Blake Eason is a Journalist, Producer, and On-Air Personality with a passion to tell stories and start conversations. He currently sits behind the desk and out in the field for WRBL in Columbus, Georgia, serving as both a weekend news anchor and producer as well as a weekday reporter.
After earning a degree in Journalism and Emerging Media, Blake got his start early on at the nationally syndicated radio show, The Bert Show.
Within a few months, he moved from a behind the scenes intern to an on-air personality and producer, creating and producing is own segments including, “Backseat Blake,” an on-air trivia segment played with his frequent Uber and Lyft drivers, and “Lunch Break with Blake,” where he, as a self-proclaimed picky-eater tried new foods suggested by listeners.
In 2019, he took on the role of hosting special events at some of the staples of Atlanta’s social scene, including The Roof at Ponce City Market and Live! at the Battery Atlanta, with more than 1,000 people in attendance at each event. It’s his quick improv skills, the ability to go off-script when needed, and his attentiveness to the audience that make him an incredible host.
He left the show in 2020 to pursue a career in television news and journalism. As a host, Blake has taken the stage across the Southeast to lead major live events and productions.
Being from a small town in the South has taught Blake to always be grateful, stay grounded, and find a way to include Sweet Tea with every meal and “ya’ll” in every conversation.
More than anything, Blake has a passion to share stories that matter — the kind of stories that start conversations, bring people joy, and maybe even change the way we see the world.
Blake and Stuart have an inspiring conversation regarding Blake’s journey, leadership, excellence and courage.
Read Luke 19:1-10.
The hallmark of Jesus’ ministry was His willingness to accept the unacceptable: the outcasts, the sinners, the unlovable people. Acceptance was the staple of His sustained influence. Acceptance paves the way to influence. Our hearts gravitate toward acceptance. We are open to the influence of those who accept us. We resist the influence of those who reject us.
Acceptance means that we serve those that need God most. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to be served, but to serve. Serving others, whether in great or small capacity, is a living example of the heart of God. Serving can mean something as meaningful as visiting a friend in the hospital or when tragedy strikes to something as simple as holding a door open. Shane Claiborne of The Simple Way went to Calcutta, India to apprentice under Mother Theresa. The first thing he noticed was that she always removed her shoes when she prayed. Claiborne found that he could not stop staring at her feet because they were so grotesquely deformed.
When the prayer time was over, Claiborne asked one of the sisters what kind of illness left Mother Theresa’s feet so malformed. The sister answered him, “Mother Theresa’s feet were not born like that. When people give shoes, she always waits to the very end and takes the shoes that no one else wants.” Over time, her feet responded by twisting and contorting to take the shape of ill-fitted footwear.
By serving, Mother Theresa was paving a path of influence.
Are you active in the lives of those that need God most? You cannot expect to gain sustained influence in the life of a friend by standing on the sidelines of their life. You have to jump in and get connected. How do you do that?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
In this Episode’s Version, INFLUNSR. asked you to read an excerpt from The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green regarding self-service grocery store revolution launched by one Clarence Saunders. Saunders was 35 years old when he developed the concept for a grocery store that would have no clerks or counters but instead a labyrinth of aisles that customers would walk themselves, choosing their own food and placing it in their own shopping baskets. Saunders called his grocery store Piggly Wiggly. Saunders died at the Wallace Sanitarium in 1953, at the age of 72. One obituary opined, “Some men achieve lasting fame through success, others achieve it through failure.” Saunders was a huckster. He committed securities fraud. He helped usher in an era of food that fills without nourishing. He was also a genius ahead of his time who understood the power of branding and efficiency.
Theology — our study and beliefs about God — should be a natural process involving change instead of avoiding it. God is too big and too wonderful to completely understand by the time we graduate high school, or college, or reach a certain age.
Our life experiences, relationships, education, exposure to different cultures and perspectives continually affect the way we look at God. Our faith is a journey, a Pilgrim’s Progress, and our theology will change. And while we may not agree with a person’s new theological belief, we need to stop viewing theological change as something inherently negative.
In many ways, Jesus’s entire ministry was about changing the way people thought about God — changing their beliefs. Jesus was also lovingly patient with his disciples as they bumbled their way through mistake after mistake, and we need to be equally loving and gracious.
Interestingly, the people in the Bible who were the most self-confident about their beliefs were usually the ones who were wrong and rebuked by Jesus, while those who were humble and eager to learn were the ones Jesus used in powerful ways. Wise people admit when they’re wrong, but when it comes to theology most people spend all of their time and energy buttressing and protecting their own personal beliefs instead of critically, prayerfully, humbly, and honestly questioning them.
Are you spiritually arrogant or humble? Do you know what you don’t know?
Let’s dive into this in the Circle…
We asked you ask for your parents or guardian’s permission and watch the groundbreaking film Field of Dreams. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his corn field tell him, “If you build it, he will come.” He interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm, upon which appear the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other seven Chicago White Sox players banned from the game for throwing the 1919 World Series. When the voices continue, Ray seeks out a reclusive author to help him understand the meaning of the messages and the purpose for his field.
Ray has to come to terms with the motivation that drove him to plow under his field, to build the baseball diamond, to drive to Boston and everything else he does in the film. Yet, when he is pushed he has to come to terms with the very thing that drives him to follow the leading of the spirit. When it comes to following your intuition, your conscience or the leading of God, what is your motivation? Does serving others play a role in these decisions? The heart of this film is to show the importance of reconciliation. Are there relationships that you need to reconcile? What do you think you can do to fix these connections, if they need mending?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to read Malala: I Survived the Taliban. I Fear for My Afghan Sisters New York Times guest essay by Malala Yousafzai, a survivor of a Taliban assassination attempt, an activist for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Malala Yousafzai writes, “We will have time to debate what went wrong in the war in Afghanistan, but in this critical moment we must listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls. They are asking for protection, for education, for the freedom and the future they were promised. We cannot continue to fail them. We have no time to spare.” As a next generation leader, how do you balance the obvious danger and despair of Afghani women and the peril our armed forces face in this theater? Is there a viable solution, in your mind? What is it?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to read Christianity Today article titled What Christian Aid Workers Want You to Know About Afghanistan by Rebekah Hopkins.
US forces are withdrawing after 20 years, but the story of Christian aid work goes far beyond military conflict.
Rebekah Hopkins writes, “According to Loewen, there is a Greek word for this. It’s philoxenos, or “loving the stranger.” That’s how Christians are supposed to treat their neighbors, and it’s also the key, he said, to foreign aid work.” What lesson can we learn from the aid work in Afghanistan as it relates to your own circle of influence at home, at school, at play, at work?
Time to dive into this in the Circle…
We asked you to read How To Be a Good Ancestor Vox article by Sigal Samuel.
Don’t get trapped in the now. You can help future generations survive risks like climate change, pandemics, and artificial intelligence.
There’s a story in the Talmud that Wallach likes to tell participants: “One day, a man named Honi was walking along and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked him, ‘How many years will it take until it will bear fruit?’ He said, ‘Not for 70 years.’ Honi said, ‘Do you really believe you’ll live another 70 years?’ The man answered, ‘I found this world provided with carob trees, and as my ancestors planted them for me, so I too plant them for my descendants.’”
What the man expresses in the story is gratitude toward his ancestors, and it’s that emotion that propels him to look out for his future descendants. The story captures a truth about human psychology that has since been validated in scientific studies: Eliciting gratitude in people is an effective behavioral nudge for getting them to act in the best interests of future generations.
What are you leaving for those who come behind you?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to read the Wall Street Journal article What Will Happen to the Women of Afghanistan? by Bartle Bull Sr.
“The teachers and students I met in 2010 will suffer the most under the return of Taliban rule….”
Bartle Bull Sr. writes, “Today America is seeking to avoid this shame by welcoming thousands of Afghan translators and others to relocate. But Afghanistan’s women will suffer the most under a restoration of Taliban rule. They are too many to emigrate or to escape. None will be in more danger than the teachers. None will suffer our departure more cruelly.” Is there a correct answer to this incredibly complicated problem?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to watch the Fox Sports Field of Dreams game introduction as Kevin Costner leads the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox from the cornfield to the Field of Dreams diamond ahead of their historic matchup in Iowa.
Actor Kevin Costner said, “Our imaginations are infinite. Sculpting a baseball diamond in a farmer’s field, in Iowa.” For many, Field of Dreams teaches us you need to have big dreams and follow them. A MLB game coming to a 193-acre farm in Iowa represents a dream realized. Henry James once defined life as “that predicament which precedes death, and certainly nobody owes you a debt of honor or gratitude for getting him into that predicament. But a child does owe his father a debt, if Dad, having gotten him into this pack of trouble, takes off his coat and buckles down to the job of showing his son how best to navigate through it.” Field of Dreams asks the question, “What is it about fathers and sons?” How does the reality that a film about a son and his father could stand the test of time, result in a MLB game in the middle of a cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa? What is the power of this narrative mean to you as a next generation leader?
Let’s dive into this in the Circle…
Disclaimer:
INFLUNSR’s mission is to fuel the next generation of leaders worth following and to help students learn how to think, not what to think. Any articles posted and questions asked are intended for that sole purpose.