Ben Harris grew up in the shadow of Utah’s mountains—strong, steady, and unmoving. Life at home, however, was not. Raised by a single mother with five kids, Ben felt the constant hum of survival in the air. His mother worked tirelessly to keep the family afloat, and while they were cared for, fear was quietly shaping him.
“I was unconsciously soaking up her stress and fear and anxiety,” Ben recalls. “We were taken care of, but we were in survival mode.”
That fear, though unseen, was laying the groundwork for the man he would become.
At 16, Ben discovered hip-hop and created his first CD. Instead of hiding it, he sold it in his high school hallways, during lunch, and at basketball games. Then came an invitation that would test him: perform at a school assembly.
His body shook with fear. But there was also excitement—a spark that told him to say yes. That performance was his first visceral memory of feeling fear and moving forward anyway.
“It was terrifying and exciting,” he says. “That’s how you know something is for you.”
