Sounds Good with Branden Harvey

Discovered by Pharrell Williams and seen on Good Morning America, Dwayne Reed is the rapping teacher from Chicago responsible for the viral hit, Welcome to the 4th Grade. Dwayne, or as he’s called in his classroom: Mr. Reed, genuinely cares about his students and has found a number of creative ways to show them.

In 2015, Inc. Magazine recognized Noonday Collection as one of the fastest-growing companies in America. But years earlier, as Jessica Honegger stood at a pawn-shop counter in Austin, Texas, and handed over her grandmother's gold jewelry, her goal was much more personal: to fund the adoption of her Rwandan son, Jack, by selling artisan-made jewelry.

You’ve seen her poetry and art on Instagram, but you may not know the backstory behind the colorful creations she shares. Morgan has made her life’s work about creating for the stories of others, through music, words, art, and design.

Going from a small-town boy to protecting the President to serving as a Marine Corps infantryman in Iraq to experiencing post-traumatic stress and eventually to becoming an artist and a nonprofit founder, Richard Casper has a unique and powerful story to call his own.

As a DREAMer, Gustavo Guerrero is passionate about advocating for human rights, immigration reform, and civil and political rights. As a musician, Gustavo has found a tool to build empathy and understanding, and remind people that they matter — whether they have a social security number or not.

Nirrimi Firebrace is an award-winning Australian photographer and writer who catapulted into the public eye when she was just a teenager because of the unique way she shares her story through photos and words online. Nirrimi runs a popular blog called Fire & Joy, where she shares both heartbreaking and beautiful stories of her life. As a photographer she’s shot for Netflix, American Apparel, First Aid Kit, and Zelda Williams.

In 2015 when protests broke out in Baltimore in response to the death of Freddie Gray, photographer and activist Devin Allen was one of the first photographers on the scene to share his photos with the world. And now over a year after his rise to fame, Devin is helping change his community and the way it’s perceived for good.

As founder of International Justice Mission, Gary Haugen fights the chronically neglected global epidemic of violence against the poor. In this conversation, Branden and Gary go behind the curtain and dive deep into the story International Justice Mission, lean into the power of systems that care for the individual, and explore the idea that joy is the oxygen behind doing hard things.

In 2006, with no money and less than no experience, Harrison founded charity: water. Today, his organization has raised over $300 million to bring clean drinking water to more than 8.2 million people around the globe. In this conversation, Branden and Scott dissect his new book Thirst: an inspiring personal story of compassion, redemption, second chances, and the transformative power within us all.

Founding Omaze with his business partner Matt, CEO and co-founder Ryan Cummins is responsible for the online platform known for raising hundreds of millions of dollars for charity by raffling once-in-a-lifetime experiences. In this conversation, Branden and Ryan dive deep into the origin of Omaze, the intersection of philanthropy and storytelling, and the power of living for something bigger than yourself.

Kim Kardashian West took note of the powerful story Kendall Ciesemier broke on Alice Marie Johnson, an undeniably groundbreaking step toward exposing an injustice and leading to Alice’s freedom from prison. In this conversation, Branden and Kendall dive deep into her story of thriving in the midst of life’s struggles, finding purpose and passion, how to use media to drive social change, and where to begin after overcoming adversity.

Jamie is the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms and the New York Times bestselling author of ‘If You Feel Too Much’. In this conversation, Branden and Jamie get real and personal about the cost of putting everything into your work, moving courageously toward transition and new chapters, and why the greatest thing we can do is to choose to stay until tomorrow.

What if the secret about making a difference was getting weird? Author, speaker, and media producer, CJ Casciotta, has passionately given himself over to this idea. In this conversation, Branden and CJ talk about his newly released book: ‘Get Weird: Discover the Surprising Secret to Making a Difference’ — diving deep into the truth of how getting weird just might be the key to making the world a better place.

Civil rights activist, teacher, and author, DeRay Mckesson thinks hope is the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. In this conversation, Branden and DeRay talk about his book ‘On the Other Side of Freedom’ and his personal journey of advocacy and activism that has caught America’s attention.

In this conversation, Branden and Ben unpack what it means to lead a life of purpose and generosity, the importance of getting angry about injustice, the burden of fame, humanitarian work, and living into the questions that inevitably come with faith.