Business
Gary Robinson is an author and speaker whose search for purpose after being arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison led him to want to help young people believe in themselves and the genius that they have. Gary talked to us about when he was arrested at 20 for armed robbery and his “rewired moment” when he was sitting in his jail cell and realized that he needed to change because the way he had handled things up until that point didn’t work. He said he even prayed not to leave jail as the same person he came in as. He also spoke about his childhood and watching his mom get arrested and having to be raised by his great-grandmother. He mentioned how a neighbor had put him in a Bible study and how that experience helped him get out of the bad situation that he was in and grow closer to God. A few key things that Gary mentioned was having to be broken or hit rock bottom to recognize that you need help, and a quote from Robin Sharma: “Delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic, and cherish simplicity, because that’s where genius lives.” He said his approach to life now is simple- figure out your purpose and be great at it. You can buy a copy of his book Mining the Diamond in You: A Journey of Reinvention and Transformation here.