Editor's Note: One of the goals of NEPM's Media Lab is to collaborate with the NEPM newsroom and Masslive.com to give high school and college students in Greater Springfield an opportunity to practice the skills needed to become multi-media journalists.
These community leader profiles were written by the 2025 summer cohort of Media Lab youth producers — high school students learning about interviewing, photographing, filming and writing. Of all the articles written this summer four were chosen to be highlighted on the NEPM website homepage.
Today we finish up the series highlighting Media Lab Youth Media Producer Roderick Correa's interview with Angel Rios, the host of “The Rally Cry” podcast and founder of the card game “Enough Said.”
At 26-years-old, Angel Rios has made a name for himself as a young entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and a board member of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, an organization devoted to building young leaders through networking. On top of that, he’s the host of “The Rally Cry” podcast and founder of the card game “Enough Said.”
Rios is originally from New York, but moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, with his grandma. He faced mental health struggles growing up and often felt the world was against him, but as he grew older he realized “life doesn’t come at you, it comes for you.” Through this realization, he overcame his thoughts and worked to become successful.
When asked what keeps him going Rios said, “I think, you know, with the podcast and having the card game I created, like it’s bigger than me. And every day I ask myself, 'What is my why?' And, you know, the biggest thing is just to make an impact and make the world a better place.”
Since launching “The Rally Cry” podcast, Rios has used his platform to put emphasis on mental health issues that occur within Springfield. He launched his podcast after a breakup and wanted to inspire others, drawing inspiration from Big Sean, an American rapper. Through his card game he has fostered many deep and open conversations with young people, putting emphasis on the importance of speaking and storytelling. To play this game you need a minimum of 2 people. Whoever picks the first card reads the question, and answers it. If you don’t want to answer or don’t have more to say, you say “Enough Said.”
“I always try to find ways to story tell as well because it’s just a creative way of expressing yourself…because we can be talking surface level, but how can we talk more deeper so other people can really understand me and just be more engaged in what I’m trying to tell them,” he said.
Rios said he notices that young people tend to restrict themselves to what they say, hear, and believe. He recalls his mom teaching him the words of power when he’d say he couldn’t do something. Rios says his mom taught him, “when you say you can't... you can't, whatever you give is what you get.”
Rios hopes to continue his work, and reach the hearts of young people. He advises them, “Don’t rush. Just be you. Be authentic. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Look at it as inspiration, but don’t look at it as you’re going to copy and paste it,” he said.
