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Elevating Beyond with Mark MinardAuthor: Mark Minard
Millions of downloads and counting, Elevating Beyond, is all about sharing the unbelievable story behind the story of what it takes to overcome adversity, and achieve insurmountable levels of significant success in all areas of life! Entrepreneur, Founder, and Active CEO of Dreamshine Since 2007, #1 Best Selling Author, World-Wide Speaker, Mark Minard, Hosts a New Style of Podcast with a 2 word mission statement: CHANGE LIVES. Elevating Beyond is about sharing the real life story behind the story of overcoming adversity, to achieve massive levels of significant success! Our guests include a variety of massively significantly successful people such as: Eric Thomas, "etthehiphoppreacher," The World's #1 Motivational Speaker, Michael Levine (one of Hollywood's most prominent P.R. figures, representing a record-setting 58 Academy Award winners, 34 Grammy Award winners, and 41 New York Times best-sellers,) Former NFL Linebacker, and Current Leadership Expert, Dr Jason Carthen, Breaking Bad's Walter White Jr, Rj Mitte, NY Times Best Selling Author, Dan Miller, Billion Dollar Deal Maker & Best Selling Author, Dan Waldschmitdt, X-Con to famous actor, Dave Vescio, Social Media Guru, Best Selling Author, Tim Fargo, The First and Only Blind Person To Summit Mt Everest, Erik Weihenmayer, Owner of 4Bidden Knowledge TV, Billy Carson and so many more people who are changing lives! Elevating Beyond is all about The Story Behind The Story Connect with Host Mark Minard, learn about our upcoming live events, mastermind, Check out our upcoming live events, and share your story behind the story for a chance to be a featured guest on Elevating Beyond http://markminard.net Who is this Mark Minard Guy!? Mark Minard He is the CEO, Owner & Founder of Dreamshine, which proudly serves individuals with developmental dissabilities since 2007. He's a world-wide speaker, Leadership Strategist, #1 best selling author of, The Story of YOU, Transforming Adversity Into Adventure, Taking You Dreams To Language: en Genres: Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Self-Improvement Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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322. Surviving Violence, Homelessness & Becoming a Global Music Star: Chris Mitchell
Wednesday, 1 October, 2025
In this powerful episode, I sit down with global saxophonist and influencer Chris Mitchell, whose life is a living testimony of faith, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose. Chris’s story begins with unimaginable childhood trauma—witnessing extreme family violence, homelessness, and nights spent under bridges or on church floors. Yet, through it all, he never abandoned his faith. Instead, he leaned into his God-given gift of music, discovered at just five years old. From performing saxophone for tips at a small restaurant, to building an email list of over half a million contacts by hand, to selling out shows and eventually touring internationally with Groupon partnerships, Chris’s relentless action and belief in divine guidance transformed his life. Today, he’s not only one of the first 200 paid influencers on TikTok, but also a world-touring musician who’s performed at major events, including for boxing champion Claressa Shields. His authenticity and commitment to connecting deeply with his audience set him apart in an age of surface-level influence. This conversation is about more than music. It’s about overcoming adversity, trusting your gift, and building something extraordinary from nothing. 0:00 Intro 6:33 – The night his father stabbed his mother and sister 9:31 – How his mother miraculously survived 19:55 – Discovering his musical gift at age 4-5 24:18 – Evictions, homelessness & living in a church 31:53 – Staying on the “narrow path” through faith 49:31 – Graduating during the recession & struggling to find work 50:43 – Playing saxophone for tips at Turquoise 55:37 – The hustle: earning from small gigs 1:00:10 – Collecting half a million emails by hand 1:06:41 – Renting a jazz club & selling out in 20 minutes 1:12:29 – Touring America, sleeping in his SUV 1:24:00 – Partnering with Groupon to do an international world tour 1:27:03 – Surviving hardship while chasing the dream 1:28:28 – How faith guided every step 1:36:04 – Authenticity & building real connection with fans 1:40:14 – Final wisdom: resilience, faith & the power of your gift 1:55:56 A mini concert Check out Mark's best selling book on Leadership Strategy: 📗16 Reasons Why Your Business Sucks: How To Be Freakin’ Awesome At Every Level of Your Business, Leadership, Finances, & Build Your Own Dream Team! 🎧On Audible : https://adbl.co/3Gjoujp (https://adbl.co/3Gjoujp) 📕Paperback on amazon : https://bit.ly/AmazonPaperback16Reasons (https://bit.ly/AmazonPaperback16Reaso... Connect With Mark Minard Here: ✅Facebook / markminard ✅Twitter / mark_minard ✅Instagram / mark_minard ✅TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@mark_minard?_... ✅Linked In / mark-minard-5904b633 Pls reach out to me anytime , about our select leadership , in person services here : ✅ https://www.markminard.net (these are on a case by case basis, due to such high demand - which I still can’t even comprehend how much this still shocks me - that so many of you , hire me, when you have built up an already , incredibly intimidating amount of succes, and I’m truly HUMBLED! P.S. I LOVE YOU ❤️❤️ — now get your butt back out there, and do your thing, my fellow LEADERS (my brothers and sisters in arms - United we CHANGE THE WORLD🌎, One Beautiful Mindset at a Time! 🔥🔥 📕Learn about Mark's full life story: Check Out Mark's Best Selling Book, The Story Of YOU, Transforming Adversity Into Adventure, Taking Your Dreams To The Next Level & Beyond http://amzn.to/2xv88ks Connect with Mark Minard , and his Podcast, Elevating Beyond with Mark Minard 🎙️ ✅https://www.markminard.net/podcast












