Braylen Neely: the rich and authentic

Braylen Neely

Starting at 9:30 a.m., Braylen Neely wakes up to get himself ready for a 10 o’clock music course.

He gets his mind in a good headspace for the day by watching podcasts on YouTube while eating breakfast.

He arrives on the Claflin campus to attend classes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. After that, he heads home to start on any of the classwork he has for the day.

Later in the evening from about 7 to 10, Braylen spends his time working on his podcast, “Run It Up Talk.” Whether it’s brainstorming questions for his next guest, watching YouTube videos to learn more about what he can do to improve his podcast, or actually filming an episode, he makes sure that he dedicates this time to improving on every aspect of his podcast.

This is a typical day for one of Claflin’s graduating seniors, Braylen Neely.

Growing up in the small town of Fountain Inn, SC, Braylen has always liked to converse and voice his opinion on certain topics. Asked about why he wanted to start a podcast, he said he wants to have a platform where he can talk about what he wants to talk about and give his opinion about what he thinks about things that are happening in the world.

Braylen elaborated on how he applauds himself for “keeping it real.” He definitely knows that everyone may not agree with what he says on his podcast, but he prides himself in being able to communicate everything he’s thinking about in an honest manner. He even takes the approach with the relationships in his life.

What many people would call being “brutally honest,” Braylen calls “being real.”

For example, when he’s giving advice on the podcast, he never intends to hurt anybody with his words. Instead, his true intentions are to give advice that’s honest so that it will actually help them rather than hurt them in the long run.

Asked about his future after college, Braylen talks about how he’s inspired by The Breakfast Club’s radio podcast host Charlamagne Tha God. “I want to have my own building and do what Charlamagne is doing with his radio show.”

As Braylen gets ready to close the chapter on his college journey, he also has to get ready for the next chapter called the real world. Braylen knows that his journey definitely won’t be easy, but he’s ready for the challenge and will do anything that he has to do to succeed. His definition of success is described as being financially stable, but more importantly, just being generally happy and stress-free.