Background: This article combined critical race theory and autoethnography to discuss the plight of a Black male scholar that discussed his journey from a criminal upbringing to the hospitality academia. More specifically, this article aimed to demonstrate the importance of one's paradigm and their scholarship voice within hospitality scholarship. The problem was journal gatekeepers (e.g., reviewers and editors) have the power to accept or to deny manuscripts that failed to appeal to their backgrounds or personal experiences or subjective paradigm of sound scholarship. Researchers have disparate scholarly lenses and research interests that inspired their purpose as a scholar. This purpose might galvanize researchers to investigate or to explore theories and concepts in ways that do not align with the collective thought of many gatekeepers in their genre of research. However, research paradigms are shaped by individual pathways and unique journeys taken to become a scholar. Objective: To provide a diverse perspective on publishing eclectic or nontraditional scholarship in a research environment where scholarship gatekeepers are unfamiliar with a scholar's philosophical foundation of hospitality research from my impoverished cultural background that revolved around sports and criminal activities. Method: An autoethnography was used to explore my research lens and its authentic origin. An autoethnography qualitative research approach was utilized to explore an in-depth view of my poverty and environmental experiences and how critical race theory framework impacted my perspective on leadership in hospitality research. This study will demonstrate to scholars the importance of finding your authentic voice and perspective on scholarship.