Breaking Cycles Through Music, Comedy, and the Homeboy Way with Nickloos Tate and Washea Beverly

<p>What does it take to rebuild your life after prison, addiction, grief, and years of being told you will never change? For Nickloos Tate and Washea Beverly, transformation began when they stopped allowing their pasts to dictate their futures and found a community willing to believe in them.</p><p>Nickloos shares how a life-changing question inside prison, “Do you want life, or do you want to live life?”, helped him change direction after 14 years behind bars. Washea opens up about recovery, rebuilding her relationship with her son, and using stand-up comedy to find light in painful experiences.</p><p>In this episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo and Hector Verdugo explore how Homeboy Industries creates second chances through kinship, accountability, laughter, and unconditional support. Nickloos also performs “Drive to You,” an original song he wrote while incarcerated, and explains why his greatest ambition is helping someone else succeed.</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>Your past is part of your story, not your identity.</strong></p><p>Nickloos refuses to hide his former gang involvement or incarceration, but he no longer allows those experiences to define the man he is becoming.</p></li></ul><ul><li><p><strong>Choosing life requires deciding what to do with it.</strong></p><p>A fellow incarcerated man challenged Nickloos to think beyond getting released and seriously consider what kind of life he wanted to build.</p></li></ul><ul><li><p><strong>Recovery begins with honest acceptance.</strong></p><p>Washea explains how accepting the consequences of her past allowed her to stop defending herself and begin moving forward.</p></li></ul><ul><li><p><strong>Homeboy Industries welcomes people from every background.</strong></p><p>Washea initially wondered whether she belonged because she had never been in a gang or prison. What she discovered was a community built around love, accountability, and personal transformation.</p></li></ul><ul><li><p><strong>Accountability is an expression of love.</strong></p><p>Homeboy does not abandon people when they struggle. It offers correction, another opportunity, and the invitation to return when they are ready.</p></li></ul><p><strong>In This Episode</strong></p><ul><li><p>[00:00] Introduction</p></li><li><p>[03:03] Nickloos Tate’s first days after leaving prison</p></li><li><p>[03:35] Meeting Father Greg inside juvenile hall</p></li><li><p>[04:47] The handwritten letter that brought Nickloos home</p></li><li><p>[05:24] Why Nickloos refuses to hide from his past</p></li><li><p>[14:01] Washea Beverly opens up about addiction and her legal cases</p></li><li><p>[15:01] Arriving at Homeboy and questioning whether she belonged</p></li><li><p>[16:06] Working to rebuild her relationship with her son</p></li><li><p>[18:07] Why Nickloos chooses to smile after surviving violence</p></li><li><p>[20:51] Washea’s decision to choose peace and light</p></li><li><p>[23:00] Teaching her son to remain cautious but lead with love</p></li><li><p>[30:17] How Washea became a stand-up comedian</p></li><li><p>[32:37] Laughter, accountability, and everyday life at Homeboy</p></li><li><p>[40:45] Nickloos’ goal of writing music for other artists</p></li><li><p>[42:37] Live performance of “Drive to You”</p></li><li><p>[48:09] How Homeboy helped Nickloos rebuild his life</p></li><li><p>[55:50] Washea explains what brings her joy</p></li><li><p>[56:22] Closing reflections</p></li></ul><p><strong>Notable Quotes</strong></p><ul><li><p>“My past don’t define who I am, but it also is a reflection of where I came from.” - Nickloos Tate [05:24]</p></li><li><p>“I choose to choose peace. I choose the lighter side of life, only because we all go through something.” - Washea Beverly [20:51]</p></li><li><p>“You be cautious in this world, but you lead with love, and love will follow you.” - Washea Beverly [23:32]</p></li><li><p>“A hand up means I’m just pulling you up and showing you there’s another way to d