Meet Deal or No Deal Contestant Max and His Family

Famous from his viral videos as “the beatboxing Southwest flight attendant,” Max Reynolds made many of his own dreams come true with his talent (you can check him out on his YouTube channel, @MaxBeatBox). But little did he know when he took a turn as a contestant on CNBC’s Deal or No Deal, he would help make career dreams come true for his three driven kids: Josiah, Jordan, and Eliana. Envision is so proud to be a part!

Here’s how it happened. When Max was asked to come onto Deal or No Deal, someone in the family mentioned to the producers how much his middle son, Jordan, was dying to attend National Youth Leadership Forum: Engineering, an Envision Experience program. With this information in hand, Deal or No Deal producers reached out to Envision to help make Jordan’s dream come true. But we wanted to know more about the family of five—were there also passions for the other children that we could potentially help nurture?  

The answer was an enthusiastic “yes”...and the moment the family learned about the gift of three full scholarships for Envision programs on the episode of Deal or No Deal was electric.

 

Interviewed by our team afterwards, Max said the moment was a total shock. “It was boom as if I just froze. I was like ‘No, they didn’t. No, you didn’t!” he said. “It was just perfect for each one of them.”

Josiah, a college Junior, is also an ardent future engineer. In fact, he wants to become a mechatronic engineer— a combination of electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and control engineering. We were able to provide him a place at the International Scholar Laureate Program, a program for college-age students where he’ll be studying engineering & technology in China, while also experiencing the culture and sights of the world’s largest nation, like the Great Wall.

Josiah’s passion for engineering started at a young age.  Max told us that by two-years-old, he was already tinkering around with mechanical design. “He never played with toys, but he always made his own toys even at 2 years old,” Max said. Later he said, his pipe cleaner figurines attracted the attention of a teacher. “She said this wasn’t just engineering, it was art, and my son’s action figures were actually featured in an art gallery!”

During the show, it was Jordan, Max’s middle child, who heard host Howie Mandel say “Envision Experience” and jumped up immediately.  Max still remembers when Jordan first received his invitation to join NYLF Engineering. “I remember the day that Jordan looked at his invitation. You know how you can get something in the mail and look at it and then forget it because you don’t have the money to do it?  That’s what I did,” he said, “But Jordan never forgot about it.”

Of course, we didn’t forget about Eliana! Since learning about her passion for animation, Envision had the perfect opportunity for her. When Eliana found out she would be attending the Envision Game & Technology Academy this summer, she had tears in her eyes. “I could show you her art all day. Her art is what she does,” Max says with intense reverence. Eliana started her art career the traditional way, on paper. After speaking with a friend, Max realized he needed to get her into the technology side of art and splurged on an iPad Pro. “Now she has found a way to unlock all these things in her head and get them out into the world.” Eliana’s art has been featured many times on Animal Jam, a game created for 12-15 year-olds, and she has other commissions in the works right now.

“I was blessed to have three kids who know what they want to do when they grow up,” Max marveled. Often, with the changing job landscape and the breadth of opportunities available, students struggle with what their future career path should be. When asked what he hopes will be the outcome after attending each Envision Experience program, Max said, “I want them to come home with more fuel for their passion -  more fuel to fan the flame of their passion because their passion is already very strong. It’s like adding a bomb to something that’s already explosive.”

Max and his family’s journey will continue this summer with Envision Experience as they engage in hands-on experiences with what fuels their interests and their future paths. We can’t wait to host Josiah, Jordan, and Eliana!

Do you or someone you know have a career passion they want to learn more about? Join us this summer at an Envision Experience program. Everyone at Envision supports the mission to help our scholars find and feed their passion and build the path to their career. And CNBC airs all-new episodes of “Deal or No Deal” Wednesdays at 9 PM ET/PT if you want to check out other contestants.