He Bought His Mentee A Car | Toson Knight Vault

He bought one of his mentees a car. He's been a father figure to over 100 Detroit kids a year for nine years. And every time you ask him how he reaches kids that nobody else can reach, he says the same two things: build a relationship, and listen before you teach. This week I'm dropping a vault episode I recorded in 2023 with Toson Knight, founder of the Caught Up Mentoring Program in Detroit. Three years later, every line still hits. We talk about why kids without fathers gravitate toward men who actually show up, what to do when a mentee chooses the victim mindset, why boundaries matter more than rules, and the conversation that stopped a high schooler from stealing. This is episode 58+ of Conversations That Count. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold Open 1:04 Meet Toson and Caught Up Mentoring 2:03 Bought His Mentee A Car 2:38 Single Parent Home, Suburbs vs The Hood 4:07 How Many Kids Caught Up Serves 7:24 The Kid Who Stopped Stealing 8:50 When A Teacher Calls Home 12:35 Build Relationships Before You Teach 14:41 Listening Before Coaching 16:45 The Kid With The Gun 25:35 Kids Don't Know Boundaries 32:09 Get Involved In Your Community TRY THIS TOMORROW Pick one young person in your circle — a nephew, a neighbor, a coworker's kid — and listen to them this week. Not coach them. Not fix them. Just listen long enough to know what they're carrying. That's the mentorship Toson talks about. That's where it starts. KEY MOMENTS — Why Toson built Caught Up after growing up without a consistent father — The conversation that stopped a high school mentee from stealing — Why boundaries matter more than rules with kids — "They don't care what you tell them until they know how much you care" — What he tells a mentee who chooses to be the victim — The three kids currently locked up that he still shows up for CONNECT WITH CTC Website: https://ctcpodcast.media Email: [email protected] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10... Instagram:   / conversationsthatcountpodcast   TikTok:   / conversationsthatcountpod   YouTube:    / @conversationsthatcountpod   LinkedIn:   / davidshaft   FOLLOW TOSON KNIGHT AND CAUGHT UP MENTORING Website: https://caughtup.org LinkedIn:   / toson-knight-55b9454a   Instagram:   / caught__up   Facebook: Caught Up Donate, volunteer, or bring food to a session. Every dollar and every hour goes directly to Detroit kids. Subscribe for more conversations that actually count. #YouthMentoring #FatherFigure #ConversationsThatCount