He found himself going to open-mic sessions but it was only when he found poetry slams that he came into his own. "The first time I went to a poetry slam, it was the only place that people wouldn't kick me out; they would just give me low scores." "The competition made me better. It also made me aware of how my words could set the mood of an entire room." "I started in Vallejo and Benicia so I have a lot of love for people who just completely are defiant in the space of small towns who create a space for people to speak and to create an open forum. It's like flame throwers for moths. There's a lot of magic that can happen with that. It certainly changed my life." "Poetry and spoken word became an outlet for everything that was naked and confessional. There's something raw about simply telling your story without pretense, without props, just you and a microphone. There's no hiding up there, it's just you and your ghosts."