I Was Just an Ordinary Guy
I didn’t come from royalty. I wasn’t gifted or some kind of prodigy. In fact, I was practically invisible. And according to just about everybody, that’s exactly how I was supposed to stay.
Growing up in Ferriday, Louisiana, wasn’t about having it easy; it was about making do. My daddy was the kind of man who woke up before the sun, coming from a family of preachers and statesmen—men who wore honor on their sleeves like it was part of their skin. Mama, though? Her folks were cut from a different cloth—bold, driven hustlers who knew ambition like an old friend. Both sides ran deep in my veins, and I thank God every day for that powerful cocktail.
But let me set the record straight—I was ordinary. My brothers and sisters—they listened, they learned, they made the kind of grades that made mama smile proud at church on Sunday. Me? Not so much. I always had questions, always asked "why" when the right answer was simply "yes sir." My grades weren’t sending me anywhere special, and the path others had laid out for me looked clear—straight to nowhere.
Then came the Army. Truth be told, I shouldn’t have been there at all. Had medical conditions I kept hidden—secrets locked away from recruiters and my closest friends alike. Why? Because I was stubborn as hell. I wasn’t letting anything or anybody decide my fate—not even my own body. So, I learned how to walk softly, move quietly, and do my thing under the radar. I wasn’t supposed to be there, so I had to outperform every expectation just to hold my spot.
People talk about success leaving clues. Well, nobody handed us that map. Folks like us had to draft it on scrap paper in the dark. I realized early that ordinary wasn’t the same as average—it was just the starting line. It meant I had to hustle harder, think sharper, and outlast every stereotype thrown my way.
This truth led me straight to what I call the Circle of Growth. See, there ain't nothing secret about it—it's a way to uncover what’s been hiding right under our noses. The world didn’t give us the glossary to translate leadership, business strategy, and growth; we had to write our own. My method is built for those who’ve spent their lives locked out of rooms they didn’t even know existed, decoding opportunities they didn’t even realize were there.
The Circle of Growth defines leadership clearly—real leadership starts with Clarity. You must first see your path and know your direction. Next comes Accountability, the step where you own every action, every success, and every misstep along the way. Then there’s Support, because no true leader ever stood alone. Finally, the Circle rounds out with Challenge, the step that tests your grit, courage, and resolve, pushing you beyond comfortable limits to new heights.
To be a leader doesn’t mean you must be extraordinary by birth—it means making conscious choices every day, building consistent habits, and nurturing relationships. It means living by example and lifting others as you climb, not because you’re special, but because you decided you won’t settle for mediocrity.
Look, you don’t have to be extraordinary to leave an extraordinary mark on this world. You’ve just gotta show up—every day, relentlessly, intentionally, ready to rewrite every limiting label somebody slapped on you. Being ordinary ain’t your limitation; it’s your superpower—because nobody sees you coming until it’s too late.
They called me "least likely to succeed"—and every time I step forward now, it’s not about saying, “I told you so.” It’s a living, breathing testament that if a nobody from Ferriday, Louisiana, could carve his own path and defy the odds, then you better believe you can too.
