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Damon West
M.S. in Criminal Justice with a Life-Sentence on Parole, Keynote Speaker & Addiction, Recovery and Behavioral Health Advocate
Damon West
M.S. in Criminal Justice with a Life-Sentence on Parole, Keynote Speaker & Addiction, Recovery and Behavioral Health Advocate
Biography
Sentenced to sixty-five years in a Texas prison, Damon West once had it all. Damon West, M.S. Criminal Justice, is a college professor, nationally known keynote speaker and best-selling author (with best-selling author and motivational speaker Jon Gordon) of The Coffee Bean: A simple Lesson to Create Positive Change. His first book and autobiography, The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World, was published just three years after his release from a Texas maximum-security prison.
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 hard core 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.
Today, Damon lives a life of recovery and service, going to meetings and sharing his story all over the country with schools, church's, athletic teams, corporations, conferences and inside correctional facilities. Over the past few years, he has been sharing the Coffee Bean lesson with dozens of college football teams such as Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, and countless schools and businesses. His #BeACoffeeBean message has inspired thousands from Walmart to the US Army to the NBA.
Damon’s story has been featured both nationally and globally. His second book, The Coffee Bean, co-authored with best-selling author Jon Gordon, became an instant best-seller and a part of Forbes’ “Top Twenty Books You Need to Read to Crush 2020.” Damon is passionate about the Coffee Bean message and loves sharing how it changed his life and how it can change yours, too.
His latest book (with coauthor, Jon Gordon), The Coffee Bean for Kids, is the genesis for Coffee Bean Clubs being started by students at schools all over America.
Speaker Videos
Meet Damon West
Sizzle Reel
Life Beyond the Game
The Coffee Bean Life Lesson
Your Past Doesn't Define You
Lamar University Commencement Speech
Life on the Rock
NCAA Record Holder
Nick Saban
Your Past Is Your Lesson
Position Determines Perspective
Servant Leadership: The Secret To Life
Designed for school assemblies, community groups and athletes, this program is focused and personalized for school-aged audiences everywhere. Before coming in to speak to your group, Damon will learn what the most serious issues are in your community and address them as part of his presentation. This event begins with a two-minute video introducing Damon and a PowerPoint presentation plays behind him as speaks to his audience, bringing awareness to addiction and recovery and encouraging the audience to be a positive force for change. Additionally, Damon will end with a Call To Action, to be like the coffeebean from his story. At the conclusion of the event, Damon will field questions from the audience on any and all topics he discussed.
Overcoming Adversity: The Damon West Story
In this intimate and personal presentation, Damon shares his cautionary tale and message of hope in a brutally honest presentation with a microphone and PowerPoint playing behind him. This event begins with a two-minute video introducing Damon. The PowerPoint is controlled remotely by Damon, highlighting and narrating, with pictures and videos, the life-lessons (good and bad) he learned along the way. Damon takes his audience on an emotional journey from childhood sexual abuse, adolescent addiction and living with ADHD, playing Division 1 football, working in the United States Congress and ultimately working for one of the biggest Wall Street banks, UBS, before being introduced to meth. His nightmare life of meth-addicted crime and receiving the maximum punishment (Life) is vividly described. The survival stories on the life-sentence building inside a Texas maximum security prison and the lessons he learned while incarcerated, which ultimately delivered him into recovery, are spell-binding and riveting. Additionally, Damon will end with a Call To Action, to be like the coffeebean from his story. At the conclusion of the event, Damon will field questions from the audience on any and all topics he discussed.
Core Values of Your Team: Inspire to Your Full Potential
This presentation is designed for businesses and corporations to realize their full potential and stay ahead of the competition. For maximum effectiveness, Damon will personalize his story with the core values and goals of your business or organization, splicing valuable lessons and life-changing realizations he learned along the way (both in maximum security prison and after he was paroled) with your organization’s story and mission statement. Damon will build a PowerPoint (subject to your approval) to deliver one of the most powerful stories of overcoming adversity against the most extreme odds. The themes of character, grit, goals, determination and winning the day are paramount in this presentation. Additionally, Damon will end with a Call To Action, to be like the coffeebean from his story. At the conclusion of the event, Damon will field questions from the audience on any and all topics he discussed.
Position Determines Perspective: The Healthy Student
Through his position in life, Damon offers the students a unique perspective on life-balance, discipline, choices, and the consequences of decisions. Using his collegiate experience as both a student-athlete and a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Damon expands on misguided priorities, drug and alcohol abuse, and the forks-in-the-road he faced. This event begins with a two-minute video introducing Damon and a PowerPoint presentation plays behind him as speaks to his audience. At the conclusion of the event, Damon will field questions from the audience on any and all topics he discussed.
Convocations: Inspirational Keynote for Educators
Hear the message that school districts all over the country are implementing as their motto: Be A Coffee Bean! This presentation is designed for school districts and academic institutions wanting to both motivate their teachers and staff, as well as implement the vitally important message of the coffee bean - that the power to change any situation is within you, not in the outside forces around you. In this presentation, Damon will not only tell his personal story of the coffee bean, he will also talk about the five ways of becoming a coffee bean. Additionally, Damon will end with a Call To Action, to be like the coffeebean from his story. At the conclusion of the event, Damon will field questions from the audience on any and all topics he discussed and do book signings where requested.
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