# Future Voices goes beyond the column > A Dallas newsroom experiments with letting young people help build the platform, not just write for it. - Title: Future Voices goes beyond the column · Dallas Express - Summary: A Dallas newsroom experiments with letting young people help build the platform, not just write for it. Young people learn faster when they're treated as… - Keywords: future voices, dallas express, youth journalism, media incubator, barber ball banter, louis darrouzet, matthew steigerwald, mentorship, content creation, young voices, texas media, news - Source: Dallas Express — https://dallasexpress.com/column/future-voices-expands-inside-the-new-incubator-and-barber-ball-banter-pilot - Author: Dallas Express - Published: 2026-09-20T12:30:57+00:00 - Read time: 4 min - Topics: future voices, dallas express, youth journalism, media incubator, barber ball banter, louis darrouzet, matthew steigerwald, mentorship, content creation, young voices, texas media, news ## A column becomes an incubator Future Voices started as a Sunday column where young Texans share stories about faith and perseverance. Now it's expanding into an incubator where the next generation learns how ideas become stories, stories become media, and media becomes something people actually want to consume. ## The experiment: turn the camera on Thirteen-year-old Louis Darrouzet has spent four years getting haircuts from Matthew Steigerwald at Mattie's Parlour in Dallas, talking constantly about fantasy football and the Cowboys. Future Voices asked a simple question: what happens if we film these conversations? ## Meet Matt: veteran turned barber Matthew Steigerwald is a military veteran who became a barber and entrepreneur. His shop, Mattie's Parlour, has a perfect five-star rating on Booksy. Customers praise not just his work but the experience and conversation in his chair. ## Louis joins the production team Louis wasn't just asked to appear on camera. He was asked to review footage and help build the platform. He immediately spotted what was missing: viewers didn't know who Matt was, didn't know their history, and the clips were too long. > If it's more than a minute, it gets really boring. ## A 13-year-old teaches adults about content Louis understood that his generation expects content to earn attention quickly. His second piece of advice was more sophisticated: the show needs tension. He wanted future episodes to capture moments when he and Matt actually disagree. > You need tension. ## Mentorship without a lecture Matt and Louis already know how to talk and disagree. When conversations turn from football to leadership, Matt draws from military service lessons. Louis listens, pushes back, and relates it to what he sees on the field. That's mentorship without preaching. ## Fantasy football as classroom Louis understands the numbers behind fantasy football: how yards, receptions and touchdowns translate into points, how projections work, how individual performances determine winners. He's analyzing data, defending arguments, and listening to competing opinions without realizing he's learning. ## The Cowboys create natural conflict Matt believes the Cowboys have talent but struggles with leadership, connecting it to military experience. Louis focuses on utilizing individual strengths and coaching. Separated by decades of life experience, they're wrestling with the same question: why can talented people still fail as a team? ## What if young people built the platform? The original Future Voices premise stays the same: young people have something worth saying, with faith as the foundation. The pilot asks what happens when they also learn to communicate across different mediums: video editing, interviewing, recognizing hooks, analyzing audiences, building brands. ## Different subjects, same principle Louis starts in a barber chair talking sports. Joseph Rockett, also thirteen, is piloting an apologetics piece exploring questions about science and faith. The subject matter and medium don't have to match. The common denominator is the young person. ## Possibilities beyond the barber chair A young person could interview a CEO, develop a business concept, produce a documentary, create an AI project responsibly, launch a fashion blog, or make a cheerleading documentary showing the athleticism and discipline most spectators never see. ## Adults should ask, not assume The incubator asks what happens when adults stop assuming they know the best way to reach the next generation and occasionally ask the next generation instead. Louis's production notes proved a thirteen-year-old can teach adults about audience engagement. ## Every Wednesday, a new experiment Fantasy football gives Barber Ball Banter a recurring structure. Every Wednesday, lineups need attention. Matt and Louis make predictions, then return the following week to face the receipts. Who was right? Who was wrong? Then they do it again with a new lineup and new argument. ## Treating young people as creators The most interesting part of Barber Ball Banter may be what happens when a thirteen-year-old is treated not as a subject in a story but as someone capable of helping create one. Louis brings perspective and opinions about audience retention. Matt brings experience and craftsmanship. ## Their voices are worth developing Different young people bring different interests and mediums. One underlying idea connects them all: their voices are worth developing. They can learn from adults, and adults can learn from them. Sometimes the camera simply lets the rest of us watch it happen. ## From writing to building The column gave young people somewhere to write. The Future Voices Incubator asks what else they might build once they've written well for long enough. In one Dallas barber chair, one answer starts with a veteran-turned-entrepreneur, a thirteen-year-old, a haircut, and a disagreement waiting to happen. ## Key takeaway Young people learn faster when they're treated as creators and decision-makers, not just subjects.