I hadn't finished college, you know, I'd gone to SF State for a year and then I came

back to SMC and I got in a fight on campus and I hated it. I was in remedial math and you know it just

wasn't for me and that was kind of my declaration that I was going to be a full-time artist and that was

right around the time that I started going to the poetry lounge. Then I had all

these interim period jobs that lasted but sometimes I was on like a budget of like five dollars a day or I would like many times pay for gas with change or buy my cigarettes with change like a dump change on a thing and that was normal for me and I didn't make any money for 12 years or something like that. Hey there it's Light Watkins.

I've got another story behind the story of a change maker for you.

This week I'm talking to somebody who's inspiring a lot of people in the world through his words.

His name is Adam Schmallholz, but you may be more familiar with his stage name which is in cue. So in cue which stands for in question is one of the most electric spoken word performers on the scene, his poems they really stick with you long after you see them, and his

backstory is equally as fascinating. So in this conversation we talked about how he first

discovered his gift of poetry in school and how he developed and refined his unique style.

We also talked about the lean years of course when he was in his 20s and he had every reason to quit,

but he kept pressing on because he was obsessed.

And while there was no clear way to make money as a spoken word poet at that time, expressing

himself in that way was his oxygen.

And so he talked about those times when he had to pay for food,

literally with coins in his pocket,

and he had to work these odd jobs.

And then eventually, after putting in well over 10,000 hours in writing and performing,

he got opportunities to perform for people like Quincy Jones and Hillary Clinton and even President Barack Obama.

And he went on to win some of the biggest awards that a spoken word artist can win.

He's also been featured on Deaf Poetry Jam.

He's been on Oprah's Super Soul 100 list. His spoken

...