redirected his entire trajectory - and what it took to rewrite that narrative. Neils reflects on the moment a sixth-grade teacher affirmed his intelligence and how that single belief changed everything, then walks us through why understanding where people come from is inseparable from the work of economic mobility and community investment.

The real spine of this conversation isn't about capes or villainous plots - but about the daily choice to lift others versus the choice to hoard. And, most of all, it's about hope: not as sentiment, but as something you have to fight to get, fight harder to keep, and give away to survive. As Neils puts it: "Hope is a powerful tool and a dangerous weapon."