Sept. 20, 2023

Comedy – Growth and Kidney Disease With AJ Coulter

Comedy – Growth and Kidney Disease With AJ Coulter

Episode Summary – “I HAVE 3 KIDNEYS AND THAT’S NO JOKE!” in Episode 45 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (links in the comments) – “Comedy – Growth and Kidney Disease”, I am joined by Aj Coulter, a young onset stage IV kidney disease patient, transplant recipient, survivor and comedian. He shares his courageous battle at age 27 and the feelings of isolation after being diagnosed with kidney disease, endless hours of dialysis and then a kidney transplant to help save his life. We discovered we are both TWINS too. Upon his recovery, Cj decided to share his journey and gratitude through comedy! So come listen, download, share and review this inspiring and very funny show!

Mentioned Resources

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aj_coulter2/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wix

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/jazrome-coulter

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ajcoulter2

Website: https://www.diseasedjokes.org/


About the guest –

Jazrome (Aj) Coulter has showcased his talents across the United States at conferences, clubs and events. He is a comedian who appeals to all ages and audiences by incorporating his personal experiences with clever wordplay and engaging storytelling. He also shares his journey of living with kidney disease, which adds depth and emotional resonance to his performances. His shows are sure to evoke a range of emotions, leaving you unsure whether to laugh or cry at any given moment.


About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

Website

Http://www.shiningbrightly.com

Social Media

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36

LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown

Instagram - @howard.brown.36


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#comedy #growth #mindset #cancer

#kidneydisease #dialysis #humor #Life #healthcare #motivation #education

#inspiration #podcast #download #share #shiningbrightly

Transcript
Howard Brown:

yeah hello. It's Howard brown. It's the shining

Howard Brown:

brightly show. Your Maestro at the mic is back. And we are

Howard Brown:

going to laugh along the way today. I've got an incredible

Howard Brown:

guest, you know I normally do, but this one is really cool. So

Howard Brown:

jazz Rome. AJ Coulter is here. He's in the house. AJ, how are

Howard Brown:

you today?

AJ Coulter:

I am doing amazing. Is a great day. I like to use

AJ Coulter:

the mic. My struggle with the microphone, right?

Howard Brown:

That's right. You don't you? Well, I am at least

Howard Brown:

on my show, but I just love it. So listen, you're on the road

Howard Brown:

you're performing. I'm excited to follow you. Big shout out

Howard Brown:

Denise Meredith Miss Denise, thank you. You introduced us

Howard Brown:

quality introduction. And I'm just we caught up what you are

Howard Brown:

driving, putting some miles on, on the car and on yourself. So

Howard Brown:

let me give you a quick intro duction here. So jazz Rome, Ajay

Howard Brown:

Coulter, he showcased his talents and more than 26

Howard Brown:

conferences and events to date and more to come. He's a

Howard Brown:

comedian that appeals to all ages and audience by

Howard Brown:

incorporating his personal experience with clever wordplay,

Howard Brown:

engaging storytelling. He shares his journey about living with

Howard Brown:

kidney disease, we're going to dig into that he adds to this

Howard Brown:

depth and emotional resonance with to his performances on I

Howard Brown:

mean, this is truly you're using your life experience and you're

Howard Brown:

applying comedy to it. It's incredible. His shows invoke a

Howard Brown:

range of emotions. They leave you whether you're gonna laugh

Howard Brown:

or cry at any given moment. I love it. It's emotional show.

Howard Brown:

It's great. It's just amazing. So now, I told just the basics

Howard Brown:

about you share something Ajay, maybe we don't know about you,

Howard Brown:

you know, tell us something different.

AJ Coulter:

Man, you know, it's actually crazy, because I

AJ Coulter:

actually just got a kidney, which we do know about that

AJ Coulter:

about a year ago. But before I got a kidney, I was just like,

AJ Coulter:

in this weird phase, where I was actually looking girls on

AJ Coulter:

Tinder. Because, you know, we're always trying to find that

AJ Coulter:

perfect match. Right. And I'm swiping, and the conversations

AJ Coulter:

just ended up turning into like, Hey, girl, like, what's your

AJ Coulter:

blood type? Yeah. And you know, as I'm like, getting into my 30s

AJ Coulter:

You know, your mind changes your body's you're into different

AJ Coulter:

things. And I'm just, you know, like, what really just turns me

AJ Coulter:

on organ donors. Yeah, so that's like the weird basis. So yeah,

AJ Coulter:

if your lady out there, and your registered marker donor you

AJ Coulter:

like, get at me, I'm still thinking,

Howard Brown:

Oh, my God, you turn you turn that into a bit,

Howard Brown:

man, this is great. Yeah. So you're swiping right. And if

Howard Brown:

they're an organ donor, they, they, you might even get a

Howard Brown:

message from you. I love it. So this is great. That's great. I

Howard Brown:

thank you for doing that. Well, listen, let's dig into it a

Howard Brown:

little bit, give me some of your background, because you're a man

Howard Brown:

with three kidneys, one of them that works and is keeping you

Howard Brown:

going. And the other two did not. So give me a quick

Howard Brown:

background on that, that leads us up to the comedy.

AJ Coulter:

Um, the background on that is, when I was about 27,

AJ Coulter:

I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. I will, I was

AJ Coulter:

stage four. And then about a year later, I transitioned into

AJ Coulter:

dialysis. And I spent five and a half years actually on dialysis.

AJ Coulter:

And it was probably, you know, just so much going on in that

AJ Coulter:

life. Like, in that period of time, struggling trying to

AJ Coulter:

balance this disease because people don't really understand

AJ Coulter:

like, the amount of time it really takes from you and I just

AJ Coulter:

value so much the time that I have now having this kitten

AJ Coulter:

because I have so much freedom, when before I was sitting in a

AJ Coulter:

chair for three days a week, for four and a half hours a day. And

AJ Coulter:

not to mention, I had to wash my fluids, which I did not do a

AJ Coulter:

lot. And I'm thankful to even be alive. Because I was always, you

AJ Coulter:

know, four or five kilos over and just was swelled up looking

AJ Coulter:

like the Michelin man or released the black version. But

AJ Coulter:

you know, it's, it's just crazy that, you know, when I started

AJ Coulter:

my comedy career, and I'm telling people about this that,

AJ Coulter:

you know, so many people just don't understand what kidney

AJ Coulter:

disease is. It's just, you know, so confusing, so new, but it's

AJ Coulter:

affecting so many people you know, they say one in seven, one

AJ Coulter:

and nine Americans might have kidney disease and don't know

AJ Coulter:

about it. And even, you know, the first foundation we just

AJ Coulter:

crazy enough that Denise actually connected me with was

AJ Coulter:

one and nine. And right there, it just gave me the drive and

AJ Coulter:

passion to like, hey, you know, I have this unique skill to make

AJ Coulter:

people laugh. Why not use that to, you know, put more emphasis

AJ Coulter:

on kidney disease.

Howard Brown:

Now I resonate with this so much, AJ, because

Howard Brown:

as a two times stage four cancer survivor, we're sitting in that

Howard Brown:

chair, a long time getting chemotherapy, getting fluids,

Howard Brown:

getting other types of treatments, and things like

Howard Brown:

that. And we're going to get PET scans and CAT scans, and we're

Howard Brown:

dealing with side effects. And you're a relatively young man. I

Howard Brown:

mean, you're, you're 27 years old, you're active. I know if

Howard Brown:

you're Flett IK or not. But I mean, that's, that takes about,

Howard Brown:

you know, your whole life, you have to think about things. I

Howard Brown:

mean, I stopped me in my tracks, right? As far as two different

Howard Brown:

cancer diagnosis. But when you say, I mean, when you just said,

Howard Brown:

you're sitting in the chair for three, four hours, three days a

Howard Brown:

week to get dialysis. I mean, that's one a discipline and to

Howard Brown:

the side effects where you blow up like the Michelin Man, it

Howard Brown:

people don't realise it until it happens to you, or your care

Howard Brown:

partners, or the people that understand it, but everyone has

Howard Brown:

been affected by someone with something. All right. So kidney

Howard Brown:

disease, cancer, it could be something. And so it is hard as

Howard Brown:

a young person, right? That is having to actually deal with

Howard Brown:

this type of a health issue and a stage four diagnosis with

Howard Brown:

kidney failure. And so you either you got to deal with the

Howard Brown:

deck of cards that you're dealt with. And I love the fact that

Howard Brown:

you've come out with to be able to talk about it. And so people

Howard Brown:

can laugh or cry, but they're getting some knowledge. And

Howard Brown:

they're getting understanding about that right now. Whether

Howard Brown:

you're a comedian before this,

AJ Coulter:

or no, no, it was actually crazy. Because you

AJ Coulter:

mentioned that you didn't know if I was athletic, a lot not

AJ Coulter:

actually played football in college. Football was always a

AJ Coulter:

dream. Every kid has that dream of going CNF. And it was I was

AJ Coulter:

very passionate. You know, everybody I was talking about

AJ Coulter:

the freshman 15 I gained the freshman agent. I was about to

AJ Coulter:

40 with a 595 pound bench like I was massive. And it's crazy. Now

AJ Coulter:

over the past six years, I mean, five and a half years, six,

AJ Coulter:

whatever rounded up, math. You know, it just kind of like

AJ Coulter:

slowly destroyed my body to you know, I'm kind of at this new

AJ Coulter:

blank canvas. When I came out of my surgery, I was 155. And

AJ Coulter:

today, I'm about 165. And I was wanting to keep Bob in college.

AJ Coulter:

So I kind of just, you know, reversed in years and lost all

AJ Coulter:

his weight. And now I'm like 18 Again, so it looks so good.

Howard Brown:

For those for those who are listening, I said

Howard Brown:

Aj is looking damn good. He's sharp. So I had the very

Howard Brown:

opposite. I lost all this weight. I ended up losing like

Howard Brown:

65 pounds, I usually go about 190 I played division three

Howard Brown:

hoops. And I actually played hoops twice this past weekend, I

Howard Brown:

finally got the clearance after my chemo port got removed. And

Howard Brown:

I'm about 165 510 165 But I couldn't bench I couldn't

Howard Brown:

adventure you were bench and you were pushing up some serious,

Howard Brown:

serious weight there.

AJ Coulter:

But we're like the same size right now. We are I

AJ Coulter:

think I'm like about 510 to do that's so tight. It is like the

AJ Coulter:

casual like man five and they're the same height. exactly,

AJ Coulter:

perfectly balanced.

Howard Brown:

But the fact is, is my clothes all big on me, all

Howard Brown:

my clothes, their clothes, wearing those clothes, you know,

Howard Brown:

from when you were a big guy, you were not wearing those

Howard Brown:

clothes anymore. So I want to ask you so so again, now, you

Howard Brown:

actually take us through just and then we'll get into much

Howard Brown:

more of the the some of the details here. But you had a

Howard Brown:

donor right you you had a transplant donor that donated

Howard Brown:

this working kidney, correct? Take us

AJ Coulter:

Yes, it was actually from a deceased donor, there's

AJ Coulter:

always two options you want to get it you can get a deceased

AJ Coulter:

donor, which is from somebody that usually had died from like

AJ Coulter:

a fatal tragedy, or you can get one from a living donor, which

AJ Coulter:

is usually very much recommended and given live in donations

AJ Coulter:

because the kidneys are healthier. They're more likely

AJ Coulter:

to match with recipient and they just last so much longer.

AJ Coulter:

Actually had got a deceased kidney from a younger kid. He's

AJ Coulter:

in his 20s they don't disclose a lot of that information. But

AJ Coulter:

that's about all I know right now, but regardless, you know, I

AJ Coulter:

you know, this kidney is so much valuable. Just so much worse to

AJ Coulter:

me, you know, and it's been a true blessing.

Howard Brown:

I absolutely you're alive. You're a miracle

Howard Brown:

man. I'm the same I might my sister's bow bone marrow, okay,

Howard Brown:

which could have killed me if my body rejected it saved my life.

Howard Brown:

So we are both very blessed, very grateful and very lucky.

Howard Brown:

Because you know that that that's medical technology. It's

Howard Brown:

a medical miracle. So I see it. I feel your inspiration there.

Howard Brown:

So

Howard Brown:

as a young man, what was the hardest moments in your life and

Howard Brown:

dealing with this disease now?

AJ Coulter:

I'm just, it's really in the past. And I think

AJ Coulter:

like, it will take years and years of just really like self

AJ Coulter:

growth, self healing, meditation, changing mindset,

AJ Coulter:

but probably one of the hardest times was, you know, I was on

AJ Coulter:

dialysis. And I was also sick dealing with this. At the time,

AJ Coulter:

I mean, there was support, but I mean, and you should know, like,

AJ Coulter:

who can really support you when you're going through something

AJ Coulter:

so tragic. I mean, there's people around, but at the end of

AJ Coulter:

the day, you're always going to feel so lonely and have that,

AJ Coulter:

you know, that gap in that separation from other people,

AJ Coulter:

because sometimes they just truly don't understand what

AJ Coulter:

you're going through both physically and mentally. Right.

AJ Coulter:

And so at that time, I actually lost my twin brother. Back in

AJ Coulter:

2018, he was murdered. And it was probably like one of the

AJ Coulter:

hardest times in my life because I'm on dialysis. I'm sick. And

AJ Coulter:

then I find out that my brother is killed. And it was just such

AJ Coulter:

a huge loss. Because they took my spare kidney

Howard Brown:

to it, you know what I just said, Yes, that's

Howard Brown:

right. That was that was your if you were alive, you want to give

Howard Brown:

you a kidney? Oh, my God.

AJ Coulter:

Yeah, it's like, wow, both like I joke about it,

AJ Coulter:

you know, but like, in a sense, is like realism. I'm like, dude,

AJ Coulter:

like, at least put it on ice. And so this is like, how I deal

AJ Coulter:

with it, you know? Yeah, it's dark. But that's where humour

AJ Coulter:

comes from is from like tragedy and pain and some of the best

AJ Coulter:

comedy, Is that realistic pain that comes with it. And so,

AJ Coulter:

humour definitely got me through that time. But just like

AJ Coulter:

understanding the end, you know, a lot of people probably won't

AJ Coulter:

agree with me here. But there is a lot of light and death.

AJ Coulter:

There's a lot of growth. From there. There's a lot of

AJ Coulter:

positivity to intuit, if you look at it in the right

AJ Coulter:

perspective, because even though I would much rather have my

AJ Coulter:

brother around, it gave me so much enlightenment and so much

AJ Coulter:

growth, and I just hope we can live up to the world with that

AJ Coulter:

part of my story, too.

Howard Brown:

That's great. It drives me push me forward. I

Howard Brown:

will tell you that so what we say in the Jewish religion, is

Howard Brown:

that all you have at the end of the day, you don't even have 144

Howard Brown:

characters on your tombstone. It's it's good brother good

Howard Brown:

husband, wife, father, son and your dates, right. But memory so

Howard Brown:

brother's name?

Howard Brown:

what's your

AJ Coulter:

Jasmine Coulter,

Howard Brown:

Jasmine Coulter. So Jasmine Coulter it's

Howard Brown:

basically what we say in the Jewish religion is may his

Howard Brown:

memory his name and memory the only for a blessing for all of

Howard Brown:

those who knew and loved him. And this is beautiful your

Howard Brown:

memorialising him by bringing him up on my podcast and

Howard Brown:

remembering him with humour with a little darkness but it doesn't

Howard Brown:

matter. It's also that you are respecting that because he was a

Howard Brown:

person that in your life, and you know that I'm a twin. I have

Howard Brown:

a twin sister five minutes older and I would be dead without her

Howard Brown:

because she donated her bone marrow to me. And so she gave me

Howard Brown:

life. And I showed you are in the greenroom. You know, my, my

Howard Brown:

bone marrow bag. So we got a lot of criss crossing paths like

Howard Brown:

that. Isn't it crazy? Yeah, exactly. So

AJ Coulter:

what you know, like in a way that almost say this is

AJ Coulter:

not like in the way that I'm referring it, but in a way like

AJ Coulter:

I need to make up a gap in in my life. But like cannot have your

AJ Coulter:

twin.

Howard Brown:

CJ CJ Brown Jr. is she's she's five foot she's

Howard Brown:

taller, a little bit bitty, but I share my twin with you. She's

Howard Brown:

great. Love her out. It's fine. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, she

Howard Brown:

would give you the kidney if you need it. That's what she does.

Howard Brown:

That's how she rolls. So there she is, but we'll make that

Howard Brown:

intro. She's the best. She's positive. She's not she's Oh,

Howard Brown:

positive blood ties to positive because I'm all positive. She

Howard Brown:

she had twins. She has an older daughter and she has girl boy

Howard Brown:

twins. The girl is five minutes older than the boy and she's

Howard Brown:

five minutes older than me. Yeah. Who was older who was

Howard Brown:

older?

AJ Coulter:

Three minutes,

Howard Brown:

three minutes. Oh my God. Now we talking about

Howard Brown:

twins and stuff like that. So I kind of got you know, you keep

Howard Brown:

pushing forward, and you're educating people and you're

Howard Brown:

doing it through your comedy. And it's really amazing that

Howard Brown:

you're able to do that because you're really an educator.

Howard Brown:

You're actually preaching And then teaching at the same time,

Howard Brown:

and I love the use of comedy there that so you, you learn a

Howard Brown:

lot when you get these diagnosis, what are some of the

Howard Brown:

lessons? What are you grateful for? What are the things that

Howard Brown:

that are motivating you?

AJ Coulter:

Really, it's just the people, the number of people

AJ Coulter:

that approached me, and truly appreciate, like what I'm trying

AJ Coulter:

to do here. I'm always humbled by different people's stories,

AJ Coulter:

people are always writing me. So that draws me a lot to and then

AJ Coulter:

honestly, even just doing these podcasts, because it's easy, and

AJ Coulter:

you know, to have been, you know, a best selling author, and

AJ Coulter:

you know, all these great accolades that come with it,

AJ Coulter:

it's just like, it's easy to get, you know, sidetracked or,

AJ Coulter:

like, why we really do this, and then, like, hear those stories,

AJ Coulter:

and people ask you again, and kind of, like, reflect on that

AJ Coulter:

pain. It is very humbling. And like, for me, it always, like

AJ Coulter:

reminds me of like, oh, this is why I'm doing this, because it's

AJ Coulter:

easy to get distracted with things are going on the world

AJ Coulter:

and you're getting excited about, you know, talking to new

AJ Coulter:

people doing new events, you know, making great connections,

AJ Coulter:

and then it has to come back to like, I'm doing this because

AJ Coulter:

I've had so much pain, that I want other people to avoid that.

Howard Brown:

Absolutely. So how do you, you know, it's an art

Howard Brown:

form, you know, comedy, and it's not easy. I don't think I could

Howard Brown:

do it. And I'm a pretty damn good speaker. But but but comedy

Howard Brown:

is a different different flavour. So who are some you

Howard Brown:

have some role models in the comedy world that you like, or

Howard Brown:

follow that have influence on you.

AJ Coulter:

Like, there's always the greats, I love Dave

AJ Coulter:

Chappelle. Obviously, like, for me, he's the go, other people

AJ Coulter:

will have different opinions. I love love Jim Gaffigan, because

AJ Coulter:

he's just like a true inspiration for clean comics,

AJ Coulter:

especially me doing clean comedy, because it's so it's so

AJ Coulter:

challenging. You know, trying to write something that's edgy. But

AJ Coulter:

like, also keep it clean. So a lot of into into Windows, you

AJ Coulter:

know, but there definitely is a, you know, kind of a gap when you

AJ Coulter:

walk into a club, and people are either expecting like blue

AJ Coulter:

comedy, you know, just everything is not going and

AJ Coulter:

you're coming on or you know, pretty much almost telling kid

AJ Coulter:

jokes, and they're like, you're looking at who this guy is. And

AJ Coulter:

so it's always that art form to make it like, oh, this can be

AJ Coulter:

edgy. And PG 13 and but it's not like a kid cartoon, you will be

AJ Coulter:

entertained. And so that's something that I'm slowly

AJ Coulter:

learning, but also watching the games but like I like a lot of,

AJ Coulter:

you know, personal comedian, mentors. One of my great

AJ Coulter:

friends. He's He's a comedian, his name's Joe Hearns. Always

AJ Coulter:

pushing me forward. Sandra riser Weiser. Amago I'm always messing

AJ Coulter:

up her name. So that you know I love you. She's actually an

AJ Coulter:

inspiration herself. She's about 84 years old and doing comedy

AJ Coulter:

for so long. We're not gonna get on that day. And you know, she's

AJ Coulter:

out there torn and hurt age, you know, very well known comedian

AJ Coulter:

and always coming back to me and giving me words of wisdom. And

AJ Coulter:

even, you know, comedians that I've met, like, Alonzo Bowden,

AJ Coulter:

we did a podcast together and you know, just given me great

AJ Coulter:

wisdoms, personally to keep pushing forward. Because his he

AJ Coulter:

had to give his kidney to his brother. And so just different

AJ Coulter:

iterations, you know?

Howard Brown:

Yeah, no, no, I appreciate you sharing who your

Howard Brown:

mentors are, and how you're developing your own style. And,

Howard Brown:

and actually, I could see that being a challenge because you

Howard Brown:

hear a lot of the racy stuff and you know, the non PG stuff gets

Howard Brown:

all the buildings and the airtime and all that sort of

Howard Brown:

stuff. But that's okay. Listen, you got lots of different

Howard Brown:

audiences that would appreciate that as well and you stick to

Howard Brown:

your values. So I appreciate that. So what would you say to

Howard Brown:

people that are struggling out there? We're coming out of the

Howard Brown:

pandemic. People I always say one of my speeches they look in

Howard Brown:

the mirror they don't like what they see. And also two things is

Howard Brown:

that tell me what you tell people struggling out there and

Howard Brown:

any advice for those people that get diagnosed the one in nine

Howard Brown:

with with kidney disease?

AJ Coulter:

I would just it sounds it sounds insane. But you

AJ Coulter:

know, always just embrace embrace tragedy, embrace the

AJ Coulter:

hard times look at as growth because it's just another

AJ Coulter:

opportunity to expand yourself expand your mind. Always

AJ Coulter:

changing your thought processes. You can never know. I mean, I

AJ Coulter:

never thought I went to school for engine nearing, I was

AJ Coulter:

definitely that kid in college, like, look at his stupid kids.

AJ Coulter:

These aren't majors, anything, you know, money, you know,

AJ Coulter:

definitely was that guy like, you know, pretty much like, you

AJ Coulter:

know, getting on to the drama majors and like, Look all these

AJ Coulter:

people, and then you know, just terribly turn when and it turns

AJ Coulter:

out that I'm an artist and you know, my analytical mind when it

AJ Coulter:

comes to mechanical engineering, like it's just, it kind of like

AJ Coulter:

coincides with that. And I've always been a good problem

AJ Coulter:

solver. And so you never know what you go through, or know

AJ Coulter:

what you are, you're working through and up. But always just

AJ Coulter:

keep a conscious open mind. Because you can find true, true

AJ Coulter:

Light and Darkness and it will just, you know, shine light the

AJ Coulter:

way.

Howard Brown:

Well, you mean, you're looking at me and I got

Howard Brown:

the shining brightly going on, as well. But what we were saying

Howard Brown:

the same thing, because you can learn from darkness. Okay, you

Howard Brown:

can experience it in but you can learn for but you stay there in

Howard Brown:

that darkness too long, bad things can happen. So there's

Howard Brown:

lots of stuff that can happen from addiction to other stuff

Howard Brown:

and abuse and an isolation and it's not good to isolate. And so

Howard Brown:

I love that you stay in darkness, you can learn a little

Howard Brown:

bit from it, don't stay there too long. Use that light. And,

Howard Brown:

and what I tell you, what I tell me you can use it in your bits,

Howard Brown:

when I tell people is to actually take some of your light

Howard Brown:

and shine it on someone else and take the spotlight off yourself.

Howard Brown:

Because everyone is self evaluating. But if you go

Howard Brown:

something, and this is in chapter one of my book,

Howard Brown:

kindness, you can choose to be kind, you can choose to be good

Howard Brown:

and you can choose to heal yourself and others every single

Howard Brown:

day. It's a choice is a matter if you make that choice and you

Howard Brown:

follow that up with action. And my daughter always used to say

Howard Brown:

positivity alone is nothing without positivity with action.

Howard Brown:

And so that's where the light comes in. But if you are hurting

Howard Brown:

right now, okay, and if you get a diagnosis like cancer like

Howard Brown:

kidney disease, go be selfish. Go get that help that you need.

Howard Brown:

there's help out there. Right. Amen brother, right. there's

Howard Brown:

help out there brother. All right, so we're gonna we're

Howard Brown:

gonna go to the part of the show here. That's called the shining

Howard Brown:

brightly spotlight. All right, you can't make fun of my glasses

Howard Brown:

but I can't send you a pair. All right, these are my shades.

Howard Brown:

These are for those that are listening. These metallic white

Howard Brown:

shades these are my shining brightly sunglasses, because the

Howard Brown:

spotlight is on you, AJ Coulter I want you to tell everyone how

Howard Brown:

they can get a hold of you how can they can see your materials

Howard Brown:

how they can book you and what is next for you. And then close

Howard Brown:

out the show and hand it back to me with some inspiration.

AJ Coulter:

You can find me on my webs website disease

AJ Coulter:

jokes.org I'm really more active on my Instagram. It's AJ

AJ Coulter:

underscore Coulter co ULTE Are the number two I'm also on

AJ Coulter:

LinkedIn, and Tik Tok And Facebook. All of it AJ Coulter

AJ Coulter:

pretty simple, pretty easy guy to look up. I can pretty much

AJ Coulter:

hop from anybody. And man if I

Howard Brown:

were you performing next where some of

Howard Brown:

your next gigs Oh, yeah, this fall this fall. Where are you

Howard Brown:

hitting?

AJ Coulter:

Man, I have a lot going on. I've been on tour

AJ Coulter:

right now. I'm actually currently Oklahoma City I've

AJ Coulter:

been going back and forth from Dallas. From next huge event

AJ Coulter:

will be in Phoenix for the Donor Network. I'll be performing

AJ Coulter:

between four or 500 nurses and doctors and then I'll be heading

AJ Coulter:

out to New York, performing at a PGA which they raise money

AJ Coulter:

through barbecue for kidney disease. And then after that,

AJ Coulter:

which is all with next week. Pretty much the 16th through the

AJ Coulter:

18th I will be doing that and I'll be flying out to DC to team

AJ Coulter:

up with Neff cure to do inequality conference to you

AJ Coulter:

know get better perspective on kidney disease in the black

AJ Coulter:

community.

Howard Brown:

But they gotta they gotta find you because this

Howard Brown:

is important. And also you just hit on a really big topic is

Howard Brown:

disparities. Because I will tell you this, that the African

Howard Brown:

American community, the Latino community, the Indian

Howard Brown:

reservation community, the indigenous, they are the least

Howard Brown:

screened, at least for cancers. And so I sit there and shout, go

Howard Brown:

get your mammogram, go get your prostate checked, go get your

Howard Brown:

colon colonoscopy or do a whole at home stool test, go get your

Howard Brown:

cardio, go to the dentist. People don't put that off during

Howard Brown:

the pandemic or they just trust in the system. But you cannot be

Howard Brown:

your optimal self. If I would have been screened at age 40 AJ,

Howard Brown:

I might not have had colon cancer, I would have had stage

Howard Brown:

one early stage which is much more curable. So I will tell

Howard Brown:

people, the stuff that you and I went through if you go get

Howard Brown:

screened earlier, we can save you a lot of pain from

Howard Brown:

treatments and surgery and for me radiations and and and all

Howard Brown:

that stuff and inside effects. So go go go make sure your

Howard Brown:

health and make sure your function isn't optimal you I'll

Howard Brown:

just add to that. But I will put all of that those links inside

Howard Brown:

the show notes as well as on the socials and people be able to

Howard Brown:

find you. I guarantee you that so hit me up with some

Howard Brown:

inspiration as we close it out

AJ Coulter:

he's feeling sick, go to the doctor.

Howard Brown:

I can't believe that I stopped the comedian.

Howard Brown:

That's

AJ Coulter:

No, I feel like, you know, it sounds crazy. But, you

AJ Coulter:

know, we're so stubborn. I was so stubborn, you know, years

AJ Coulter:

ago, and we just had to talk about it. And I really wanted to

AJ Coulter:

get off of that. I had signs of kidney disease, I ignored them.

AJ Coulter:

There's always that fear because of money, that we won't go to

AJ Coulter:

the hospital. But honestly, you know, get checked out focus on

AJ Coulter:

your health, because it is truly the most valuable thing you

AJ Coulter:

have. Don't put that before anything. And that is something

AJ Coulter:

that I wish I would have done before all this Not that I'm

AJ Coulter:

saying like I'm pretty grateful to have kidney disease now for

AJ Coulter:

what I'm doing. But I don't recommend going through what I

AJ Coulter:

went through.

Howard Brown:

And that's no joke, right? Yeah, that's no

Howard Brown:

joke. Exactly. Well, thank you for that. So this is you know,

Howard Brown:

you can get a hold of me the shining brightly show at shining

Howard Brown:

brightly.com. And it has information about my speaking

Howard Brown:

and I love to go speak. I want to go speak alongside you. But I

Howard Brown:

won't do that. I'll do the motivation, inspiration

Howard Brown:

education, you'll do the comedy. How's that when we meet up on

Howard Brown:

stage? That would be a cool thing to do. Oh, yeah, we got to

Howard Brown:

work toward that. You got to work today. Yeah, don't get any

Howard Brown:

of them. Don't go get any of them.

AJ Coulter:

No, say no, we just get those shirts.

Howard Brown:

Yeah, exactly. So on the website, you can check

Howard Brown:

out my speaking you can check out the book. I've got

Howard Brown:

discussion guides on survivorship, mentorship, and

Howard Brown:

interfaith getting to know other people that aren't like you.

Howard Brown:

Those are my passions, as well as my podcast, which is cranking

Howard Brown:

you'll get this episode coming out very shortly, next couple of

Howard Brown:

weeks, and also my advocacy. My advocacy is entrepreneurship,

Howard Brown:

interfaith and in the cancer community. I advocate like crazy

Howard Brown:

because I don't want anyone that to do this alone and not to

Howard Brown:

isolate as well. So come find me at shining brightly.com And if

Howard Brown:

we choose Ajay if we all choose to shine brightly, just a little

Howard Brown:

bit each day for ourselves, for others and for our communities,

Howard Brown:

this world would be a better place and it really is a better

Howard Brown:

place with you and your comedy and your lessons and your

Howard Brown:

education. And I want to tell you it's a privilege to meet you

Howard Brown:

and know you and we got more living and teaching to do

AJ Coulter:

we got a bright future together. We are shining

AJ Coulter:

brightly.

Howard Brown:

We'll get you some shades. Well thank you for being

Howard Brown:

amazing. And we'll we will be following you I appreciate you

Howard Brown:

and much respect and stay healthy please keep keep keep on

Howard Brown:

being healthy Amen brother. And you to me