Breaking Cycles with Belief: Mamadou Balde on Courage, Transformation, and Family Legacy

In the latest episode of the “Courageous Crossroads” podcast, host Jeff Johnson interviews Mamadou Balde, who shares his inspiring journey from immigrating to the US from Guinea at age five to becoming a leader in commercial real estate. Mamadou discusses the foundational role of faith in his life, discovered during his time at Liberty University, and defines courage as the ability to act against one’s natural inclinations, drawing inspiration from his mother’s resilience and his wife Kelsey’s entrepreneurial spirit. He recounts overcoming a traumatic childhood and making a wedding vow to break the cycle of his family’s past, crediting his faith as essential to this transformation. Mamadou highlights the importance of sharing personal stories to empower others facing similar challenges and offers practical advice for making courageous decisions, emphasizing the significance of prayer and spiritual guidance in navigating life’s complexities.

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

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See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro:
Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics, a look into what motivates us to step out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal story of bravery centered around this. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the Courageous Crossroads. I’m excited for you to hear from my next guest, Mamadou. Originally from West Africa, he walked through a very difficult childhood with great courage and now resides as a successful businessman and leader and mentor in Pennsylvania. And he’s got a lot to say about courage and just a beautiful heart. Without further ado, here is Mamadou. Mamadou, thank you for being on the Courageous Crossroads podcast with us. Wonderful to meet you. Wonderful to get to know you and your wife a couple of weeks ago, and excited to have you on the podcast. And welcome. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. Thank you for allowing me to be a guest here. I’m really excited about the conversation. 

Jeff Johnson:
Now you’re out in Pittsburgh, is that correct? 

Mamadou Balde:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Jeff Johnson:
I love that. See, I’m a steel man, so everything to do with Pittsburgh, it’s all steel. 

Mamadou Balde:
It’s. It’s all still. And it’s. It’s going through a transformation now, so kind of a resurgence with meds, Texan ads, but we still. I think our steel industrial roots are still. Still stronger, so. So it’s all great. 

Jeff Johnson:
Nice. Well, the. The crux of our podcast here, obviously, is about courage, and we come down to the main question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And I’ll ask you that here in just a little bit. But before we get into that, can you tell the folks a little bit more about you, where you’re at, a little bit of your background, whatever you’d like to share to put you in context for them? 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. So, yeah, so I’ve got a pretty interesting background. So my family immigrated here from a small country in West Africa called Guinea, so moved here when I was about five. So I remember having to learn English and, you know, just acclimate to the culture and, like, my parents are very proud West Africans, so. Which is great. But as a kid, it’s like, look, mom, dad, can we just speak English in public? Can we just eat hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner? You know, just try to fit in. But I think the older I get, the more I appreciate my family’s history and culture, but grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Went away to school, started the University of Akron, finished up at Liberty University. 

Mamadou Balde:
You know, Liberty was kind of just random how I ended up there, but it was great because it really helped shape the rest of my life. That’s where I was saved. That’s where I found the Lord. Stayed for law school, learned the law from a Christian perspective, and then moved back to Pittsburgh in 2012 after law school and then worked as an attorney, you know, didn’t really like it. Moved into real estate, and I love it. Met my beautiful wife Kelsey, and got married. We have two beautiful boys. Elias is four actually yesterday, and Isaiah’s one and a half. And then we have a daughter that’s going to be born in June, which we’re really excited about. But right Now I lead CBREs Pittsburgh and West Virginia markets, and it’s just a full service commercial real estate firm. 

Mamadou Balde:
And, you know, I just feel very blessed and lucky to be more blessed than lucky. Very blessed to be in the position I am with the family I have and all the people that support me. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s wonderful. Now wait, now back up for me for a second. English is not your first language. 

Mamadou Balde:
English is not my first language now. So it’s funny. So West Africa is a very, it’s a Muslim region of the world, as you’re aware. So my first language was French and then tribal language called Pula, which is spoken in guinea, like up to Senegal, like in the West. West Africa. 

Jeff Johnson:
So do you still have those two languages? 

Mamadou Balde:
So my French is embarrassingly bad. No accent, nothing. And my pull out is actually better than my French just because my parents felt it was important for us to really maintain our African kind of roots and culture. And so to be honest, like after I was like five or six, you don’t really learn like new words if you’re. Because I was speaking English, you know what I mean? So it’s kind of weird. Like when we talk, it’s, you’ll hear like a little bit of French, a little bit of English, a little bit of like, all in the same, like, sense. And it sounds kind of funny, but yeah, it’s just a product of, you know, learning a language up until you’re five and then learning a new language until you’re an adult. So there’s just some words I just never learned. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, I, this is a little bit of insight into Jeff and I hate to always try to make elements of this podcast about me, but I cannot pick up another language. And I tried so hard to pick up Italian when I was in college. Or Latin when I was in. You know, it’s a dead language, but it. When I was in high school still, I. None of those go in. So whenever I meet people that have multiple languages, I’m so impressed. 

Mamadou Balde:
Yeah, yeah, I appreciate. Yeah. It’s kind of weird because I’m like, when you’re. And also when you’re a kid, it’s easier to learn as well. Right? 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Mamadou Balde:
You know, that’s. I think that’s a problem, Jeff. You. You tried to learn too late. 

Jeff Johnson:
I did get it too late. Well, that might be a lot of things, but anyway, I’m still trying, so I’m always interested in learning more about courage all the time, which is. Which is why I got you to lean on about that topic. What do you think of when you think of courage? How do you define that? 

Mamadou Balde:
Mamadou, man, I think of courage as the ability to do something that is, like, counter to your, like, general disposition. Right. So anything that requires a little bit of strength, a little bit of fortitude, and that can be physical, mental, you know, whatever. Right. But that’s typically how to find it. Anything that requires you to go in an uncomfortable space and just require you to reach down deep and. 

Jeff Johnson:
And go against your natural disposition, does it require vulnerability? 

Mamadou Balde:
Yeah. I would say that’s probably the biggest thing. Right. Because I think for you to be courageous at first, you have to acknowledge that you’re afraid or you’re hesitant to do something. Right. So the vulnerability, I think, comes in. In recognizing that and then also moving forward with doing the thing that you’re not. You’re afraid of doing. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, yeah, totally. Who’s. When you think about courage, is there somebody in your life that inspires you? Either a historical figure, somebody in the past, or somebody that’s around you right now? Yeah. 

Mamadou Balde:
You know, I always say my mom just. I don’t know. That’s like a cliche answer. But, I mean, you talk about a woman that came to the United States, couldn’t speak English, learned English, you know, dad wasn’t around, so she worked, like, one to three jobs. How many of her shifts? Raised three of us, plus my two half brothers, majority of the time, and then just always kind of kept it together, you know, and so. But. And that’s. That’s a woman who not only could speak English, but has, like, you know, not even a full high school education, you know, and just kind of did it, you know, to me, that’s courageous. But then I think that’s a theme. Right. And. And just you know, fittingly, it’s. It’s. It’s National Women’s Month, Right. 

Mamadou Balde:
So, yeah, another one, I think it was my wife, my beautiful wife Kelsey, who, you know, just. I think just the way she just does everything is, to me, is courageous and beautiful at the same time. You know, her and I are kind of navigating through this life, just learning as we go. And so, you know, she’s from training. She went to, like, beauty school, but then she bought a business. And I think it’s even. What’s even more fantastic about that is, like, it was something she prayed about, other people prayed about it for, and then she bought the bin. And I remember talking to her originally when were, like, dating, and she’s like, should I do this? I’m like, yeah, you should totally do. But, like, I’m a business person. So to me, it’s like. And she’s not. 

Mamadou Balde:
Wasn’t a business person, and really just, you know, took. Took the risk and showed courage and bought the business and has been running it successfully for. For five years now. So that’s really stepping into the unknown and doing something that’s counter to your natural disposition and. And really succeeding. Right. 

Jeff Johnson:
So, yeah, you’re surrounded by it. That’s wonderful. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
So Hebrews in chapter 11, it says that without faith, it’s impossible to please God. I feel like that relates to courage. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it’s kind of like what I talked about earlier, right? It’s to. I think to be courageous, you have to have faith and, like. And I guess that’s kind of hard for me to say just because I. I’m lucky enough to have Kelsey as, like, you know, someone to rely on. But everything we do, we always pray about it. We fast. We, you know, we kind of like, really. And we have people praying for us all the time, which is fantastic. But I think to be courageous, you definitely have to have faith, because you have to have faith that what you’re doing isn’t like. Or that you’ll accomplish what you’re trying to do. Right. So when I think about courage and. And how that works in the faith is like, let’s say Kelsey, for example, buying her business, buying our business. 

Mamadou Balde:
It’s more or less like, before she could take that step to do the thing that’s courageous, she had to have faith that, you know, it would be successful, right? To an extent. And lucky for us, she’s got a strong foundation in. In her faith. And. And I think that really helped her overcome that hesitancy yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s awesome. Okay, Mamadou, let me ask you the question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

Mamadou Balde:
Man, I’ve. So I guess I’ll not to make the answer long, but it’s a long answer is, I would say just overcoming a lot of, like, past trauma and past, like, you know, just issues with. With family and really stepping into, like, being a husband, being a father, and, you know, just stepping into our faith and things like that. For me, my, you know, growing up for. As a child in a home that was, you know, abusive and not really kind of loving, I just. For me, I was like, I’m never going get married. I’m never going to have kids. Because, like, you know, for me, growing up, that wasn’t like a happy kind of thing. Right? 

Mamadou Balde:
So, you know, again, lucky for me, I met Kelsey, and, man, like, it was just like one of those things where, you know, that she’s the one. Right? So for. For me, it was courageous to even take that step. Again, not having a good example at home. But then we talk about having children, it’s like, okay, so we want. Is that what I want to do? Because, again, just thinking about childhood, but for me, I think that took a lot of courage, a lot of faith, and were very blessed to be able to have children and have such a great family. And, you know, I have a beautiful wife and a great career like that, so. But I always think that. 

Mamadou Balde:
And I remember during our wedding, one of my vows was like, I promise to break the cycle that, like, you know, was in the past, and I promised to, you know, be a good husband and father and things like that. So to me, that was, like, a lot of pressure, right? A lot of pressure to kind of perform. But again, I think that having our. Having our. Our family grounded in our faith really helps us, help us, helps us, helps me achieve that and continue to be. To be courageous. 

Jeff Johnson:
I think people learn a lot from being around courageous people. You know, it’s like you’re talking about the people that inspire you, and I know that there’s people out there that are going to hear your story and hear you talk about, you know, change in a family dynamic, something that was destructive and stepping out. That must have been hard for you because you saw some things that were pretty rough and you didn’t want to repeat those. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. Yeah. I think, look, I think when you think about life and you think about how you want that to be, I always think back to when I was a kid and I was always like, you know, there’s got to be something done, there’s got to be like, you know, this can’t be like whatever. Even as a child, I don’t know what that meant. And you know, weren’t a Christian family growing up. I think when I found Christ, it all kind of makes sense. But I think for the people that are in those situations, you have to be courageous, right? Because it really takes some courage, right, which what we’re talking about, to really have the just strength and the perseverance to make it through those tough times. 

Mamadou Balde:
And if you believe, you know, in the right things and you continue to just be persistent in your chasing of, you know, the Lord and understanding, I think you always find a way out. And for me, I think that I found that later in life, but some people find earlier, some people find that, you know, sooner, some people find it even later. So. But I think the best thing is, you know, continue to persevere, continue to have faith and, you know, you’ll make it out on the other side. 

Jeff Johnson:
My, my wife and I both came from divorced homes. And I remember when we got together and went through marriage counseling, that was one of the first things that came up, is that we wanted to change that paradigm. We wanted to set a new course. We wanted something to be completely different in our marriage than what we had necessarily seen when were growing up. And it was just a really, I remember it was a really strong sense that I had that I, and I’m sure Danielle had the same thing. We just wanted to have something different. You had the same thing mama do. Where did that, where does that come from? Because you could have just not gotten married. You could have, or you could have just curled up in a ball or you just, you know, not chosen a different course of action. 

Jeff Johnson:
Where do you think that comes from? 

Mamadou Balde:
Yeah, I mean, the only explanation I can give is that’s like one of my God given talents, right? Is again just perseverance and stubbornness. I guess just also say that. But look, I think the only way it works is just having a great partner, right? Like I said, I, I bragging. No, I don’t hate it. I love bringing about my beautiful wife. So it’s like, I think that just makes it easier. Man, I look at her and I’m like, God, I just want to be like the best. I look at my boys, I’m like, God, seem to be the best dad I can be. And I come to work and I’m like, man, I just want to Be the best, you know, managing director and see, right? Like, I think. But it’s easy when you have people like that motivated, right? 

Mamadou Balde:
Wife and kids, and you’re blessed to have all these things. And I think when you realize how and why you have them, I think that keeps you going even more. And I was reading. Kelsey was telling me about Craig Groeschel, who she. She loves his podcast. And he was talking about. Said he went to the gym and he saw a guy was working out. He was kind of out of shape, and he’s like, yeah, you know, like, I want to look like you. How do you do that? He’s like, well, you got to, like, find your why. And so then Craig, I didn’t listen, but Kelsey was telling me, she’s like, he said that he wants to, you know, work out, to glorify God. Right? And I’m like, that’s how you should live your life. Glorify God, everything you do. 

Mamadou Balde:
So for me, it’s like that plus, like, just making me, you know, three soon to be four people in my life that matter the most proud of me. So I think those are my biggest. My biggest reasons. 

Jeff Johnson:
How do you. How do you transfer that courage to somebody else? Or do you. I mean, is that a. Is that something that you. That you hope to give to your boys or you hope to give to other people around you? 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. You know, what’s funny is the older I get and the more I become more introspective, I think that, like, my. My upbringing actually brought that out of me. Right. I mean, I think you can look at a situation and really have an optimistic side of a pessimistic side. Right. Silver lining. And, you know, the phrase is like, hurt people. Right? So to your point, I could have just been like, you know, I’ve been. This has been my life. And I’m. But I think one thing I picked up from those tough times is just, like, mental. Mental fortitude. Right. So I think I. Not to sound arrogant or pompous or anything, but, like, I think I have a good ability to, like, withstand a lot of, like, pain and pressure. Right. And I think that also comes from being an athlete. 

Mamadou Balde:
So, you know, but one thing that Kelsey always encourages me is to share my story about my childhood, how I grew up, and to end up where I am, because I feel like when people hear that someone is in the same situation they’re in, and they made it out of that situation, it gives them courage, it gives them strength. It gives them kind of like the picture of the blueprint. Right. I think it’s hard to be something that you’ve never seen or, like, understood. Right. So if I live in a neighborhood where there’s no, you know, doctors or lawyers or teachers or whatever, it’s the odds of me growing up to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher or something are pretty, like, tough. Right. 

Mamadou Balde:
But if you can talk to a doctor, talk to lawyer, talk to a teacher, talk to whoever, and they can kind of give you like a glimpse or the little like, tutorial on how they did it, you’re more likely to be able to achieve that goal. Plus, it makes the goal achievable. Right. And so I think you can transfer that curse to people by just being vulnerable. Right. Talking about it. Yep. And really just encouraging other people to, you know, just have the perseverance and the strength to come out of and the faith, most importantly, to withstand any situation. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, you’re a Pittsburgh guy, and I’m a steel man. And so Proverbs 27:17 says, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. And I think that’s absolutely right. You know, when we share ourselves with other people, you know, it becomes a powerful testimony. People that are listening to this will know that I’m a recovering person. So praise God that he put the plug in the jug for me a long time ago. And I’ve recognized that what I considered the wreckage of my past has actually turned into an asset and something that I can give away for the next guy that walks into the room thinking that there isn’t any hope and thinking that everything has fall apart. And I’m able to share from that testimony just like what you’re talking about with your. With your tough upbringing. 

Jeff Johnson:
So I think there is a lot of courage there, and I think that is transferable. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. 

Jeff Johnson:
Has, has that courage that you gained from a tough growing up, has that helped you in your business career? 

Mamadou Balde:
Oh, absolutely. Look, I think in business you have. You go through ups and downs, highs and lows, and a lot of times the lows feel so low that you’re like, how are we ever going to make it out of this? Right. But again, I think that. I think that tough upbringing just builds that, like, perseverance that I call more like endurance. Right. To kind of deal with the bad times and really kind of look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Right. I mean, again, I think for me, when I was a kid, it was kind of like, this can’t be like how life is, right. So always Looking for that light at the end of the tunnel. In business it’s the same, I think you need, in business you need. Right, like aptitude, will and skill. Right. 

Mamadou Balde:
But I think another piece of that is this mental toughness. And so I think for me that childhood really built that in me along with sports and a bunch of other things. But I think that’s something I use daily. Right. Setting goals, achieving those goals, you know, being able to overcome different things and really just continue to try to be successful. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re a, you’re a successful businessman, Mormon do. And you’re a man of God and you’re a good family man, you’re a good husband and you’re a good father. You attribute all that to courage. 

Mamadou Balde:
I do. I think I would. I think I would. And I think the biggest piece of that is faith. Right. We’ve really gotten in a good discipline of like being prayerful. You know, I think like all people, we go through times where like we should really do this more or really do that more. But I think at the end of the day when how we identify ourselves, we’re very much like a, you know, Christ centered family. And I think that in and of itself has really just helped us, you know, get to where we’re at. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, say I’ll let you out of here on this one. Say, say something to that person that’s listening to us right now who’s got a big decision coming up or they’re chewing off the end of their fingernails and they’re wondering if they should take a step. How do they discern? How do they decide? How do they walk through that open door? How do they embrace that courage? 

Mamadou Balde:
So how I would do it. Yeah, so I’m actually going through that now. Right. A couple decisions that I’m think we’re thinking about making as a family. Right. And for us it starts with, you know, getting in the word. And so, you know, like seeking God really is the first thing and then God will reveal to you what your next step should be. Right. So for us it’s that. And then right now we’re fasting or I’m fasting, right. A couple different things and just seeking those answers. And you know, a lot of the biggest things that have happened to me, for instance, my job at cbre, I got that. We prayed and fasted about it and God made it very clear that this was the right decision for us. 

Mamadou Balde:
But for the people that are, you know, Christ centered and believers, I think that’s seek the Lord and he will provide the right answers. Right. But I think for, I guess, more secular folks, I mean, I would encourage you to do that same thing. But if you’re not, I think it’s just having the kind of discipline. And I, again, I keep calling it perseverance, but just continue to seek answers, seek folks that have maybe gone through what you’re kind of going through what you’re seeking and just try to get that information. But I would. I’d probably push folks towards the former of what I suggested, which is kind of getting the word and. And seek. Seek God’s. God’s voice. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. It’s wonderful. Mamadou, I’m blessed to know you, and thank you so much for sharing with all of our audience today. Thanks for being on the program. 

Mamadou Balde:
Absolutely. Jeff, you’ve really become one of my good friends. I consider you a good friend. I thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to talking to you soon. 

Outro:
Thank you. Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done at Crossroads Apologetics, please visit our home on the web at crossroadsapologetics.org Would you or someone you know like to be featured on Courageous? Send us an email at info@crossroadsapologetics.com or info@crossroadsapologetics.org telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.