Hidden Gems: Meet Anthony M. Wiley Jr. of Welcome to Today

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony M. Wiley Jr..

Hi Anthony M., we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Sure! Like most black children in Chattanooga, I grew up in some of the roughest neighborhoods. The kind where you learn early how to stay aware. How to listen more than you talk. How to read the room before you read the book.

Home was not peaceful. My dad was abusive to my mom and me, and as a kid, you do not always know what to call that. You just know when to be quiet. When to stay out of the way. When to be ready to move. That kind of environment shapes you. It made me alert. It made me sensitive. It also made me tired early.

By the second grade, I was diagnosed with ADHD, though nobody really talked about it back then. I was always moving, always thinking, always somewhere else mentally. Teachers saw distraction. What was really happening was my brain trying to survive chaos and still create something beautiful.

My imagination and music saved me. Music was the first place I felt regulated. The first place my mind slowed down without being forced. I could disappear into sound and come back feeling a little more like myself. That love never left. Even now, music is still how I process the world. My ability to imagine a better condition or reality than the one I was experiencing pushed me forward.

The Navy came later, after losing my music scholarship to Alabama State University. I needed structure. I needed another opportunity. I needed something solid. The military gave me discipline and purpose, but it also added new layers to old stress. You learn how to function no matter what. You do not always learn how to rest.

After service, I moved into mentorship, workforce development, and leadership. Helping people find stability. Helping folks navigate systems that were not built with them in mind. On paper, I was doing well. Programs grew. Outcomes improved. People trusted me.

What people did not see was how much I was holding. PTSD. Anxiety. ADHD that never went away, just got dressed up as productivity. I was leading rooms while my nervous system stayed on edge. I was helping others breathe while forgetting to breathe myself.

Eventually, exhaustion caught up to me. Not the dramatic kind. The quiet kind. The kind that asks hard questions and demands honesty.

That is where Welcome to Today started. Not as a business idea. As a reminder. Healing does not happen later. It happens now. In the moment you stop pretending you are fine and start being honest.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No. And one of the hardest seasons came recently. Last January, I was pushed to resign from a role I had poured real time, energy, and heart into. It was not loud or dramatic. It was quiet. Strategic. The kind of situation where the writing is on the wall, and you are expected to make it easier for everyone else by stepping away gracefully.

At the same time, I was finishing my degree, starting my master’s program, and trying to build a business from the ground up. There was no clean break between loss and rebuilding. Everything overlapped. Bills still existed. Family still needed me present. My nervous system did not get a pause button.

That season tested me in ways success never had. It forced me to sit with uncertainty while staying disciplined. To grieve quietly while still showing up to class. To believe in a vision before there was external validation. There were days when faith looked less like confidence and more like stubbornness.

What made it harder was that I had done the work. I had led well. I had contributed meaningfully. Being pushed out was not about performance, and that reality messes with your head if you let it. I had to remind myself that sometimes systems reject what they cannot slow down enough to hold.

Finishing my degree while preparing for the next chapter required humility. Starting a master’s program while rebuilding identity required courage. Building Welcome to Today during that same season required belief when nothing felt stable.

That period stripped me down in the best way. It clarified what I was willing to tolerate and what I was not. It sharpened my sense of calling. It forced me to choose alignment over approval.

Looking back, I can say this: being pushed out did not end me. It redirected me. It gave me the space to build something that actually reflects who I am now, not who I needed to be to survive then.

That road has been anything but smooth.

We’ve been impressed with Welcome to Today, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Welcome to Today exists for people who are tired.

Not lazy tired. Soul tired.

We are a creative wellness and leadership company focused on mindfulness, meditation, storytelling, and real-life reflection. We work with individuals, organizations, schools, churches, and community spaces, helping people slow down, regulate, and reconnect with themselves in ways that feel human rather than performative.

What sets us apart is that we do not fake depth. We understand culture. We understand trauma. We understand that wellness is not one-size-fits-all. You do not have to change who you are to be well.

Brand-wise, I am proud that people feel safe with us. People say, “I needed this.” That tells me everything.

I want readers to know that Welcome to Today was built from lived experience. It was not created in a boardroom. It was created in moments where I had to choose myself. We help people get free, stay free, and set free.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Young Anthony was observant before he was expressive. I paid attention to everything. Tone. Body language. What people said and what they avoided. In environments where things could shift quickly, being aware felt like a form of protection. I learned early how to sit back, watch, and understand more than I said out loud.

I was thoughtful and quietly funny. Not the loud class clown, but the kid who would drop a one-liner at just the right moment. ADHD made my mind fast, curious, and a little mischievous. I could hyperfocus on the things that grabbed me and completely drift on everything else. My imagination was always running. I was either deeply locked in or somewhere else entirely.

Music was my anchor. It slowed my mind down in a way nothing else could. When the world felt loud or confusing, sound gave me order. Rhythm made sense when life did not. Music helped me regulate before I knew what regulation was. It gave me a place to put feelings I did not have language for yet. That relationship with music never left. It grew with me.

I was serious early, but not stiff. I carried weight, but I still found joy in creating. Writing, listening, imagining, making something out of nothing. Creativity felt like freedom. It still does.

I cared deeply about fairness. About people being treated right. About why some folks got grace, and others got judgment. I wanted things to make sense, especially human behavior. I felt a lot, even when I did not know what to do with those feelings. I was sensitive in a world that did not always know how to hold sensitivity, especially from a black male.

That kid never disappeared. He just learned how to speak. He learned how to name what he felt. He learned how to turn observation into insight and curiosity into purpose. The same awareness that once helped me survive eventually became the thing that helps me serve others.

Pricing:

• Guided Meditation Sessions (Individual or small group): starting at $75
• Workplace wellness and leadership experiences: custom pricing, usually $750–$3,500 depending on scope
• Community workshops and creative wellness events: sliding scale options available
• Books, digital resources, and merchandise: priced so people can actually use them

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.welcometotoday.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwelcometotoday
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freeblacksociety/#
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/awileyjr/