I Ascend: Who is Mr. Charles Maddox?

Charles: I would say that I am a lover of God, a father, a son, a passionate health advocate, as well as a television and film producer.

I Ascend: How many years have you have been in this profession?

Charles: I began inspired to do something great by my late uncle, Bob Marley. I had met him twice before he passed, so I knew I had something in my blood. I believed that I had the capacity to do something great. I remember watching a music video back in the day on video music box with DJ Ralph McDaniels. The video was titled “I need love” by LL Cool J. I immediately thought to myself how can I live like that? It was during this time, me and a buddy of mine were making music. I told my friend, I am going to go find LL Cool J. I started my quest and I stalked him down until we met. We actually ended up becoming good friends and making music together. I initially got my start in music and then I went into acting.  I wasn’t looking to become an actor. I had a manager that connected me to one of the biggest agencies in the world. Next thing you know, I find myself acting. It was then I learned the importance of having the right team. If you get the right team it can be a game changer. From acting I went into producing and when I was diagnosed with type two diabetes about thirteen years ago, that is when I got into full blown activism.

I Ascend: What has the process of “Becoming” on this journey been like for you?

Charles: It has been a journey, and I am still learning every day. I wish I had another two hundred years. Sometimes I feel like while I’m trying to catch up to one thing, I have missed out on something else. So, while I have focused a lot of time being very creative, and into the business side of things. I feel I wasn’t really thinking, or focusing on others as much as I should have. To give you an example, right now, I am forming a company that focuses on reversing type two diabetes. There are other companies out there right now valued at up to two billion dollars, and they raise hundreds of millions of dollars to reverse type two diabetes. We have got one of the best ways to market and capture these people using our television shows. So I should have thought about this four or five years ago, when these other companies started doing it. So there are a lot of little things that I look at. My evolution has always consisted of growing and reinventing and pivoting.  If I’m focusing on doing a show on cancer, and I find some roadblocks. Then I might have to go back to diabetes, and open those doors, and then do a show on that, because the sponsors may have come a little bit easier, then go back to cancer, after we have gotten some success, for diabetes to ensure we are making progress at every angle.

I Ascend: What hardships have you faced in Ascending to where you are?

Charles: I think one of mine is having the right team and location. If you are trying to be a fisherman and you live in Las Vegas, you would have a hard time trying to find a body of water to do some fishing. Likewise in what I do, as far as health, film and television. Residing in Tampa, Florida is not really conducive to that type of success; coupled with not having the right team. If a request was made for me to create a large project here now it could be done but it would require organizing and mobilization. Whether its public relations personnel, agents, managers, or producers I would literally have to call on people in different cities and states. I would have to fly them in to put some things together. We are doing very well as a company but the right team would assist in the ability to grow rapidly and have a greater reach quicker.

I Ascend: Who served as your Cushion and Support Team during the hard times?

Charles: I have a few good people. I was telling my daughter the other day we are lucky in life, if we have five real good friends. We have acquaintances and we may know a ton of people. We may have thousands of people on Instagram and thousands of people on Facebook too. That does not mean that they are real friends. I have a few people like Kim, who works with me; she is like an aunt to my kids. If I was sick in the hospital, three hundred miles away she would be there in a heartbeat. I have a couple of really good partners that I work with. I have a buddy named Rob, he is really a good guy. He is a friend I can have a man to man conversation and chop it up with, regarding life, business, goals and aspirations. They have been my support team.

I Ascend: How do you juggle your time with home life while pursuing your crafts?

Charles: I have three children so when I have them I really put all my time into taking care of them. I focus solely on them and I dial down my work, while I am being a dad. My son is four and a half, and he needs a lot of time. When I am with my kids I give them my undivided attention.

I Ascend: What have these various experiences taught you the highs, and the lows, if any?

Charles:  You have to totally believe in yourself and be certain to always be honest with yourself. You should know what is in your head and know your product. I know what I do well and I know what I have. I know the purpose of it and I know how to sell it. You really have to know your brand. If you want people to believe in it, know what you are offering and how to change it up. You have to remember it is a business first. If you want to offer a service or a product it has to be put together in a package that actually makes sense to people. You have to continue to grow, continue to pivot, and continue to change. Do not keep your eye so focused on moving in one direction that you miss out on other opportunities that may surround you. You really have to be ready to recreate at times. You must be flexible enough to leave something in the past, drop something off, pick something up new, and be a great people person in business.

I Ascend: Congratulations on Ascending and standing in your Truth and Pursuing Destiny. What do you want people to remember about you?

Charles: I did an amazing documentary based on a rare disease that my mother and many others suffer from. It is a disease many probably never even heard of called “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.” CRPS is a debilitating condition in which the pain is higher than amputation or childbirth. Though I do not have the condition, I am probably one of the biggest faces for the condition. I have done so much work and created this beautiful award winning film based on the condition to share people’s stories and their pain. A young lady had befriended me by reaching out through social media. She was so excited to share her experience because she had the condition. I connected with her to talk on FaceTime. I’m sure a lot of people in my position probably would not take time to do all of that. This young woman, was maybe in her early forty’s and was really excited about life. Sad to say, her mother reached out to me recently and said “Hey, Charles, I just wanted to let you know that Lisa passed away.” ” I just wanted to tell you thank you so much, because you really made her happy, you really gave her hope.” When I look back on things like that, it is those moments I want to be remembered for. I think one of my greatest fears is to leave this earth easily forgotten. I don’t want to be a few tweets, or a few fake Facebook mentions away from being forgotten. One of the things that I really fight for, is to leave a legacy that people saying, you know, “if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here today” or “that person inspired me”  because people do not remember the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) forever. People do not remember the businessman, hustlers, so on and so forth. If you look at the Martin Luther King’s, and Malcolm X’s, these are the men that people say, gave everything. Malcolm X wasn’t a rich man, he barely had anything really. He didn’t have any money and had to fight to keep his house that the nation of Islam gave him. Martin Luther King wasn’t a rich man, he lived off of donations. I would like to be remembered as someone who gave their all and fought for others.

I Ascend: What word of advice would you give to readers to have them continue to Ascend in pursuit of their dream no matter where they are currently?

Charles:  I would say, that life will always have its ups and downs. You have to stay close to God and know your purpose. Remember it is a purpose, not just business. Our purpose is being servants. Our purpose is being fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. What we do for a living, really is here to just pay the bills. We can be happy in that, we can find joy in that, but it shouldn’t overtake us and allow us to not have those joys with our loved ones. There is a saying I share often, “Some people, hustle for a way in, I am hustling for a way out.” I want to be laying on beaches, drinking Mai Tai’s in a year. I am not worried about any business deals or anything like that. Because, to be honest, a lot of people don’t even reach, retirement age. I am saving nothing for the swim back. I would say live your life right now at its best. Enjoy it to its fullness as long as you can. Try to work hard and take care of your family. Remember that the time we have here is short, and you want to give the best you can to those who love you.

I Ascend: Please share some of the current projects that you’re working on?

Charles: We are currently airing a show called “Reverse,” in which we have five people with type two diabetes, and we take them to do this particular show in Costa Rica. On
“Reverse” we change the lives of people who have lost upwards of seventy pounds or more and some come off insulin pumps after thirteen years. We are also working on a new show called “Reverse The Church” where we have teamed up with Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr., also Grammy Award winning Kelly price and going into a mega church in Atlanta with Pastor, Jamal Bryant, at New Birth. We have some amazing experts and we are going to change the health of the whole congregation. We are still in the works on a mental health series with a similar format. We aim to put a light on the plague that is surrounding so many people with mental health issues like CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder), anxiety, stress, eating disorders and various things like that. In addition, I am in the early stages of putting together my own health care platform were we will focus heavily on being able to reverse type two diabetes.

I Ascend: How can our readers continue to follow and stay abreast of you?

Charles: You can google my name Charles Mattocks. My social media handles on Twitter and Instagram: CMattocks1 and my website is www.Bellaandellemedia.com.