How did you get started on this journey?
I got started on this journey originally.
I was diagnosed with asthma at a very early age, at the age of three.
And back then, growing up in the hood, because I come from Brooklyn, New York, we didn't
know anything about steroids.
So the inhaler that I was using was steroid-based, but we didn't know the side effects, the adverse
effects that it has on people that consume that.
And I was angry all the time, all the time.
And I caused a lot of dissension in the family.
So anyway, fast forward, there were some people that I met along the way that kind of guided
me and helped me, some priests, some mentors.
I didn't know anything about mentorship until I started meeting these powerful, influential
men that actually took me by the hand, because they had fruit on the tree.
So and some people say they're going to mentor you, and some say they're not going to mentor
you, but I didn't worry about that.
All I know is that I did have some good people in my corner.
So fast forward also, like I said, I worked in the one hospital in New York, and I worked
there for 20 years.
I started out in security, and then I did mental health as well inside the security,
because I had to work at psych unit.
So I dealt with all kind of disorders.
And it helped me to be able to understand the human being.
And if you can relate to the human being at their basic level and draw a rapport with
a person, you can help to kind of de-escalate some situations.
And I've dealt with some very violent, violent individuals.
And it was rewarding seeing them turn around, seeing the light come on, because sometimes
people suffer in silence, and their way of conveying that is to with aggression.
So but a lot of times you don't have to do that with aggression.
So I found those ways of being able to connect and be able to show folks that, listen, if
I did it coming from where I came from, you can do it too.
And especially during COVID, and that happened during COVID.
So during COVID, I lost like 39 people, friends, family, relatives in New York.
And it was, as you know, that was the epicenter.
So it was pretty cumbersome, you know?
Yeah.
Well, thank you for sharing that.
Darren, that goes straight to my next question.
What is your why and what is, if you have any stories behind your why, or the story
behind your why, I'd love to hear it.
Oh, I have plenty stories.
But like I told your colleague, my why is in front of me every morning.
I have a picture of four people that's on there.
My wife, my mom, who's in about two weeks, she'll be 93 years old, praise God.
And my two boys, and my boys are grown.
So my oldest is in his late 30s, my youngest, he's going to be 35 in November.
So being able to lead by example, because leadership is so important in today's endeavor,
you know, with social media and everything going on.
There's a lot of noise out there.
And social media is great.
But also there's a lot of fake stuff on social media.
So a lot of these young kids, they don't realize that some of this stuff is fake.
You know, it's fake.
Yeah, yeah.
And my saying is I'm real in the field.
So I keep it real and raw.
And I'm able to let them know, say, listen, you know, understand, okay, your friend's
saying they're driving this car and that car.
And do you know if the car actually belongs to them or their parents or if they're renting
it?
Because I come across that every day here in Florida.
So, but making a difference, making a difference with young minds and even helping parents
to connect with their children.
I'll give you a story real quick.
I was in Pensacola, Florida at the time I was working for a nonprofit organization.
And I worked for five different charities.
And I became the trainer that trained the trainers in the nonprofit charity.
So the charity I was working for was Doctors Without Borders and MSF, as they call it.
And they go all over the world and they go into these countries and they provide aid.
It's so important.
People don't really realize it until actually something happens.
And then, you know, they're calling for help.
So I was at in Pensacola, we was on a road trip.
And there's a young lady, she came up to me and she was like, well, I would really love
to donate, but I can't right now.
And I guess I saw that because our spirits kind of connect.
I said, what's wrong?
And she was and then she was on the verge of tears.
So I said, are you okay?
And she said, yeah, well, I'm having problems with my daughter.
I said, okay.
All right.
So I put aside the nonprofit stuff and I said, okay, tell me what's going on.
So she went into detail and told me that her daughter is adopted and she had been in forced
to care for a long time.
So I'm able to deal with forced to care children and children that have gone through the system
because the system I can relate to based on my background.
So I said, all right, well, tell me a little bit about and then she started telling me
and I gave her some some avenues of where she could kind of connect with the child.
I said, well, first of all, who do you connect?
Who does she connect with?
Your husband or you?
And she said, you're right, my husband.
I said, okay, I'm sorry.
I said, so she respects a male figure.
So because she misses being having parented by a father.
And I said, well, do you know a lot about her past and what she's gone through?
And she said, you know, not really, because she doesn't open up to me.
I said, well, that's the issue.
You didn't connect with her before you tried to pull.
And I keep it in the basic terms.
And she was like, you know, you're right.
I really haven't looked into it.
And I said, well, let her talk.
What she liked to do.
So but overall, she was very satisfied.
She thanked me.
She hugged me.
I almost started crying and it was very emotional.
And then the guy I was working with, his name is Eric.
He was like, DC, he was like, where did that come from?
That came from me being able to share with another person and hopefully uplift and empower
them, you know?
What do you and I'm assuming what you're trying to go towards is when you're trying to groom
those kids for them to become leaders and take responsibility and grow better and be
better and be that hand that some people didn't get in their lives.
So they become those people who lend out hands to other people.
Absolutely.
What defines a great leader for you?
A great leader is one that's not selfish.
There are other people oriented.
There was a movie a long time ago that impacted me.
It was called Pay It Forward.
I don't know if you've ever seen it, but that movie was inspirational.
And true leaders pay it forward.
And not only do they pay it forward, but they also teach others to be able to pay it forward
too.
So it goes exponentially.
And by paying it forward, it allows your message to resonate long beyond you being on this
earth.
Just like with the book, I've already written the book.
So now my book, The Message, is going to continue into hopefully for many generations to come
in many countries.
I was just overseas a week and a half ago.
I was over in Spain.
And I met with a young lady at a shop.
And she was from India.
And I told her that I was an author.
And she took my information down.
And she was like, oh my god.
And it was so refreshing just to see the light come on.
And her father, he owned several properties and everything.
She too kind of told me that the same thing that you were saying as far as connecting.
And I have tools that I used over the years.
And these tools came from reading a lot of books.
I've read over 300 books.
And I've been in situations where the mentor, the coach, the trainer, they gave into us.
And it was up to you to get the nuggets, in other words.
Some people, it went over their head.
Me, no, I was always with a pen and paper taking notes, always being a student, a student
of reality, a student of life, a student of caring about another person.
So yeah, this is a big vision.
And it's a big goal.
And your podcast will definitely help me to be able to get this message across and be
able to touch millions of lives.
And I appreciate you guys, big time.
Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.