Shows / In The Know with Tony Reeves
In The Know with Tony Reeves
Hosted by former attorney and Judge Tony Reeves, this podcast delivers sharp insights, commentary, and real talk on law, leadership, public service, and the Black Gen X experience. Whether you’re navigating bureaucracy, seeking inspiration, or craving honest reflections from someone who’s lived it, ‘In The Know with Tony Reeves’ offers the wisdom and wit to keep you informed—and empowerBecome a supporter of this podcast…
Episodes
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Sometimes the Job Isn’t the Destination — It’s Funding the Next Opportunity
Sometimes the job you’re in isn’t where you’re ultimately supposed to stay. Sometimes its real value is what it makes possible next. In this episode, I share…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Who Am I at 30? When Your Career Stops Defining You
What happens when you finally reach the career you worked so hard for—and realize you still have to figure out who you are? In this episode of IN THE KNOW with…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Advice I Didn’t Understand Until Years Later
There are moments in life that don’t seem particularly significant when they’re happening. Then you look back 10, 20, or 30 years later and realize:That…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Party Wasn’t for Me — But the Lesson Was
In the fall of 1987, just days into my freshman year at the University of Tampa, I was invited to my first real off-campus college party on Davis Island. I had…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The New Normal We Built: Why Gen X Must Pass the Access Forward
For many members of Generation X, success did not come with a roadmap. We entered colleges, professions, leadership positions, and social spaces that were…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Conversation That Almost Ended My College Journey
A few weeks into my freshman year, I was pulled out of class and told that I owed the university $900. It was 1987.My student loan had not been processed, my…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Starting Over Isn’t the End—It’s Where You Find Yourself | Reflections on The Fall of 1988
In this companion podcast to my YouTube video, “The Fall of 1988: When I Had to Rebuild My Life Without My Friends,” I reflect on one of the biggest lessons I…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Terrifying Beginning of My Sophomore Year: Starting Over Without My Friends
Returning to the University of Tampa for my sophomore year should have felt familiar—but almost everyone I had depended on was gone.My best friend and roommate…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Sometimes Your Support System Finds You Before You Find It
We often assume we’re alone when life changes.That’s exactly how I felt when I returned to college in the fall of 1988.My closest friends were gone, and I…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
When Life Forces You to Reset: Lessons from the Summer of 1988
There comes a point in almost everyone’s life when the original plan no longer works. In this episode, I reflect on one of the first major personal resets I…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Truth About Being a Black Resident Assistant at a Predominantly White College
What was it really like to become one of the few Black Resident Assistants at a predominantly white university in the late 1980s?In this episode of IN THE KNOW…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Haircut That Taught Me About Perception vs. Reality
Sometimes the smallest experiences become the biggest teachers. As a freshman at the University of Tampa in 1987, all I wanted was a haircut before ROTC…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Was I Being Profiled? A Black Generation X College Experience
As a freshman at the University of Tampa, I experienced something that would repeat itself every single year: university police stopping me while I walked…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
I Deserved to Be There: When Being the Only One Makes You Question Your Place
What happens when you enter a space knowing that you earned the opportunity—but still feel that you must prove you deserve it?In this companion episode of IN…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
My Roommates Threw My Clothes Into the Hallway: A College Lesson in Dignity
During my first semester at the University of Tampa, I was 18 years old, 900 miles away from home, and struggling financially.There were times when I simply…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
HBCU Dreams, PWI Reality: How Black Gen X Built the Bridge
In this companion podcast episode, Tony Reeves reflects on the complicated bridge between HBCU dreams and PWI reality. Drawing from his Black Gen X college…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Logistics of the Long Road Trip: How Black Gen X Learned to Move Different
Before GPS, Cash App, cell phones, and streaming music, taking a long road trip required planning, memory, discipline, and a little bit of nerve. In this…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Gen X in the Middle: Black Gen X and the Blueprint We Had to Build
In this companion podcast episode, I reflect on the meaning behind my e-book “Gen X in the Middle: How Black Gen X Bridged Two Worlds” and why Black Generation…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
When We Outgrew the Club: How Black Gen X Created Our Own Safe Spaces
In this episode of The Anthony Reeves Experience, Tony Reeves reflects on what nightlife and social connection looked like for Black Gen X professionals as…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Black Gen X and the Survival Code: Learning to Navigate Without a Roadmap
In this companion podcast to the main video, Tony Reeves reflects on how Black Generation X learned to navigate college, career, and predominantly white spaces…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Don’t Romanticize Survival
In this episode of IN THE KNOW with Tony Reeves, Tony reflects on the danger of romanticizing survival, especially from the perspective of Black Gen X.Many of…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Silence After the Milestone
In this episode, Tony Reeves reflects on one of the most emotionally powerful moments of his young adult life: the day after college graduation.Graduation…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
What It Really Means to Be the First
In this episode of IN THE KNOW with Tony Reeves, Tony reflects on what it truly means to be “the first” — not as a slogan, but as a lived experience.When Tony…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Getting Out of Your Own Way: How to Move When You Feel Professionally Stuck
In this episode of In the Know with Tony Reeves, Tony reflects on a season when he felt professionally stuck after completing graduate school.On paper, he had…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Teacher Who Took a Chance on Me
In this episode, Tony Reeves reflects on a defining high school experience with his biology teacher, Miss Jewel Watley, at Pine Bluff High School. What began…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Career Crossroads: Trusting Yourself Through Professional Change
In this episode, Tony Reeves reflects on the major professional pivot points that shaped his career — from state employment to military service, law school…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Why I Went to Law School: Fear, Leverage, and the Power of a Contingency Plan
In this episode, Tony Reeves answers a question he has been asked many times:Why did you go to law school?The answer is not as polished or predictable as some…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Black Gen X, Hidden Trauma, and the Lessons We Inherited
In this episode of The Anthony Reeves Experience, Tony Reeves reflects on what it means to be part of Black Generation X — a generation raised by parents…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Letting Go of My Mother’s House Without Letting Go of Her
In this deeply personal reflection, Tony Reeves shares the emotional experience of selling his mother’s house after her passing.For decades, that house was…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Safe Space That Protected Me as a Young Black Naval Officer
During his time as a young Black naval officer at Camp Lejeune, Tony Reeves discovered the profound importance of safe spaces and informal support…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
When the Anchor Is Gone: Letting Go of My Mother’s House
After my mother passed away in 2025, I found myself facing one of the hardest decisions an only child can make: selling the house that had become the center of…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Black Gen X_ We Were Told We Made Progress… But Did We?
What does it really mean to be Black Generation X? We are the generation that came after the Civil Rights Movement…Raised to believe progress had already…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Myth of ‘I Don’t See Color’: Black Gen X and the Language of False Progress
What does progress really look like—and who gets to define it?In this episode of IN THE KNOW with Tony Reeves, Tony takes a deeply personal and…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
From the Cafeteria Table to the Corporate Boardroom: What Black Gen X Built That People Still Don’t Understand
This isn’t just a story about where we sat. It’s a story about why we had to sit there—and what we built because of it. Growing up as part of Black Generation…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Weight of the Unknown: Why We Fear Career Change (and How to Push Through It)
At some point in your career, you’ll face a decision that forces you to choose between what you know and what you don’t. In this episode of In The Know with…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Best Life Illusion: Long Game vs. Right Now
We’ve all heard it: “Live your best life.” But what does that actually mean across generations? This episode explores:The structured path of older…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Adjusting to a New Normal: When Stability Disappears
What happens when everything you’ve relied on… suddenly changes? In this episode of In the Know with Tony Reeves, I take you back to a pivotal moment in my…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Comfort vs. Risk: The Scariest Decision I Ever Made
There comes a point in life where you have to make a decision most people aren’t prepared for… Do you hold on to the comfort you worked so hard to achieve—or…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Proving Myself to Me: The Truth About Motivation
What really drives you?In this episode, Tony Reeves breaks down a powerful truth most people overlook—motivation isn’t a straight line. It shifts, evolves, and…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Imposter Syndrome Doesn’t Care About Your Success
Even after decades of achievement, imposter syndrome can still show up.In this episode, I reflect on a reunion with law school classmates that forced me to…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
If You’re Still Talking About It… It’s a Hobby
This episode is personal. I take you back to a defining moment in my career—when I thought I was on track to become a partner after years of dedication… only…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Black Gen X at PWIs: The Experience No One Talks About
Most people remember A Different World as a celebration of HBCU life.But for Black Gen X students attending predominantly white institutions… it meant…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Shoot for the Moon… But What Happens When You Actually Land?
What happens when you finally reach the goal you’ve been chasing?We’re taught to shoot for the moon—to set big goals, work hard, and push forward no matter…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Stop Saying “I Know My Worth” — Start Leveraging Your Value
Many professionals say the same phrase when they feel disrespected at work: “I know my worth.” But in professional environments, that statement rarely creates…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
When Your Job Becomes Your Therapy… But Doesn’t Heal You
There’s a difference between working hard… and hiding in your work. In this episode of In The Know with Tony Reeves, I share a deeply personal story from my…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Why I Joined the Military… And the Truth I Didn’t Realize Until Years Later
People often ask me why I joined the military. The truth is the answer changed over time. At first it was about leadership and structure. Later it was about…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Growth Doesn’t Always Come on Your Terms
In this episode, I reflect on a lesson many of us learn the hard way: growth rarely happens the way we expect. Early in my career, I found myself frustrated…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Growth Doesn’t Always Happen on Your Terms
Sometimes the biggest opportunities in life arrive in ways we didn’t expect — and often in ways we didn’t want. In this episode, I reflect on a moment early in…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Professional Point of No Return: When You Have to Bet on Yoursel
At some point in your career, you will face what I call a professional point of no return. Not a promotion. Not a raise. Not a routine job change. A decision…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Unexpected Opportunities: When Career Detours Become Growth
Sometimes the opportunities that shape your life don’t arrive wrapped in comfort — they come through confusion, misinformation, or unexpected change. In this…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Becoming the Architect: Thriving Without a Blueprint
What happens when you move from structured environments into spaces where there are no clear rules? For most of our lives, we are conditioned to function…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Next Level Is Not a Logo
Everybody says they’re “trying to take it to the next level.”But what does that even mean? In this episode of In the Know with Tony Reeves, Tony challenges the…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Help me create a course
I’m exploring creating a digital course, and I want it to reflect real needs, not guesses. If there’s something you’d want help learning from my experience —…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Is a Master’s Degree Worth It? What Graduate School Really Gives You
Thinking about graduate school — or wondering if your advanced degree was worth it? In this episode of In the Know with Tony Reeves, I share real talk about…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
The Loss of Safe Space: When Safety Disappears and What It Teaches You
In this episode, I share a deeply personal story about a moment in college when my sense of safety was unexpectedly challenged — and how that experience shaped…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Shared World, Different Reality: A Reflection on Experience, Perception, and Understanding
Just because we share the same space doesn’t mean we share the same reality.In this episode, I explore the difference between what I call a shared world and a…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
How to Write a Resignation Letter When You’re Leaving on Bad Terms
Leaving a job is hard — but leaving when things didn’t end on the best terms can be one of the toughest professional moments you’ll ever face.In this episode…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
What they didn’t tell us: Navigating Life as Black Gen X without a Blueprint
What happens when you’re taught how to survive—but never shown how to build?As a member of Black Generation X, I grew up surrounded by people who did…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Welcome to 2026: How to Navigate the Anthony Reeves Experience
Welcome to 2026. This episode isn’t about promoting a platform—it’s about helping you navigate an experience. Over time, many people discover my work through…
- In The Know with Tony Reeves
Why My 24-Hour Bus Ride Shocked My Friends
In this episode, I dive into a powerful reminder that what’s normal for you isn’t always normal for everyone else.A recent conversation with a friend sparked…