From Life Sentence to Sought After Speaker; the Ring Leader of an Organized Crime Syndicate in Texas Shares his Tweaker Tricks of the Trade and the Message He Heard in Jail the Changed His Life

Note from Jeannine: So, this is a pretty big one for me. In 2020, while my studio was closed, I started manically listening to various podcasts every day looking for motivation and insight. One morning while sitting on the floor of our strength room, I heard the story of The Coffee Bean, as told through Clemson coach, Dabo Sweeney. The origins of that story begin in a jail cell in Texas - with today's guest. Interviewing him and telling him the impact his story had on me was a very cool experience and a reminder to me that my Higher Power is always working in my life...even when I can't see it. Special thank you to Dave from Dopey for connecting me with Damon. Enjoy!

Episode description:

Today Jeannine interviews Damon West, M.S. Criminal Justice. Damon is a college professor, internationally known keynote speaker and 3 x Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His bestselling business book, The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change, was listed by Forbes’ in the “Top Twenty Books You Need to Read to Crush 2020.”

His autobiography, The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World, vividly tells how he transformed the pot of boiling water that is a Texas maximum-security prison into a pot of coffee.

At 20 years old, he was a Division 1 starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, when he suffered a career ending injury. He turned to hardcore drugs to cope with disappointments of life. After graduation, he worked in the United States Congress, was a national fundraiser on a U.S. Presidential campaign and eventually trained to be a stockbroker for United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). One day at UBS, he was introduced to methamphetamines; he became instantly hooked—and the lives of so many innocent people would forever be changed by the choices he made in order to feed his insatiable meth habit.

After a fateful discussion during his incarceration with a seasoned convict, Damon had a spiritual awakening. He learned that, like a coffee bean changing with the application of heat and pressure, he was capable of changing the environment around him. Armed with a program of recovery, a renewed faith, and a miraculous second chance at life, Damon emerged from over seven years of prison a changed man. His story of redemption, grit and determination continues to inspire audiences today.

Damon shares his story of how his first use of meth escalated into homelessness in 18 months, including all manner of tweaker hijinks, including a mail man hustle and stealing a car from the Texas Rangers police impound. We talk recovery, resentments, rebuilding after incarceration and never letting dreams die. Let me know what y'all think!

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See you next week!