Content Warning: This episode includes stories of childhood trauma, war, and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or visit 988lifeline.org. For international listeners, go to findahelpline.com.

One of the reasons this platform exists is to tell the unaddressed stories—those lived experiences that don’t make the press release or polished keynote, but shape who we become as leaders. This season, I’m bringing you a special series: Pass the Mic: Black Man Power Moves. It won’t run back-to-back. It will live inside the rhythm of this platform, because that’s how these conversations show up in real life and when they’re ready.

In this opening conversation, we hear from Michael W. Allison—combat veteran, Purple Heart recipient, TEDx speaker, and CEO of University Academy. But what makes this episode unforgettable is not his résumé. It’s the honesty. The unguarded truth. And the moments most people never say out loud.

Michael shares his story from Jamaica to Miami, from warzones to corporate boardrooms, and the breaking points that nearly ended his life. He opens up about childhood trauma, combat loss, and the long silence that followed—until he finally broke the bottle that held it all. More than a survival story, this is an invitation into the truth about wholeness, recovery, redemption, and belief.

In this episode, Michael shares:

• The untold cost of compartmentalized leadership—and what it took to break that cycle

• The moments of clarity that emerged after personal collapse

• How he rebuilt his life, his family, and his purpose

• His Break the Bottle methodology and why emotional honesty is a leadership tool

This episode is for the leaders who know the cost of their oil, the ones who've been through the fire carrying weight privately, leading while wounded and still showing up. It's for those who need a reminder - or maybe even permission now to break the bottle.

Connect with Michael W. Allison: Website: michaelwallison.com IG: @IAmMichaelWAllison Preorder the book Breaking the Bottle: Available July 2025

Work With Felicia Ford & Co.®: https://media.feliciafordandco.com/work-with-us This episode is part of our new series, Pass the Mic: Black Man Power Moves—where we create space for the real, layered stories of Black men navigating life, leadership, and legacy beyond what the world expects or assumes.