Damon West: Transforming Rock Bottom into Maximum Impact

22:53It's like the old Maya Angelou quote, right? People don't always remember what you say, don't always remember what you do, but they always remember how you make them feel. And I remember how I felt that day that Muhammad told me, and I'm going to tell you the one word I felt was empowered. He put the power back inside me. You know, Mick, that's a big thing, Because at that time, the power was inside the criminal justice system, the guards, the inmates. They had all the power in my mind. But he put the power back inside me. And if the power was inside me, I don't survive prison. I thrive in that prison.

23:25And that's what I want your audience to take away from this thing. The power is inside each and every one of you. It's not what goes on in the cities you come from, the states you're from, the crazy politics and social problems this country has right now. It's in you. It's not what goes on in the workplace, the schools you go to. Whatever you're going through right now, the power is always going to be inside you, baby.

23:46Mick:Man, I love that, brother. I love that. And I know being a former athlete, you do spend a lot of time talking to professional teams, to colleges. And I want to talk about your good friend and how he inspired you. and everybody that knows this the viewers and listeners you know i'm from the upstate of south carolina and there's a a little college in my backyard that i hated growing up that college is clemson university right like i had an uncle that played football at the university of georgia in the early 80s georgia and clemson was a huge rivalry so by default i was a georgia guy right i graduated high school and clemson was the first school that i told no because i'm a unc tar hill however and i know he's probably listening to this dabbo sweeney is one of my most respected human beings on planet earth um the man that he is the character that he has but more importantly you know you talked about maya angelou's quote how you feel when you are in dabbo's presence you never forget right oh man the words that he gives the the character that he has the spirit that he embodies you never forget.

25:03Mick:And so while I might not be a Clemson University fan, I'm not a Tiger. I freaking love Dabo Sweeney. So Dabo, I want you to know that. But Damon, man, talk to us about that first interaction you had with Dabo and how that was a real big catapult for you and the things that you wanted to do in life. Yeah, so the Dabo story, and here's what we got to tell, Although before I get to that, it's the fact that I did go to prison. I did become a coffee bean inside there. Prison was the hardest thing I've ever been through. You know, it was the best training ground for me, too. I tell people all the time I had a spiritual awakening inside the prison.

25:43I was able to transform myself from that low life guy that got sentenced to life in prison to being a man of purpose and a man that saw himself as the voice of this coffee bean message that Muhammad gave me. and it was hard man prison was hard the first two weeks i'm fighting the white gangs after that it's the black gangs but sports it's back to sports on the rec yard in prison is where i finally earned the respect to exist inside that world and the reason why i went to play sports to do it i was actually fighting the black gangs at that point i show up on the basketball court where no white guys are allowed right but i show up there and play basketball for a week with these guys because I know, Mick, that in America, sports is the great uniter.

26:28You know, you and I were just chopping it up about college football. Sports is the great uniter. Sports brings people together like nothing else can. Not even religion will bring us Americans together like sports because we can self-segregate religions in America, and we do. But sports is the place where we all come together, man. That's where all the big melting pot is. And here's what I was thinking as I went to the rec yard that week to play some basketball. before there was Martin Luther King Jr. there was Jackie Robinson before you integrated lunch before you integrated lunch counters in the south you integrated locker rooms I knew sports would be the thing that did it for me and I go out there and I earn the respect of all those guys out there and then I started transforming myself inside that prison and I started serving other men I learned about servant leadership when you help other people reach their goals in life I start teaching guys how to read and write I get guys ready for the GED test so if they ever get out, they can be a better husband or a better father one day.

27:25And I watch these guys learn how to serve each other in there. And that's what's really got parole's attention when they finally let me go in 2015 on parole for the rest of my life. When I got out of prison, I found out there were other men waiting to serve me. Servant leadership, right? You know, Mick, when I got out, I knew I was sitting on an incredible story and a great message. But the problem was there just weren't a lot of places for me to share that story. And I found out really quick, you can't go knock on the door of a high school and say, I just got out of prison. I want to talk to your kids.

27:55Right. I mean, they will chase you down the street. I didn't have a lot of places to go speak in the very beginning. And I lived in my parents' spare bedroom for the first two years I was out of prison. I lived with my parents. I was grateful to have that spare bedroom. But what I did have is a little vanity mirror. My mom had that spare bedroom when I moved in. and uh mick i think you either find an excuse or you find a way in life and my my position i was in right there i was like hey man i want to go share my story but i don't have an audience but i found that mirror to be my audience every day for two years i practice this presentation that i do now i practice that presentation in front of that mirror i got in my reps anything you want to be good at in life you got to practice that in life because there's no such thing is an overnight success.

28:43It doesn't exist. It's not real. You got to get in your reps. Yeah. But for two years, I'm doing this presentation in front of this mirror, getting my timing down, getting good. I'm getting myself ready for the right opportunity. And I believe the right opportunity is going to be the world of college football because I played division one college football. You know, I played, I was a quarterback at the University of North Texas. About the same time you were at UNC actually, I was there from 94 to 99 playing college football. We're both playing D1 at the same time. The problem is it's been 20 years since I took a snap.

29:13You know, college coaches don't know me. I don't know any of them. January 11th, 2017. I've been out of prison 14 months at this point. A buddy of mine in Houston, which is 90 miles from Beaumont where I live, he calls me, he watches the media. He said, hey, Damon, get to Houston right now. It's the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award. They're going to name the best college football coach in America. He said, the eight best coaches in the country in this room right now. I've got an extra press pass. I'll sneak you in. Mick, man, I drove the 90 miles and brought him on to Houston. Yeah, man, I got there, brother.

29:44And he sneaks me in the back door of the Toyota Center, hands me a press pass, and so I'm in the room. And all these coaches there, USC, Wisconsin, Penn State, P.J. Fleck, they're all there. So I run to these coaches, and I shake their hands, and I give them my pitch of why they should bring me in to talk to their team. And every single coach I met that night, Mick, slammed the door in my face. They all said no. in one hour I got seven no's from eight coaches that's a no every eight minutes man I'm standing in the corner to Yoda center man I'm licking my wounds I'm feeling sorry for myself and I'm 10 feet from that door to leave the voice in my head is screaming at me go home the voice in my head is telling me I don't belong there the voice in my head calls me an imposter that night I bet everybody listening to this show right now you know the imposter voice we all know it but I'm going to tell you something I quit doing a long time ago, Mick, is listening to myself.

30:37And I think you should really consider whether you listen to yourself, too. Because sometimes I found out the voice in my head was fear talking to me. And you don't want to listen to fear because fear is a liar. So instead of listening to myself, I talk to myself. I do it all the time. I've been doing this since prison. That night, I'm telling myself, Damon, you're not going anywhere, man. That last coach is going to tell you no to your face before you go home. And Mick, that last coach, he's the hardest guy to get to in the room. His team just beat Alabama two nights before for the national championship.

31:07Yep. That was Sweeney, man. But I reminded myself that night, right there on the spot, I'm telling myself, Damon, you survived a maximum security prison, man. This is not going to hurt you like prison hurts you. Sometimes in life, I think that we need to remind ourselves of the times when we succeeded. Remember the wins that you have in life. Remember how good you are and what you did to get to that place you were right there. That's the message you need to tell yourself, man, I've done this before. I'm going to do it again. And I'm like, I'm not leaving until he tells you no. So Mick, I stalk Dabo around this room and I'm like a crazy person, man.

31:43I'm hiding behind fake plants. I'm pushing people out of the way. Folks are getting nudged by me. Dabo sees me and security sees me too. And man, it's who's going to get there first, right? But I get in front of Dabo and I give him my pitch and man, Dabo looks a little frightened. He's like, man, you got a card on you. I'm like, oh this is awful man so i give him my card he's nice enough he said man i'll check you out he's gone and um that night man that looked like a no and felt like a no man i got a lot of no's like that that night but i felt good about that last no because that no meant that i left it all on the field one of the biggest lessons we learned from sports right we learned that you give it all sometimes you come up short you know or like muhammad said you don't have to win all those fights you got to fight the fights make it one home that night i slept like a baby forgot about that night.

32:30Four months later, the operations director at Clemson, a guy named Mike Newley, he emails me. It says, Coach Swinney met you at a award show in Houston. He would love to have you come talk to the team. Do you have August 1st open? And I'm like, brother, I got every first open, man. What are you talking about? I'm talking to a mirror, man. That would have known that though. So August 1st, 2017, I go speak to the Clemson Tigers today, the defending national for Champs College football. And when I get done on my presentation night, Dabo's in my face. And man, you know Dabo, man. He's high energy.

33:06Damn it, that's the most amazing story I've ever heard. I've never seen my players respond like that to a speaker. He said, have you been to Alabama to talk to their football team? And I'm like, no, Dabo. I've been to Clemson. I hadn't been anywhere, man. He said, we're going to see about that. He said, I just texted Nick Saban from the back of the room. Mick, when my flight landed in Houston the next day for my trip to Clemson, I turn my phone on. There's a voicemail and a text message from the director of football operations to the University of Alabama, the whale. The biggest program in America with the best coach to ever do it.

33:38And here's what the voicemail said. Hey, Damon Dabo called Coach Saban last night. Coach Saban can't wait to hear your story. He said, how does August 21st, 7.30 p.m. work for your calendar? Mick, I laughed out loud. I didn't have a calendar, man. I didn't need a calendar at that point. Right, right. Just like that, Mick. Dabo opens the biggest door to college football and Dabo didn't stop there because Kirby Smart calls. Lincoln Riley, Chip Kelly, Lane Kiffin, Ryan Day, Mack Brown, they all pull up my phone. What are you coming to talk to my team? So the dream is real. It's happening, man. But the biggest event hadn't happened yet.

34:14I hadn't met that second servant leader. So it was August of 2018. One year after that presentation at Clemson. My phone rings out of the blue that day. And on the other end of my phone is a guy named John Gordon. Now, Mick, John Gordon is one of the biggest motivational speakers and authors in America. This is the energy bus guy. And I'm like, John, brother, I know who you are. How do you know who I am? He said, Dabo Sweeney. He said, Damon, I was just talking to Clemson's team. Dabo brought me to the office for 30 minutes to tell me your whole story. Now, Mick, I want to wedge in right here this story.

34:49Something I just found out from Dabo this past year. Dabo asked me last year when we were together. He said, man, he said, Damon, do you remember, did you ever hear the story about why John and I started talking about you that day in 2018 in my office? I said, man, I never heard the story about how my name came up. When I spoke to Dabo's team for the first time in 2017, Mick, I brought Dabo a little wooden coffee bean keychain. I didn't have much money, but I wanted to give Dabo something as a show of gratitude for him taking a chance on me and bringing me in. This is before he was going to blow me up.

35:22and I give him this little wooden coffee bean keychain. He asked what it's for. I said, when you hear me talk tonight, you'll hear what the coffee bean's about. Well, Dabo loved the coffee bean message. And like, you know, you said you talked to your family member, C.J. Spiller. Dabo still talks about the coffee bean all the time. It made an impact on him. That day in 2018, John Gordon is done talking to the team. He and Dabo are real good friends. So they go back to Dabo's office to catch up. When Dabo goes to sit down at his desk, he pulls his keys out of his pocket and he throws his keys in the desk.

35:52And John Gordon looks at his keychain and says, what's that little thing in your keychain? Dabo said, oh, that's the coffee bean. He said, have you ever heard the story of the coffee bean, John? John's like, I don't know what the coffee bean is. He said, sit down. Let me tell you a Damon West story.

36:07Mick:Yeah. So John Gordon calls me that day. He said, Damon, I was just in Dabo's office. Dabo told me all about your life story. And he said, Damon, the world needs the coffee bean message. Let's deliver this message to the world. He said, will you write a book with me? We'll call it the coffee bean. And in the summer of 2019, Mick, 10 years after our first year of that story from Muhammad in a jail cell in Dallas County Jail, that book, The Coffee Bean, came out, took the world by storm. The world, Mick, it starts off in America, man. Four to six weeks at the top of every bestseller list, got a global publishing deal.

36:41Global publishing deals are rare, Mick. Your book gets reprinted in every language of the world. You start seeing it popping up in Chinese and Spanish, Arabic, French, Italian, German, Vietnamese, Korean. And then in 2020, a global pandemic hits. The entire world becomes a pot of boiling water. And the entire world is searching for the right message. And that's when the world discovered the coffee bean guy. Mick, my life went horizontal to vertical, man, just like that. And it hadn't stopped yet. Since 2021, I've been on the road 20 to 25 days of every month sharing this story. somewhere. But Mick, and this is what I want everybody to understand.

37:19It all goes back to that one night in Houston, Texas, January 11th, 2017, that night that I had seven no's in the first hour and I'm 10 feet from that door. And the voice in my head is telling me to leave. And Mick, I'm very close to walking on the door because what are the odds the biggest coach in the room is going to say yes, right? He's definitely going to be a no. But if I listen to the voice of fear and doubt that night, we're not having this conversation today. And the world doesn't have the coffee me message so what i'm telling everybody listen to this is you don't give up in life when it gets tough you don't quit because life gets hard you don't not ask your questions in life the only question you know the answer to in life for sure is the one you do not ask that answer is no every time because you never ask your question mick i think wayne gretzky said it best he said you miss 100 of the shots you never take yes gotta go take your shots brother

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39:20Mick:I love that, man. I love that. You know, I use this analogy all the time when you talk about keep fighting and you never know how close you are, right? Right. Right? Like, you're going to get the most stress the closer you get to that breakthrough, right? Like glass breaks when it hits the most stress, right? That's the only time it breaks. You can tap it, does whatever. But when it has the most stress, that's when it breaks. So think about your breakthrough like that. Like you're going to get the most stress. But I promise you that one little nudge that you have, that one, man, let me turn around and go back in those doors, right?

39:58Mick:Like that one thing is going to be the breakthrough that you need. And maybe you didn't get it that moment, right? It took you four months later. But what did you say? You were able to sleep like a baby that night because you left it all on the field. Right. And that's what you're hitting on something very big right there. Make it let's let's not gloss over what you just said, man. I was able to sleep like a baby because I could look myself in the eyes in that mirror and I see the man in the mirror and I felt proud about that person. My buddy Ed Milet says confidence comes from the promises that you keep to yourself.

40:32I'll never forget when he said that to me. we got to keep the promises we make to ourself. And the more we keep the promises we make to ourself, the more confident of a person we become. And it starts off with little bitty promises. But I told myself that night, I was going to talk to eight coaches and I did. I talked to eight coaches and I felt good about it because that was the promise I made when I walked in the door. I didn't promise myself I'd get a yes. I didn't know if I'd get a yes or not, but I knew I had to go try and you have to go try to, and not you make everybody listen to this. You got to go try in your life.

41:01You've got to go out there and put yourself out there a little bit because, like you said, when you're closest to the breakthrough moment, that's when it gets the hardest. But another piece of advice I want to give on this thing, too, is something John Gordon told me. John Gordon told me this after we wrote The Coffee Bean. He said, Damon, this message is powerful. And he said, I want you to understand this. You keep going out telling your story and telling the message to The Coffee Bean. You are the Coffee Bean guy. He said, don't ever stop telling the story of the coffee. Don't ever stop. Don't ever change your message, what he said.

41:37He said, too many times in life, people don't see results fast enough. And then they change their message, you know. And then they go and they pick another message. And now you just confuse everybody, he said. Because he said, are you the coffee bean guy or are you this guy now? No one knows what you really are, what you stand for. He said, when they just didn't realize they were so close to a breakthrough moment. he said especially when you don't see any progress at all keep on your messaging stay on your message he said if you will do this one day you will be known as the coffee bean guy and that will be a pretty big thing to be and mick it's happening man it took years and years and years and reps and reps and reps it didn't happen overnight but it happened every day and night yes sir yes sir

42:19Mick:damon you know one of the reasons that i look up to you you know i call you one of my mentors because one of my other mentors, Robert Irvine, celebrity chef, right? Like, he's like, Mick, if you're not impacting lives, what are you really doing? And so, Damon, I want to applaud you because you're impacting lives, man. And so the question that I ask all my guests, and I wanted to wait until we got to this moment to ask you, like, you're driven, you're impacting lives. You see it on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. What's your because? What's that thing that's deeper than your why? That's like your true purpose, that true driver that's allowing you to do the things that you do.

43:05Mick:What's that thing on the inside? What's your because? So here's what I think my because is. I think because I think everybody deserves redemption. And I think at some point in life, we all need redemption. I'm going to tell you where I learned this from. When I got out of prison, here's the thing. I think integrity is who you are when no one else is watching you. It's when you choose to do the right thing when you can get away with the wrong thing. And if you live with integrity, then you'll look for ways to serve other people and you'll make the right decisions. When I got out of prison, the biggest thing on my mind was finding Muhammad.

43:41I needed to find Muhammad because I needed to tell him that I didn't become the egg. I became the coffee bean because that's what he told me before I left. I asked him, I said, what am I going to find more of in prison? And he said, you're going to find more eggs because the eggs, the natural, the natural evolution of a human being in difficult situations is to become angry, become an egg. And he said, you'll probably become an egg too, Wes. Just understand that. So I wanted to find Muhammad, tell him, not only did I become the coffee bean, but you saved my life. If I don't run into you, none of this ever happened.

44:11And I couldn't find him. Muhammad's not his real name. It's his Muslim name. And when people convert to Islam, they get rid of their real name. Like Cassius Clay becomes Muhammad Ali. Same thing. Right.

44:21Mick:Right. So I went to Dallas County Jail in 2016. They said, Mr. West, we can't find your Muslim name. We need a real name for a birthday. We need vital information. I didn't have that. And so I'm hoping at some point he finds me. And so three years ago, I get a letter from an inmate in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. And the letter says, find James Lynn Baker and you find Mohammed. Seven years I waited for this clue, Meg. So I go to Dallas. We find, I get with my lawyer. We find his criminal record. Matched everything he told me. He's in Dallas County jail in 09 when I was there. And so I know this is my friend.

44:55All we got to do is find my friend's current address, but we never find his current address because James Lynn Baker II, Muhammad, died of an opiate overdose in Dallas, Texas on May 9th, 2017. Muhammad's been dead eight years now at the point of this recording. Again, integrity. I'm sitting there with this information now. the guy that told me the story is dead. I can go on with my life. And like my lawyer said, you can be the coffee bean guy. Now it's all yours, man. Lawyer's a little funny, but I said, no, let's go find his family. I said, I got to honor my friend and I need to find his family at this point.

45:29He died of a drug. My lawyer's name is George. I'm like, George, man, look, this guy dies of an opiate overdose, man. They need to have the understanding of who this guy was and the impact he had in my life. And, um, and I did, I found his family and, um, he He came from a dynamic family. His little sister was the first Dallas Cowboy Cheweter ever. Wow. Yeah, Von Silbecker. His mother opened the first licensed black daycare in Dallas in 1948. I mean, he came from an incredible family. Yeah. And so he's got three living sisters, Visha, Von Sil, and Vanessa. And I called these ladies up, and I told them the story about the time I met their brother.

46:02And they're in complete disbelief, Mick. They're like, the man you're describing is not our brother. You met him at a time when he was sober in county jail, but we knew him as the guy that would get high, get into drugs, get arrested, go to prison, come back out of prison, steal from one of us, go back to prison when he gets high on drugs again. His whole life was incarceration and drug abuse. They're like, that's the guy we know that you're talking about. Sorry, that's not the same guy. And I'm like, listen, you need to understand that what he did in my life is a big deal. And I think if you'll allow me to tell the story with you all being a part of it, You'll see that you'll change the way you see your brother and the history will change the way they see your brother.

46:43Mick, there's a story that this newscaster did in Dallas about me finding the coffee bean guy. It's a real big deal in Dallas. And his two sisters in there, if you get on YouTube and put WFAA and Damon West, it's a news station, WFAA, Damon West, coffee bean guy. You see two of his sisters in that story. These women are ramrod straight and they're so proud of their brother. Now, when they talk about my brother was a coffee bean guy, he saved Damon West. And look, Damon West has changed the world with my brother's message. They are so proud of their brother. I was able to change the memory of a human being in his family's lives.

47:22And what's the value of that, Mick? I mean, I started a scholarship in his name, the James Lynn Baker II via Coffee Bean Scholarship. Every year I put$10 ,000 in this thing. And every year the sisters picked the winner of the scholarship. We got kids going to college all over on his name, you know. But what I found out is that he didn't just tell me the coffee bean in 2009 so I could be saved because I am a redeemed man. By every metric, Mick, I'm a redeemed man. I'm a husband. I'm a stepfather. I'm a very successful entrepreneur. I'm a speaker. I'm an author, college professor. I'm a redeemed man.

47:58But I really believe, Mick, that he told me that story in 2009 in Dallas County Jail so that one day I could come back and redeem him. because everybody deserves redemption, Nick. And if we all had the mindset that we're going to go out and help people become the best version of themselves so they can redeem themselves in their own eyes and in the eyes of the general public, what kind of a world would we have, man? We'd have a lot of coffee beans, wouldn't we, Nick?

48:23Mick:Bro, those chill bumps again, man. Redemption. Wow. Wow. That is so deep, dude. That is so deep. It's a wild story. I told you it was a wild story before we got on here, man. I'm telling you, man. I'm telling you. So, again, you've been gracious with your time. I mean, you're on the road as we speak, right? What's new with Damon West? Let's tease what's coming up. What do we have coming up now? All right. I'm glad you asked. So I've got a book coming out, and you can preorder it right now on Amazon. And if you would, please preorder my book. That's how you become a bestseller. And here's why I need to become a bestseller on this thing, because I want this story to be a movie.

49:05I think this movie, the lessons, the morals that are in this story are what America needs right now. And I'm this close to get the Hollywood deal on it. But Hollywood will not entertain this conversation if Six Dimes and a Nickel does not become a bestseller. That's the name of the book. The book is called Six Dimes and a Nickel. Remember, Prison Slain. Six Dimes and a Nickel is 65 years. A life sentence is what a jury gave me. That's the name of my book. Real catchy title. Now, six dimes and a nickel is about all the lessons I live my life by. And every chapter is a different lesson. And there's a story behind each chapter, behind each lesson.

49:40I'm a storyteller. I believe people love stories and they love storytellers. That's how we learn. That's how we're entertained. This book does both. It's going to teach you. It's going to entertain you. It's my entire life story. It's a memoir, a self-help book, all wrapped into one. Each chapter is a lesson. The body of the chapter is the story behind the lesson. And at the end of the chapter, it's a reflection piece on how you apply the lesson to your life, because I believe that's important. It's not just me telling you I did it, but here's how you can do it in your life, too. It's everything that got me where I am right now.

50:12It's going to be it's going to be a heck of a book. I need to I need to make the thing a bestseller. It comes out July 29th, but you can preorder it right now on Amazon.

50:19Mick:So we're going to do that. And I'm going to do you. I'm going to do you one better. So, you know, in Greenville, in my hometown, I'm doing a leadership summit series, right? So in June, I've got Robert Irvine, Les Brown, David Pollack, former Bulldog coming in, Coutinho, former basketball player, all speaking on leadership. So it's a leadership summit. In August, I've got Damon John coming in and some other powerhouse speakers. In November, I've got Miss Kathy Hughes, the founder of TV One, Urban One, Radio One. coming in. I'm going to get 200 copies of the book to give out at my event. So this is me buying 200 copies because it's that important that we're going to get people out there.

51:07Mick:So, you know, when we end the recording, shoot me over the link. So, and I'll, whoever you got book scanning, whatever, I'll make sure that it gets to what you need. But then I'm going to challenge all my listeners. I'm going to see if Damon will do this. If through Mick Unplugged, we can get another 500, how about I'll get Damon to come to a book signing somewhere in the Carolinas and we'll have everybody who's ordered a book. So you're going to have to let me know that you did it. I'll confirm with Damon. If we can get 500 through Mick Unplugged, I'm going to pay to have Damon come to a book signing and speak as well.

51:46Mick:Somewhere in the upstate of South Carolina. Well, do it, brother. I'll be there, man. I'll be there. And I'll give you a couple of dates that I'm going to be in the upstate of South Carolina too. So maybe they'll line up perfectly what you got already, man. That's what we're going to do. So again, I believe in you that much. I believe in you that much. I stand with you in all the things that you do. And from the bottom of my soul, brother, I just want you to know, thank you for being that guy. Thank you, brother. Mick, I love you, brother. Thank you, man. That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever done, man.

52:19I appreciate you, brother. I mean that. I'm stunned. I'm speechless.

52:22Mick:You got it. I'll make sure we have links to everything in the show notes and description. On social, we'll start pushing it out as well, too, so we can get these pre-orders done, because I know how that works. I've got a book coming out in September, so we're going to do the same thing back then, too. I'll help you with your book launch, too, man. I'll post about it, do everything I can. And look, Mick, if anybody wants to find me to speak, it's at my website. I'm not represented by an agent or anything like that. DamonWest.org, D-A-M-O-N-W-E-S-T.org. That's how you find me. Email me. You got something you want to talk about?

52:55I answer all my emails.

52:57Mick:And he does. And on social, he's a great follow. He and I chat all the time. So, again, just thank you for all the things that you've done for me personally, brother. Brother, thank you so much for the day, man. It's been incredible, man. Thanks for letting me finally come on the show, man. This is great. You got it. For all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go Unleash It.

53:19Mick:Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next. Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this with someone who needs it. And most of all, make a plan and take action. Because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hello at mickunplugged.com. Until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.