Raised in Pimp City: Breaking the Cycle Before it Starts | Armand King

This week on The Cherished Lounge, Kate Ouimette-Wedell sits down with Armand King, nationally recognized speaker, author of Raised in Pimp City, and founder of Walk With Me Impact.

Armand shares his journey growing up in San Diego and entering the pimping lifestyle as a teenager while searching for identity, belonging, and direction. He talks openly about the broken homes, violence, gangs, drugs, lack of mentorship, and cultural influences surrounding him, as well as the experiences that eventually led him to leave that life behind.

Today, Armand has dedicated his work to prevention.

Through Walk With Me Impact, he works to reach boys and young people before exploitation begins, providing educators, service providers, families, and communities with practical tools rooted in lived experience and prevention.

Kate and Armand discuss the preschool-to-prison pipeline, youth mentorship, identity and self-worth, reaching boys before they become exploiters, trauma-informed care, reentry, and why awareness means little without action.

Armand also challenges those working in advocacy to care for themselves along the way, reminding us:

“You do not have to set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.”

This is a conversation about breaking cycles, reaching young people earlier, and recognizing that everyone has a role in preventing exploitation.

Learn more about Armand King and Walk With Me Impact: https://wwmimpact.com

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Mission Partners

• Cherished LA: https://www.cherishedla.org/
• Damaris Hope: https://www.damarishope.org/

Kate Ouimette-Wedell: https://www.kateouimettewedell.com/

Exposed: Surviving the Commercial Sex Industry: https://www.amazon.com/Exposed-Surviving-Commercial-Sex-Industry/dp/B0H1S5ZTRD/

Support The Cherished Lounge: http://patreon.com/Thecherishedlounge

Credits

Hosted by Kate Ouimette-Wedell

Recorded and mixed by Robert Altschuler

Produced by Command Creative Studios: https://www.commandcreativestudios.com/

Music by Danny Keene and Doug Maxwell

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