An Inspired Chat with J. Dwayne Garnett of Fuquay-Varina

We recently had the chance to connect with J. Dwayne Garnett and have shared our conversation below.

J. Dwayne, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
What I’m being called to do now is bring voice to the silent weight men carry, something I once feared would be dismissed, misunderstood, or even ridiculed. For a long time, I hesitated to speak openly about the emotional toll of misandry, false allegations, fatherhood challenges, and the quiet grief that often lives behind a man’s eyes.

I worried that shining a light on these truths would be seen as weak, or worse, as an attempt to overshadow the struggles of others. But the more I wrote, the more I realized that silence was a cage, and truth, no matter how uncomfortable, was the only key.

Can I Just Write became more than a book. It became my release. My refusal to pretend I was okay when I wasn’t. My way of saying, “We hurt too.”
So now, I’m being called to keep writing, keep speaking, and keep creating space for others to say, “Me too,” without shame. What I once feared, I now embrace, because healing requires honesty, and every voice matters. Even ours.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m J. Dwayne Garnett, author, speaker, and Founder of Love Is A Parable, a nonprofit rooted in value-based education, advocacy, and empowerment. I write from lived experience, turning vulnerability into strength and pain into purpose. Through poetry, workshops, and public dialogue, I aim to create safe spaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued, especially men navigating silent struggles.

My latest work, Can I Just Write, is a deeply personal collection of 30 poems that explores misandry, abuse, fatherhood, grief, and healing. What makes this book unique is its unfiltered honesty. It doesn’t shy away from hard truths. It gives voice to the emotions men often suppress and challenges the societal norms that silence them.

At Love Is A Parable, we believe love isn’t just a feeling. It’s action. It’s connection. It’s accountability. And we’re building a movement around that message.

Right now, I’m focused on amplifying the message of Can I Just Write through community conversations, creative collaborations, and platforms that are ready to hear what silence never could say.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What breaks the bonds between people is the failure to recognize each other’s value—especially when that value is hidden or unspoken. We miss what we don’t affirm. We overlook what we don’t take time to understand. And slowly, invisibility replaces intimacy.

But bonds are restored when we begin to see beyond roles, titles, and expectations. When we acknowledge the quiet strengths, the unseen sacrifices, and the truths that often go uncelebrated. Restoration happens when we honor the whole person, not just the parts that benefit us.

Because value is not always loud. Sometimes it whispers. And whether hidden or unrecognized, values still influence how we choose, connect, and carry one another. When we finally learn to listen, we begin to heal what was broken.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me to listen to what hurts, what heals, and what holds.

It stripped away applause and performance, leaving only what was real. In the silence of pain, I discovered a depth of resilience, empathy, and clarity that success could never offer. Suffering made me question everything I thought I knew about worth, about strength, about love, and in that unraveling, I found truth.

Where success often rewards what’s visible, suffering reveals what’s buried. It taught me that survival is sacred. That scars are stories. That being seen isn’t the same as being understood. And that wholeness isn’t the absence of pain, it’s the decision to keep showing up anyway.

Suffering taught me to write, not to be praised, but to be free. That’s something success never demanded, but suffering insisted on.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I’m committed to making this world a better place through the work of Love Is A Parable, no matter how long it takes. At our core, we believe that love is more than a feeling; it’s a practice rooted in values, connection, and truth. Whether we’re helping people rediscover their self-worth, creating safe spaces for honest dialogue, or challenging the systems that silence and divide us, our commitment remains the same: to restore humanity through love, one conversation, one life, one step at a time. This isn’t about quick wins, it’s about lasting change.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say I reminded them they mattered. That I didn’t just speak about love, I lived it. That through Love Is A Parable and Can I Just Write, I helped people put language to their silence and find hope in their heaviness. I want them to remember that I stood in the gap for those who felt unseen, that I honored truth even when it was uncomfortable, and that I believed healing was a journey worth taking, together. Not because I had all the answers, but because I never stopped showing up with an open heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://loveisaparable.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveisaparable/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/loveisaparable/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoveIsAParable
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveisaparable/
• Soundcloud: http://youtube.com/c/LoveIsAParable
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@loveisaparable
  https://www.threads.net/@loveisaparable