TEN YEARS. ONE AIRPORT. THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS & A TED TALK!

I’ve been sitting on this miracle for a few weeks because, honestly? I needed to just sit still and feel all the feels.

Now!

I’m ready to holler all about it. Because last week, I told you about how Container Store, Amazon, and Best Buy came together for Mafia, and I have ANOTHER Best Buy story.

But wait...just in case you are new here...Move-In Day Mafia provides decked-out dorm rooms and monthly care packages for HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused or grapple with severe financial hardships.

Several weeks ago, when I sat on the plane to head to deliver my very first HBCU commencement speech at Jarvis Christian University, I got an email that made me stop cold, and I had to stifle a scream cuz you know...I couldn't get put off the plane.

Fortunately! I didn't have to stifle it for long.

The plane was delayed, and they had us disembark.

​What had me scream-gagged?

​Best Buy is giving Move-In Day Mafia $30,000.

THIRTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

I couldn't get out my phone fast enough to call ShaDonte, my good news deliverer. The first words that tumbled out of my mouth..."Dude! You don't send this in email...This is 'I need to CALL TeeJ' news."

But if you know me, you know I had one more question:

“Ummm, not to sound ungrateful... but that’s coming with some People Power, right?”

ShaDonte ain't new to my shenanigans so he already knew how I got down so he wasn't surprised.

"YES! OF COURSE!"

If you saw Best Buy in action last year at Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, and Miles College, then you already know. They weren’t standing around for photo ops.

They were moving furniture, running cords, setting up TVs, and doing the gritty work with quiet excellence.

They showed up. And they showed out.

📺 BUT HERE’S THE REAL BACKSTORY…

Back in 2016, I started speaking a completely delusional faith declaration by using a hashtag on social media:

“#BestBuyIsMySponsorTheyJustDontKnowItYet”

And I said that for ten years before I even knew what I wanted them to sponsor.

All I knew was that Best Buy was my favorite store and that somehow, we were gonna ride together.

Fast forward to 2023, I learned one of my Facebook friends actually worked at Best Buy corporate.
I found out after the fact, though.

"After the fact of what, TeeJ," you might ask.

Unbeknownst to me, she had been slowly, strategically getting Move-In Day Mafia’s name in front of the right people.

And in August of 2023, I got a call that started with "TeeJ, are you sitting down?," followed by "Best Buy is gonna give you $10,000!!!!!"

OMG OMG OMG...

That delusional hashtag of faith I had whispered for a decade?

IT. CAME. TRUE.

And you wanna know what’s even wilder?

That first $10,000 wasn’t a one-and-done.

Nope. It sparked a full-on partnership.

In 2024, Best Buy came back and DOUBLED IT—dropping $20,000 on us like it was nothing.

But they didn’t stop at dollars.

They pulled up with People Power...fluffing pillows, putting up wallpaper, hauling snacks, assembling beds and showing our scholars what excellence looks like when it has hands and a name badge.

And now?

2025 rolled in with $30,000 more.

Oh, and they’re not done.

Not only are they investing in our scholars again, they’re also the official sponsor of THEE HBCU Bingo Experience happening July 12 in Atlanta.

(You already KNOW they understood the assignment.)

Best Buy. Bingo. Blessings. It’s all connected.


IT TAKES A MAFIA (AND A MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR SPONSOR)

Here we are—three years in, and Best Buy ain’t just sponsoring.

✅ They’re building with us.
✅ They’re showing up.
✅ They’re setting the pace for how corporate partners can move with meaning.

So, if you're reading this wondering whether your company could make a difference?

Ask Best Buy. Then ask yourself: What are we waiting for?

Because right now, applications are OPEN for next year’s class of Mafia Scholars.

That means new dorms. New care packages. New emergencies. New wins.

And yep...new miracles waiting to be made.

Wanna be the next one?

We’ll gladly make room.


AND SPEAKING OF MIRACLES...

We’re gearing up for another Move-In Day season and whew...

The scholars applying this year? Real. Raw. Resilient. Their stories will wreck you and inspire you in the same breath. Their dreams are still standing, even if life tried to knock them flat.

Let me introduce you to one of the applicants we met this week.

S.T. has been in foster care for 13 years. She doesn’t know her dad. She has no contact with her mom.
When she was around 5 or 6 years old, she and her three siblings were taken from their mother.

S.T. and her younger siblings, now 16 and 14, were adopted but mistreated. She was the one who reported the abuse. It took three years for the state to believe her and remove them from that adoptive home.

Three years.

Meanwhile, she’s been placed in three different group homes. The system kept moving her, but she kept showing up.

She said she was angry. Explosive. Exhausted.

At school, she was quiet, polite, respectful. But at home?

That rage had to go somewhere.

She said she used to want to be like the older “bad girls” because they didn’t seem afraid. They looked like survival.

But here’s what gets me...

Even in the middle of all that?

She kept straight As.

She said therapy helped her process the anger. She said being heard matters. She said she still gets an attitude when she feels dismissed, but now she knows how to name it.

And that, my friend, is why Move-In Day Mafia exists.

Because that kind of fire, that kind of brilliance, that kind of resilience?

It deserves to be seen. Backed. Celebrated.

It deserves a room that doesn’t just hold her, but heals her.

More scholar stories are coming your way soon.

And I’ll be letting you know exactly how you can help us bring these rooms to life, brick by brick, blessing by blessing.

​Stay close. It’s almost move-in season.

A few months back, I submitted to speak at a TEDx event.

They turned me down.

But instead of slamming the door, they said something wild:

“This topic? It’s not right for this TEDx. But it’s perfect for our next one.”

And when I saw the theme for that next one?

“It’s Bigger Than Us: The Power of We.”

Whew! If that ain’t the whole Move-In Day Mafia mission in a sentence!

​So I reapplied.

I got selected.

And now... I get to give my SECOND TEDx Talk.

That initial “no” wasn’t rejection; it was divine redirection.

A setup for something better aligned, better timed, and bold enough to match my assignment.

So here’s your reminder:
​If the door closes, don’t assume it’s locked.
God might just be remodeling the whole room for you.
Now I get to walk in ten toes down, knowing this moment was made for me.
And yours is coming too.

Whelp! That's a wrap. See you next week. Don't forget to subscribe, like, comment, repost and hug yourself for me!

And be sure to grab your tickets to THEE HBCU BINGO EXPERIENCE! MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo