I Had to Learn How to Cry

Ted Gloster left Detroit's District 2 in 2018. The pandemic brought him back, and what he found was all the things he had left: the financial illiteracy, the survival mode, the bad habits, his own trauma waiting for him. Instead of leaving again, he got to work. Ted runs the Forigin Initiative, an after school program and neighborhood green space built on three pillars: economic literacy, civic engagement, and emotional intelligence. He starts with the emotional intelligence on purpose, because he learned the hard way that you can know exactly what the right financial decision is and still make the wrong one when your mind isn't right. This conversation goes somewhere I did not expect. Ted talks openly about the summer everything came apart, going to therapy, journaling, praying, and learning how to cry. He says ego is nothing but a mask that protects insecurity, and he means it for himself first. If you are a man who has been bottling things up, he is talking to you directly. We also get into why Detroit can be a getting money city and still be full of people in survival mode, why he had to stop operating from scarcity before he could build anything real, and the advice he gives anybody who wants to start something in their own neighborhood. Ask questions. Build relationships. Take action. Be okay with bumping your head. IN THIS EPISODE 0:00 Intro 1:33 Welcome 2:00 Leaving District 2, and what the pandemic sent him back to 3:52 Our history didn't start in slavery 4:38 From an idea in 2017 to filing in 2023 5:16 Puritan and Linwood, and what outside meant to us 7:39 Why kids need to touch grass 8:15 Why he didn't keep it to just friends and family 10:07 I was acting from a place of scarcity 13:19 The healing: therapy, journaling, prayer, meditation 14:15 I sacrificed comfort for a life of purpose 19:04 I had to learn how to cry 20:20 Working with youth, and the three pillars 22:22 Getting money city and still in survival mode 22:29 How to get involved with Forigin 24:09 The green space and experiential learning 25:01 The hardest part right now is funding 27:44 Advice if you want to build in your own neighborhood 28:30 Don't let bougie people make you feel unprepared 32:22 Ego versus confidence 32:27 His other businesses 34:03 What the ideal volunteer looks like CONNECT WITH TED AND FORIGIN Website and applications: forigin.org Green space, the Forigin Neighborhood Coalition: 15720 Alden Street, Detroit, MI 48238 Instagram and LinkedIn: the Forigin Initiative Volunteer form is on the website Clothing brand: SEVIR SPONSOR 31 Days of Black Business was proudly sponsored by Off the Grid. If you have ever thought about leaving social media but worried about losing your people, that is the whole show. Listen at offthegrid.fun ABOUT THE SERIES This episode is part of 31 Days of Black Business, a noseyAF series released daily throughout August 2026 featuring 31 Black business owners. Find the full series at noseyaf.com ABOUT NOSEYAF noseyAF is a podcast about art, activism and social change, hosted by Chicago artist and filmmaker Stephanie Graham. Newsletter: the noseyAF Dispatch Instagram: @stephaniegraham Email: stephanie@missgraham.com Produced, hosted and edited by Stephanie Graham Theme music: Queen Lex and Freddie Bam Fam Cover art: Emma McGoldrick #Detroit #Nonprofit #YouthDevelopment #BlackMen #MentalHealth 🌐 More of my work: www.missgraham.com 📬 Get on the list—studio updates, no fluff: www.missgraham.com/newsletter 📸 Daily visuals + behind-the-scenes: instagram.com/stephaniegraham 🎧 noseyAF—conversations with people doing things differently: www.noseyAF.com