Les Brown
Article by: Baron Samuel
Baron Samuel, Head Columnist
for the Men of Standard column
had the honor of speaking
exclusively
with
renown,
motivational
speaker
and
Mamie Brown’s Baby Boy, Les
Brown. You may know Les as
a public speaker, author and
television personality who has
risen to national prominence
by delivering a high energy
message of how to shake
off mediocrity and live up to
greatness to people around the
world!
Although Les Brown has
achieved a great measure
of success through his gift of
motivating people to achieve
the greatness within them, his
story began in a very different
manner. Being a native of
Liberty City, a low-income
section of Miami, Florida, Les
and his twin brother, Wes were
adopted by Mrs. Mamie Brown
when they were only six weeks
old. To this day, Les Brown
continues to pay tribute to his
mother, concluding each of
his speeches by saying: “This
has been Mrs. Mamie Brown’s
Baby Boy.” citing “I feel like God
took me out of my biological
mother’s womb and placed
me in the heart of my adopted
mother.” As a child, Les’
inattention to school work, his
restless energy and the failure
of his teachers to recognize his
real potential resulted in him
being mislabeled as a slow
learner. The label and stigma
placed on Les stayed with him
resulting in damage of his selfesteem to such an extent that it
took several years to overcome.
When asked how he overcame
such animosity and doubt,
here’s what Les Brown had
to share: “In fifth grade, I was
labeled as educable mentally
retarded. I was pushed back
from the fifth grade to the fourth
grade and failed again in the
eighth grade. I have no college
training. I had a high school
teacher who is now in his 90’s
and blind from glaucoma,
Mr. Leroy Washington. He
challenged me one day in the
classroom when I told him I
couldn’t do what he was asking
and I told him I wasn’t one of
his students and he insisted.
The students started saying
he’s Leslie and has a twin
brother named Wesley. They
said his brother (Wesley) is
smart and he’s (Leslie) DT. Mr.
Washington asked, “What’s
DT?” They responded, “Dumb
twin.” They erupted in laughter.
I said, “I am, Sir.” He came
from behind his desk, looked
at me, and said, “Don’t ever
say that again. Someone’s
opinion of you does not have
to become your reality!” That
was the turning point in my life!
From that point because of my
relationship with him, I waited
after school to talk with him
and he would drive me home
and spend time talking to me.
I started reading motivational
books reading, listening to
audio programs, and going
to seminars and workshops.
It evolved from there to my
speaking to corporations and
organizations around the world
to now teaching people how to
tell their story and how to create
an experience with their story
that will empower people and
give them a vision of themselves
beyond their circumstances and
their mental condition.”
Despite having no formal
education
beyond
high
school,
his
persistence
and determination initiated
and continued a process of
unending self-education which
has distinguished him as an
authority of human potential.
His journey has taken him
from a hip-talkin morning
DJ to broadcast manager;
from community activist to
community leader; from polit ical
commentator to a 3-term
legislator; and from a banquet
and nightclub emcee to a
premier keynote speaker.
Harnessing a passion to learn
and hunger to realize greatness
within himself, Les Brown’s
journey carried him into the
public speaking arena on a full
time basis in 1986. This marked
the beginning of his renown
company, Les Brown Unlimited,
Inc. which provides motivational
tapes
and
materials,
workshops,
and
personal/
professional
development
programs aimed at individuals,
organizations and companies.
Just three short years later,
Les Brown was bestowed the
National Speakers Association
highest honor, The Council of
Peers Award of Excellence.
Continuing to perfect his
craft, Les recorded his first
speech in a series of speech
presentations entitled “You
Deserve” with Les Brown. The
series was awarded a Chicagoarea Emmy and became the
leading fund-raising program
of its kind. His hard work and
achievement was later solidified
by being selected one of
America’s Top Five Speakers
for 1992 by Toastmasters
International. It was clear that
riding on his belief that “just
because faith doesn’t deal
you the right cards, it doesn’t
mean you should give up. It
just means you have to play the
cards you get to their maximum
potential,” had propelled Les’
into greatness. When asked
how that quote applied to his
life and how it can impact the
lives of others, here’s what Les
Brown had to say: “In what I am
doing now at this level, I have
found that being recognized as
the top motivational speaker
on the planet and selected by
Toastmasters among the top
five in the world. I got more
votes than the others combined.
What I’ve found that works
is that what I’m doing I didn’t
attempt to do it for 14 years. My
mentor, Mike Williams, who has
been with me for 44 years, saw
this Les Brown before I did. One
thing I think is very important
for people is to get someone in
your life that can see what you
can’t see. Sometimes you can’t
see the picture when you’re in
the frame. I was a disc jockey
in Columbus, Ohio and I was
called, “Les Brown-The Man
about Sound.” I was walking
down the hall with a big afro,
dashiki, jeans, and tennis
shoes. He said, “Les Brown,
you are more than a disc jockey
and you are more than The
Man about Sound. You have
the ability to communicate with
people and leaders around the
world. At that time, I could not
see it. Just because you can’t
see, does not mean you can’t
do it! My favorite Book says,
Eye have not seen, ear have
not heard, nor has it entered
the heart of mankind what God
has in store for you. When I
look and reflect on my life and
I see this common among a lot
of people, people decide not
to do something because it’s
hard. I did not what I’m doing
now because it would be hard
for me to compete against
people with PhD’s, MBAs, and
years of experience of working
for corporations. I did not have
college experience and to
compete against them in the
open market and to position
myself as an intellectual
resource would just be too
much to accomplish. I was 37
at the time and I discovered
something from that because
eventually I did decide to do
it. If you do something that is
easy and that is give yourself
a pass, point out all of your
shortcomings, focus on what
you can’t do instead of what
you can; your life will be hard.
If you do what is hard, your
life will be easy. I made some
hard choices and I did it! I had
to change my way of dressing
wearing a red tie and white shirt
and learning the language of
corporations. I followed them
around and learned everything
I could. I spent thousands of
dollars and invested in myself.
As a result I have been able
to travel the world, change
millions of peoples’ lives, and
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DECEMBER 2013
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