Announcer: Coming up on The Whitney Reynolds show... Tuan: At the age of 18, you know, when my peers that were going to school with me were going to graduate, I was walking into maximum security prison.

I just kind of lost my way.

And I made the mistake of getting in the car with a person who I thought just wanted to go out and have some fun and it turned out to be a trafficker.

One day your story will be a survival guide for someone else in their journey.

Announcer: The Whitney Reynolds Show is funded by Yates Protect, a minority owned business focused on protecting communities and providing solutions to safety problems for public and private institutions, including air purification, metal detectors, thermal detection, and more; Together at Peace: a community lifting you from coping to hoping; O'Connor Law Firm: when it comes to your injuries, we take it personally.

Xtreme Xperience: making the world's supercars accessible, so you can experience being in the driver's seat on the race tracks and back roads of our country; Theraderm Clinical Skincare: committed to developing skin care products designed to restore skin health and promote natural beauty.

And by 10 West Real Estate Group, UFC Gym Lakeview, Ella's Bubbles, Hi-Five Sport Chicago, Fresh Dental, Kevin Kelly Real Estate Agent, Concierge Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery, Deluxe Cleaning Services, Mid-West Moving & Storage, TuTu School Chicago, Goldfish Swim School Roscoe Village, and by these funders: The unspoken narrative.

What lessons are you living out loud that were never fully explained?

Today we sit down with guests with hidden stories and surprising plot lines.

[theme music] Whitney: It was his first TV interview fully sharing his story.

Tuan has lived a life that was silent for so long and actually at one point locked behind bars, and now both his life and story are free.

Living in that culture when I was younger, you'd develop patterns of decision-making that you feel is the right decisions all the time.

You know, it's not something that I'm taught or I want to do when I was a kid.

Like, I want to grow up and gang bang.

Right?

I want to grow up-- While being Asian American you're always taught that the success is being a doctor, being an engineer, being a college graduate, having a family, you know, all this stuff.

I didn't choose that lifestyle, right?

And so it became like a habit.

It became in my decision-making repeatedly throughout my teenage years.

Whitney: Now he's living and owning his truth.

For Tuan, it was not always this way.

At the age of 18, you know, when my peers that were going to school with me were going to graduate, I was walking into maximum security prison.

Whitney: The unspoken truth of how a life sentence transformed a real life.

Tuan, a refugee from Vietnam, had to work extra hard for his American dream.

So when I was three years old, my family and I escaped on a boat, a 45 by 15 fishing boat.

But there was also people like protesting us, you know.

I guess that was pretty traumatic just seeing people.

You but don't understand what they're saying, but the aggression in their face.

I think my first experience was in kindergarten when I got in my first fight in kindergarten.

You didn't understand really why people say the certain things they say, or the sounds they make at you or the expressions of, you know, a person with their eyes pulled back.

I used to walk to the middle schools to help the middle school kids fight.

After a while when I got suspended from school, I didn't tell my parents.

And so, I acted like I went to school.

And then we would wander the neighborhoods selling drugs or selling stolen goods.

And things like that to survive became a pattern, and then that's where gang violence kind of got involved.

Whitney: Tuan, now 18, was facing life in prison for first-degree murder.

Tuan: You know, my life into adulthood was walking into a maximum security prison with a life sentence.

I was too wrapped up to to be nervous.

When I woke up that morning though I just was really sick to my stomach.

Was not just like physically but just like looking at myself.

And reflected on the faces that I see in photographs that was mailed to me.

That I have no relationship with my parents who sacrificed so much to get me here to the United States.

You know, to think back about all the journey they had sacrificed and I'm here.

I have friends that grew up with me that are in prison forever because of me.

You said that it's hard to go back mentally into prison.

Take us through that story.

Is it still hard to go back in this moment where you know your life is turning around?

In this moment as I'm talking to you, it's hard.

It's still a mental health evaluation for me.

I spoke to, in that night after recovering, I just talked to whoever it may be, and my exact words was that I want to be released from this stage of incarceration.

And not in the physical sense, but my mental.

My every decision-making I've ever made had brought me here.

Whitney: That moment led Tuan to a program, the Inner Change Freedom Initiative.

And after applying for years and being denied time and time again, a miracle happened.

He told me to sit down.

You know, just just have a seat.

And he's like, "Why do you keep wanting to get into my program?"

I just said, "You know, I just want to do better, man."

Whitney: And better he did.

My nieces that I never met before, I created portraits for them and sent it home and they loved it.

They still have it today.

I saw the impact that it made, the reconciliation that I could make through art, so I taught guys how to paint.

I believe that the first victims in our crimes is our family.

Before we even committed the crime that's being charged with, the acts that we commit against our family by lying, disowning them, leaving, or not, you know, loving them the way they deserve too, they are our first victims essentially and they feel the pain when we are incarcerated.

They feel the embarrassment when they have to sit in court with us.

That's what kind of motivated me to do that, and I started this 10-week art program.

Well, and the change kept happening.

You actually started going to school.

I just had this motivation of if I was to ever have a chance to get out, how do I level the playing field of being a convicted murderer and being successful in society, right?

And I the only thing they can't take from me is my education.

Whitney: His persistence paid off.

He got into a remote learning program, and his art that was created behind bars actually helped fund his education.

In 2011, Tuan was up for parole.

When I came up for the parole board one of the hardest questions they ask you, that you dread as a convicted felon, is that, "Why did you do it?"

You know.

Like, why did you do it?

I just say to them that at the age of 18 I made a conscious decision without knowing the consequences and I paid half my life for those actions, and I'm sorry.

You know, I'm sorry for what I've done.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

Because that's the next question they ask you.

"If you had a chance to get out, what are you going to do?"

I told him, "I don't have a clue what I'm going to do.

"I grew up in prison.

"How on earth am I going to know "what's going on on the other side of these walls?

"And that's just the honest truth.

But let me tell you what I have been doing."

Whitney: Tuan was released and he went on to land a job at Leo Burnett.

He now mentors people in similar situations.

He is an entrepreneur, husband, dad, and a guy that says his American dream might look different but he's living it.

I don't know of any other experience outside the American dream.

I think if I just be who I am, and I've been in the worst of situations.

You can't make my situation anymore worse.

Do not be afraid.

"Be courageous, for I am with you."

So, I feel that every day in the spaces that I feel like I do not belong, or I do not feel welcome sometimes, but I think about it that, "For I am with you."

So I find that comfort to speak at spaces and places where I know I shouldn't be.

[theme music] Hope in suffering.

Now that's a viewpoint you don't always hear.

Let's take a look.

Whatever suffering there is in your story, whatever is going on that's not right, one day this will be-- your story will be a survival guide for someone else in their journey.

Whitney: Overcoming despair and making room for hope, that is Katherine Wolfe's narrative.

When Katherine was just 26, she was pursuing a modeling career and taking care of her newborn child with her husband who was in his final year of law school.

However, the trajectory of Katherine's life was forever changed when she collapsed on the floor and was rushed to the ER.

I had a massive brain stem stroke and very nearly died.

It was a congenital condition that I never knew I had called an arterial venous malformation or AVM.

And it essentially ruptured in my brain stem and caused a massive brain stem stroke.

Subsequent to the 16 hours of brain surgery, I was left severely disabled.

I am in wheelchair.

I can no longer use one hand.

My face is paralyzed on one side.

I'm deaf in one ear.

I'm nearly blind in one eye.

After the stroke and then the subsequent over two years of recovery, relearning to do basic function including eat food and stand up, to reenter the world, but the world was no longer made for me.

Whitney: Since her stroke, she is undergone 11 surgeries and is expected to go through more.

Katherine's life was permanently changed.

Katherine: Being fully disabled is extremely isolating.

I sort of came to after about the first five years post stroke that one, if I wasn't supposed to be here, I wouldn't be here.

So clearly, I am here on purpose for a purpose and that has given me just tremendous courage and just a tremendous hope of purpose in my pain.

And even though my body is disabled, I still have so much to offer the world.

Whitney: Katherine's condition and story has given her a platform she never imagined.

She started a nonprofit, is a speaker, and even wrote two books.

Katherine: Life defines us and suffering redefines us and ultimately, we have the opportunity to let hope refine us and make us into the best versions of ourselves because of what we've been through not in spite of it.

Hope changes the narrative in all of our stories.

[theme music] Today we've been talking about the unspoken narrative and our next guest is a story that you must hear.

It's a reminder that some things can be happening right in our own backyard.

She was a victim of sex trafficking, was drugged, all while being a police officer's daughter.

Welcome to the show.

Thank you.

You once were a victim of sex trafficking.

Can you take us back to that?

Yeah, it was back in the 90s.

I was 15 years old.

I grew up in a family with two Chicago police officers for parents.

My father was a sergeant.

We had a nice home in a safe area of Chicago and I went to a good school.

And he died when I was 10.

And shortly after that my mom got hurt on the job.

And so she was in and out of surgery and I just kind of lost my way.

And I made the mistake of getting in the car with a person who I thought just wanted to go out and have some fun and go to the restaurant, and it turned out to be a trafficker.

How old were you at that point?

I was 15.

You know, the neighborhood was a safe neighborhood and so you were always kind of jumping in and out of cars with your friends and stuff and this guy didn't seem-- He was young, you know, a few years older than me, so I wasn't alarmed.

What happened after the dinner?

Well, during the dinner he was putting vodka in my my Sprite and we went back to his apartment.

And there were a bunch of women there, clothes thrown all over the floor.

But yeah, it turned out everyone there was addicted to drugs and that was the prostitution hub.

A prostitution hub.

And was it a sex trafficking hub too.

It was where the women lived who were being trafficked and at this point they were so-- they were struggling with addiction so much, which is how he controlled them.

That they were at a point where they weren't even really trying very hard to escape.

It was just like a monotonous one day to the next.

Got fed drugs in dog dishes.

One on one side, one on the other.

And yeah, you would go out every night and get the money that we needed to get.

We would go to hotels sometimes or we would walk down the street other times.

And the money was for sex.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And he would then take the money.

Yeah.

He set up a lot of the calls and we would never even see the money usually.

They would give it right to him.

So, you fell into this very quickly.

Did your parents, or your mom at that point, did she think you were in danger.

Well, I had run away quite a few times before that just getting in a lot of trouble.

When she had her surgery, I kind of just branched off on my own and did what I wanted to do.

And so then she got herself back together and you know, tried to become the mom that she should have been and I just never kind of fell back under her authority.

I just kept doing what I wanted.

So I'm sure she filed a missing person's report.

I remember us having to call the police when I got home, but for the most part it was just I had just taken off again.

How long were you in this sex trafficking circle?

Thirty days.

Whitney: Thirty days.

How long did that feel?

It felt like forever.

Honestly, a lot of it is a blur because everyone was using drugs and they told me that was the way that you kind of make this not so jarring.

When you say a lot of people said, "So it's not so jarring take the drugs," had you been doing drugs prior to that?

I had never done that hard stuff before, no.

Wow, and so how did you get out?

He got arrested for something completely unrelated.

I don't know what it was because I never knew his real name.

But he got arrested and one day he just didn't come back and so the supply ran out and so that's when everyone's like, okay, he should have been back by now.

Where is he?

And they would have drivers who lived in the area.

I don't know where but they kept an eye on the house and they never came back either and so little by little we were like-- I took off right away as soon as they said that he wasn't coming back.

Did you ever fear for your life when you left?

Were you worried?

I was always afraid that he would go after my sister because during that dinner conversation he was really interested in my life.

And so I I just talked away and told him everything about where I lived, where my sister went to school, what my parents did for a living, like just everything.

For me, sometimes I'm living in my own life and I get to an airport and I see a sign that's like, "Sex trafficking's happening in the United States," and you forget it's happening here.

And for you, a police family, what would you say to people watching?

I mean, it's going on right now.

It can happen to anyone.

And the thing is, it's really hard to notice because like I said, you get to a point where it just becomes your norm and so it's not a crisis anymore.

It's just, this is my life now and I have to deal with it and that's what happens to women.

I was really, really lucky to have gotten out when I did.

Most women, it takes a lot longer.

Or sometimes the guy will make it look like he's struggling and he really needs your help to help carry the weight until he gets back on his feet.

And so, some guys will actually send their significant other into prostitution and the woman doesn't really realize she's being trafficked until someone sits down and says "Here's what's happening.

What do you think it is?"

Oh, and Salt and Light, that's what they're doing.

They actually have a program where they take 40 women every year and really help them get back on their feet.

Let's talk about getting back into life again after that.

Did it almost stick with you like PTSD.

I struggled with substances.

Not right away because I didn't know where to get them on my own right away.

But over the years, you know, I waitressed and I did a lot of stuff that normal people do but I was never able to kind of get into that flow.

Salt and Light was the deal breaker for me.

Like, that was what did it.

I had been trying to get my life together for a lot of years and Isabella came to the shelter I was living in.

I was homeless for eight years before I found out I was expecting my now five year old son, and she came to this place where I was holding this little four-month old infant with a prosthetic leg and I had absolutely no hope for the future but I knew I had to figure something out.

And Isabel said, "Listen, I know things seem bleak right now, "but if you promise to put in the work "and to really, really apply yourself," she's like, "I think I can help you get yourself together."

And that's what she did.

And today I have an Associates in business economics.

I graduate with my bachelor's in business management in December.

I went from homeless with a four-month old to being a homeowner.

And yeah, I work for Salt and Light now.

I was in the program five years ago, and now here I am as the operations manager, and Isabella's still right there.

And it's so important to spread the message of not only is this happening, but we can rewrite the narrative for when it does happen.

We can and there are places out there to help.

Yes, and now you're spreading that message, too.

Thank you so much for coming on.

You're welcome.

Thanks for having me.

[theme music] Whitney: Dancing her way around the world, Mickela Mallozzi, host of the show, "Bare Feet," shares how dance is used as a love language in different cultures and how it can form unspoken connections bringing people together.

Mickela: Dance is a universal language.

Music is a universal language.

And that was the impetus for my show, for my project of connecting with the world through dance and music.

I would go to a country.

I would travel for fun.

And every time I went to a place, I would start dancing with people.

Not randomly on the street, but in festivals or holidays in a very organic way.

And it was this immediate connection without having to speak the local language because I couldn't speak every language when I was going traveling internationally.

The most beautiful part was, all of a sudden I'm invited to someone's home for meal or we're invited to the brother's wedding and that's really how it's this universal language of connecting with people, of creating that joy and sharing that joy with one another.

Whitney: Dancing not only is a way to create great memories with people around you, but it can also play a role in improving your state of mind.

Mickela: Naturally as humans, we need to have that movement.

Your blood is pumping.

Your endorphins are kicking in.

There are chemical reactions happening when you're dancing.

There's also this idea of learning new things.

When you're creating new synapses in your brain, you're creating new brain matter.

It's better for your body and it actually, through a series of studies, found that it wards off early signs of Alzheimer's.

That movement will help make you feel better, make you feel more connected.

I think that's the basis of mental health, is not feeling so disconnected from people.

So dance is really good for you.

Dance is wonderful for you.

Whitney: Finding love through dance, Mickela encourages others to find what brings them joy and use that to build bonds.

Mickela: Find your passion, your love language, whether that's dance music.

Maybe you love bird watching.

Maybe you love photography.

Maybe you love cooking.

Find that passion that really excites you and then use that as your language to connect with other people.

One of the experiences I felt that touches me so deeply was in Morocco.

And there were moments where I was making music with Deganawida this incredible music, and I was overcome.

It's sort of the sufism, sort of this mystical, beautiful sect of Islam.

And I felt something come over me and I was just overcome with emotion and just hysterically crying and feeling connected with the men that were allowing me the into their Dar, which is their house, Deganawida.

And we we keep that in the show.

I want to show that travel and dance, especially travel, is transformative.

It impacts you in a beautiful way.

And it was this music and this beautiful dance and I was just overcome by emotion.

And really, I honestly don't know.

I felt like I left my body and had this sort of out of body experience, but it was it was beautiful.

That's just one of many, many, experiences.

It's an amazing way to connect with the world.

[theme music] On today's program, we met guest after guest that opened up about stories that aren't always talked about.

We dove deep and listened to the twist in each plot line.

What could your unspoken narrative be forming?

Remember your story matters.

[theme music] Announcer: The Whitney Reynolds Show is funded by Yates Protect, a minority owned business focused on protecting communities and providing solutions to safety problems for public and private institutions, including air purification, metal detectors, thermal detection, and more; Together at Peace: a community lifting you from coping to hoping; O'Connor Law Firm: when it comes to your injuries, we take it personally.

Xtreme Xperience: making the world's supercars accessible, so you can experience being in the driver's seat on the race tracks and back roads of our country; Theraderm Clinical Skin Care: committed to developing skin care products designed to restore skin health and promote natural beauty.

And by 10 West Real Estate Group, UFC Gym Lakeview, Ella's Bubbles, Hi-Five Sport Chicago, Fresh Dental, Kevin Kelly Real Estate Agent, Concierge Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery, Deluxe Cleaning Services, Mid-West Moving & Storage, TuTu School Chicago, Goldfish Swim School Roscoe Village, and by these funders: Announcer: For more information on today's program visit www.whitneyreynolds.com or get social with us.

Facebook: @WhitneyReynoldsShow Twitter: @whitneyreynolds or on TikTok and Instagram: @whitneyó_reynolds.

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