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The Jon Gordon Podcast

How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World | Damon West

The Jon Gordon Podcast

Jon Gordon

Leadership, Teamwork, Success, Positiveuniversity, Jongordon, Health & Fitness, Positivity, Education, Positiveu, Happiness, Teambuilding

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2019

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

His story is one of the most inspiring that you will hear.

The true story of a well-raised kid, a three-year starting quarterback, a young person filled with potential…until a shocking addiction took hold.

Sentenced to sixty-five years in a Texas prison, Damon West once had it all. He came from a great family, in a home full of God, love, support, and opportunities to reach any goal. A natural born leader, an athlete with good looks and charm, he appeared to be the all-American kid pursuing his dreams.

Underneath this facade, however, was an addict in the early stages of disease. After suffering childhood sexual abuse by a babysitter at the age of nine, Damon began putting chemicals into his body to alter the way he felt.

Once he was introduced to methamphetamines, however, 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 continues to inspire audiences today.

DAMON WEST is a motivational speaker and author of The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World. Over the past few years, he has been sharing the Coffee Bean lesson with college football teams such as Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, and countless schools and businesses. Damon is passionate about the Coffee Bean message and loves sharing how it changed his life and how it can change yours, too.

https://damonwest.org/

JON GORDON has inspired millions of readers around the world. He is the author of 18 books, including six bestsellers: The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, You Win in the Locker Room First, The Power of Positive Leadership, and The Power of a Positive Team. He is passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations, and teams.

http://www.jongordon.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to John Gordon's Positive University podcast, where John and his guest will share positive

0:07.4

inspiration, encouragement, and lessons to help you overcome your challenges and make a greater impact.

0:13.7

Our goal is that you know it, live it, and share it.

0:17.2

Let's begin.

0:19.2

Hey I'm John Gordon with Positive University and today my guest is Damon West Damon how you doing?

0:25.0

I'm great John how are you man?

0:27.0

Well it's great to have you on here your story is amazing so let's get right to it.

0:31.5

I have to tell you first it started with me visiting Clemson

0:35.1

as I had done for a number of years

0:37.2

speaking at training camp.

0:39.9

And Dabbel Sweet and I are talking in his office.

0:43.5

And he said, you know, John, we just had the most

0:46.0

amazing speaker come here and give probably

0:49.3

the most powerful message I have ever heard. I said, Dabo, you know I speak to your team every year, right?

0:57.4

And he said, yeah, but John, this is a world's different. This was not building a great

1:02.0

culture, building a great team. This was like a little different. This wasn't a great culture, building a great team.

1:03.2

This was like a life-changing experience of what this guy had been through, how he overcame it,

1:10.0

and the lesson that he shared of the coffee bean.

1:14.4

Let's back up for a second.

1:16.8

Tell us in the beginning where this all started

1:20.6

and how you came to speak at Clemson.

1:23.0

Man, John, so I mean to talk where it all started, I mean, you know, so I grew up in a town called

...

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