From Life Sentence to Life’s Purpose with Damon West

Summary

Podcast Summary: "From Life Sentence to Life’s Purpose with Damon West"

Podcast Information:

• Title: THE ED MYLETT SHOW
• Host/Author: Ed Mylett
• Network: Cumulus Podcast Network
• Episode: From Life Sentence to Life’s Purpose with Damon West
• Release Date: March 11, 2025

Overview: In this compelling episode of The Ed Mylett Show, host Ed Mylett welcomes Damon West, a former life sentence inmate turned motivational speaker and author. Damon shares his incredible journey of transformation, resilience, and dedication to changing not only his own life but also impacting millions through his message of hope and personal development.

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1. Introduction to Damon West

Ed Mylett introduces Damon West as one of the most popular and transformative guests on the show, highlighting Damon’s evolution from a convicted criminal to a revered motivational speaker.

Notable Quote:

• Ed Mylett (02:08): "This is a man who is one of the most sought after speakers in the world."

2. Damon West’s Journey: From Crime to Life Sentence

Damon recounts his descent into organized crime and addiction, leading to his conviction and a life sentence in a maximum-security Texas prison.

Key Points:

• Background: Former Division 1 quarterback and stockbroker.
• Addiction: Introduced to meth in 2004, leading to criminal activities to sustain his habit.
• Conviction: Sentenced in 2009 for organized crime involvement, receiving a life sentence.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (04:08): "I was the crime boss of an organized crime group... addicted to drugs."

3. The Coffee Bean Philosophy

An influential mentor, Muhammad, introduces Damon to the "Coffee Bean" analogy, emphasizing the importance of becoming a change agent rather than being shaped by one’s environment.

Key Points:

• Allegory: In prison (a pot of boiling water), individuals can become like a carrot (softened), an egg (hardened), or a coffee bean (becoming the agent of change).
• Application: Damon chooses to be the coffee bean, focusing on personal growth and influencing his surroundings positively.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (05:30): "If I can keep the power inside me, it's not the world around me."

4. Transformation in Prison: Overcoming Adversity

Damon details his struggles within the prison system, the pervasive influence of gangs, and how he maintained his integrity and focus on self-improvement.

Key Points:

• Environment: Maximum-security prison where race and gangs dictate survival.
• Strategy: Avoiding gang affiliations, participating in a 12-step recovery program.
• Outcome: Recognition by the parole board for his positive influence, leading to his release in 2015.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (07:46): "I'm a coffee bean, Ed. And as long as I'm a coffee bean, the only way I'm going back into a prison is that's how I'm going to a prison."

5. Reentry and Building a Speaking Career

Upon release, Damon navigates the challenges of reintegrating into society, leveraging his story to build a successful career as a motivational speaker.

Key Points:

• Initial Struggles: Lived in his parents' spare bedroom, diligently practicing his presentations.
• Breakthrough: Persistence in reaching out to college football coaches leads to speaking engagements with top teams like Clemson and Alabama.
• Networking: Building connections with influential figures like Dabo Sweeney and John Gordon.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (11:21): "I was living in my parents spare bedroom. Every night for two years, I practiced my presentation in front of that mirror."

6. Key Encounters and Influences: Dabo Sweeney and John Gordon

Damon’s relentless pursuit to share his message pays off when he secures opportunities to speak to prestigious football programs, amplifying his reach and impact.

Key Points:

• Dabo Sweeney: Coach at Clemson University who believes in Damon’s message, facilitating connections that open doors to other top-tier coaches.
• John Gordon: Co-authors "The Coffee Bean" book with Damon, expanding the philosophy to a global audience.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (17:38): "John Gordon, one of the biggest motivational speakers authors in America... God told me to call you and write this book with you."

7. Outreach and Gratitude: Connecting with the Dallas SWAT Team

Damon takes a unique step in expressing gratitude to the SWAT team that arrested him, recognizing their role in his life transformation.

Key Points:

• Appreciation: Damon proactively contacts the Dallas SWAT team to thank them, viewing them as his "angels" who inadvertently saved his life.
• Gifts: Provides the team with gear, including "Be a Coffee Bean" patches, symbolizing his message of positive change.
• Impact: Strengthens the bridge between law enforcement and personal redemption narratives.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (43:31): "I want to thank y'all. As a criminal justice professor, one of the first things I always told my class is that this slogan that you heard going around of defund the police was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."

8. Lessons on Hope, Integrity, and Forgiveness

Damon delves into profound life lessons, emphasizing the power of hope, maintaining integrity, and the healing capacity of forgiveness.

Key Points:

• Hope: Inspired by The Shawshank Redemption, Damon believes in holding onto a vision of a better future.
• Integrity: Upholding moral values even when no one is watching, as a foundation for personal growth.
• Forgiveness: Sharing a moving account of receiving forgiveness from a victim, underscoring the importance of letting go of resentments.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (28:54): "In the darkest of times, in the worst of life, I saw myself in a better place. Winning and thriving. That's what we all have the power to do."

9. Personal Growth and Family Life

Beyond his professional achievements, Damon highlights the significance of family, honoring his late father's wishes, and ensuring his mother’s well-being.

Key Points:

• Family Commitment: Building a new home for his mother to alleviate her loneliness following his father's passing.
• Legacy: Establishing the "James Lamb Baker II Be a Coffee Bean Scholarship" to honor his mentor Muhammad’s legacy and support others.

Notable Quote:

• Damon West (54:17): "It took seven years to find my friend. It took seven no's at night in Houston to get the one yes I needed with Dabo. It took seven years to walk out of a maximum security prison... you don’t quit before the miracle happens."

10. Conclusion and Takeaways

The episode concludes with mutual expressions of gratitude between Ed and Damon, emphasizing the transformative power of storytelling, persistence, and living with purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• Persistence Pays Off: Damon’s unwavering determination to share his story leads to remarkable opportunities.
• Positive Influence: By choosing to be a coffee bean, Damon not only changes his own life but also inspires countless others.
• Gratitude and Humility: Recognizing and thanking those who played pivotal roles in his journey fosters deeper connections and personal growth.

Notable Quote:

• Ed Mylett (62:52): "If this man can change his life, so can you. From the darkest of the dark spaces of his life to bring in light to literally millions of people."

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Final Thoughts: Damon West's story is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for change and the profound impact one individual's commitment to personal growth can have on the world. Through his eloquent sharing of experiences and actionable insights, Damon embodies the essence of resilience and serves as an inspiration for anyone striving to overcome their own life challenges.

Transcript

[Ed Mylett]

So hey guys, listen, we're all trying to get more productive and the question is, how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster. And that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down growthday.com forward/ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way, he's asked me, I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start. Got about $5,000, $10,000 worth of courses that are in there that come with the app. Also, some of the top influencers in the world are all posting content in there on a regular basis, like having the avengers of personal development and business in one app. And I'm honored that he asked me to be a part of it as well and contribute on a weekly basis. And I do. So go over there and get signed up. You're going to get a free tuition, free voucher to go to an event with Brendan and myself and a bunch of other influencers as well. So you get a free event out of it also. So go to growthday.com forward slash ed. That's growthday.com ed this episode brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there, hoping it all works out well. With the name your price tool from Progressive, you can get a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help find you options within your budget. Try it [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. I can say to my new Samsung.

[Damon West]

Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto.

[Ed Mylett]

Friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit? Credit.

[Damon West]

4 Galaxy S25 Ultra, the AI companion.

[Ed Mylett]

That does the heavy lifting so you can do.

[Damon West]

You get [e-mail] compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account.

[Ed Mylett]

Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy. This is the Ed Mylett show. All right, welcome back to this show everybody. So my guest today easily is one of the most popular episodes of all time. When he was on before and today will probably exceed those numbers because his story is absolutely incredible. And since he was on the show three years ago, I've watched this man's life just get better and better and better. And I've also watched him become a very dear friend of mine. We've shared some great experiences together. He's been great to my son, Max, and I call him a friend now. I'm very, very proud of this man and the difference he's making in the world, the difference he's made for his own family. Welcome back. Damon West.

[Damon West]

Man, Ed, that is an incredible, like, I felt myself sitting up straighter when you were talking about, like, they didn't atta boy for your dad kind of thing, man. Because, man, but you're like, one of those close friends and, man, I tell you, I'm so excited to be back. My wife Kendall, was. Well, she was excited for me to come back. I'm gonna tell you who was really excited for me to come back. My parole officer seriously loves your show, man.

[Ed Mylett]

Oh, are you serious?

[Damon West]

The episode we did, it was epic. She plays it for all the parolees that come in.

[Ed Mylett]

See, a lot are listening going, wait a minute, who is this? They didn't see the first episode, so we need to give them a little bit of context. But I think you're the only person who's ever been on the show who needed permission from their parole officer to come do it. And he actually needed it again today. Twice now, by the way. You did. We'll tell him a story in a minute. But you did actually get in here a little bit different today than last time as well, just to show how life has changed.

[Damon West]

But life has changed a lot in the last three years since I did your show, Ed. Yes, I did take a little different transportation this time. And, Ed, I mean, I'm just going to throw it out there. You told me February 19th. You told me the date we could record. I looked at my schedule, man. I'm speaking in Ohio on February 19th. On February 20th in the morning, I'm speaking to College Station, Texas. I'm like, man, there's not much of a window there. There's no commercial flights in the little town of Ohio. And I'm like, you know what? I text you back. I said, I'll get it done. Yeah, I booked a private jet. I've never booked a private jet before, not for my. And like. And the investment in it was the investment in the dream, right? You got to put into that dream. You got to believe in yourself before anybody's going to believe in man. And you believe in me. I'm there, brother.

[Ed Mylett]

Thank you.

[Damon West]

We're here.

[Ed Mylett]

He landed today, flew private. And wait till you hear where this man's going. Some of you know the story. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to recap a few minutes of his story. Because even if you've heard just hits you in the chest about how your life's changed and what's happened to you, and then we're going to go in a totally different direction than we did last time. We're going to talk about a bunch of great stuff, but in case you're sitting there going, parole, David west, who is this dude? So why. I know the story, but why were you. Why are you even on parole? What happened to you in your life? Give a fill in the blank.

[Damon West]

Yeah, I gotta, man. So it's a wild story. And this is. Let's start with the story of the Coffee bean, okay? On May 18, 2009, a jury in Dallas, Texas, sentenced me to life in prison for engaging in organized crime. I was the. The crime boss of an organized crime group. A bunch of other meth addicts breaking into people's houses to feed our meth habits. I was once a stockbroker in Dallas. Before that, I was a Division 1 starting quarterback at North Texas. I worked in con. I work for a guy running for president. I've had all the best jobs in the world. I get introduced to meth one day in 2004, and my life changes forever. I'm instantly hooked, just like that. And I give everything away for that drug. Because that's what addicts do, Ed. We give things away. An addict will give up their goals to meet their behaviors. That's the definition of addiction. So I'm giving everything away. I become a criminal living on the streets. I start breaking into people's houses. These burglaries are called the uptown burglaries. They go on for three years in the uptown neighborhood of Dallas and beyond. And you know, Ed, when I broke into people's houses, I didn't just steal their property. I stole their sense of security. I know that. I know I really affected these victims in a terrible way. But the Dallas SWAT team took me down in 2008, this dramatic SWAT team raid. And in 2009, I stand in front of a jury in Dallas. It's a RICO case engaged in organized crime. And the jury sentenced me to 65 years. Life, life in prison. Six dimes in a nickel is what they call it in prison terms. And so right after the sentencing is over, my mom makes me promise I won't get any gangs, I won't get any tattoos. I don't know how I'm gonna do this. I'm waiting for the prison bus to come get me a Dallas county jail, and I run into this old black man named Muhammad. Now, Muhammad's a career criminal in and out of prison his entire life. One of the most intelligent people I've ever met. And he's telling me everything about prison. He's telling me how much I'm gonna have to fight. Prison's about race. All the races run the gangs, the gangs run the prison. Then he tells me, he said, I know how you're going to get this done. And he tells me the allegory of the Coffee Bean. He said to imagine prison as a pot of boiling water. And he said, you're going to have three choices. West, be like a carrot that becomes soft in the boiling water, an egg that becomes hardened by the boiling water, or a coffee bean, which changed the pot of boiling water into a pot of coffee. And that's what he said. He said the coffee means the change agent. You have to become the change agent in this environment and change the water around you if you're going to survive prison. And Ed, I remember thinking right then and there, man, I got this. The power's inside me. And if I can keep the power inside me, it's not the world around me, right? And that's what I did. I took the message, the Coffee Bean, into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. And it's not just any kind of prison. I went into. I went into a level five maximum security prison. This is the highest secure level there is. I have to live with lifers because I'm a lifer. That's Texas's law. If you get a life sentence, you live a life sentence. People, they don't want you to escape for five years. You live on a building. You can't come off the building. It's, it's dangerous, man. It's the most hopeless place in the world. But every day I wake up, I get a little bit better. I, I, I do what you talk about all the time. I built my confidence because I keep the promises I make to myself.

[Ed Mylett]

Yes, sir.

[Damon West]

And that's how you build confidence. I heard that from you first, Ed, and it was, it just hit so hard. And that's what I was doing. Inside that prison. And I started becoming a. A coffee bean. Started. Started changing my life, becoming a better man. I got into a 12 step program, recovery, and. And my life took off. And in 2015, the parole board, the parole board comes to meet with me. They want to meet the guy that didn't just change himself, but actually changed the whole prison. And on November 16, 2015, I walked out of a Texas Department prison. Texas Department criminal justice prison. Now I got a little more time left on parole. I'm on parole until the year 2073.

[Ed Mylett]

Is that all?

[Damon West]

That's it, man. I got ever since recording, I got 49 more years left on parole. But I'm not worried about being on parole because I'm a coffee bean, Ed. And as long as I'm a coffee bean, the only way I'm going back into a prison is that's how I'm going to a prison. Tomorrow night in Texas, I'm going to go walk into a prison in the front gate. I'm going to share this story, the message with the men and women in there, and I'm gonna walk out the front gate. I voluntarily go to a prison every month somewhere in America.

[Ed Mylett]

You guys, I want you to. Let's just pause, okay? Damon lives with this story every day. But so let me just unpack a little bit. This man got life. Got life. He meets Muhammad, who's one of those people that God sends into your life 100% in this coffee bean analogy. I've lived it since you shared it with me, since you and John Gordon did. I. I try to change the environments I walk into. This is a huge thing in life, everybody, because most people acclimate to that environment or they wilt. Like we talked about the carrot, and it's such a profound metaphor in life. By the way, he mentioned six dimes and a nickel. That's also the title of Damon's new book that you can go pre order right now. Go get it. Like, just trust me, as Damon is one of the great storytellers of all time. But the book is really, really special. I've been going through all of the notes of the book and there's a lot to them. We're going to unpack a few of those things here today, but let's just start. I want to now go kind of where we go. Our podcasts always flow. They already are. So you guys have to understand something. He then gets out of prison. We'll talk a little bit about that journey, but let me fast forward to that to the now. This is a man who is one of the most sought after speakers in the world. This is in the last three years, really, most of this has happened to USA Today, man.

[Damon West]

After what happened on your show, USA Today was like, this is one of the most in demand speakers in America.

[Ed Mylett]

In America, 200 nights a year. If you want a speaker for your business, your company, your organization, let me tell you guys know I speak as well. Damon is on the road. He's a hustler. He's turned his life around financially. He's a multimillionaire. Now today, flew in here private today. This is what can happen in your life if you'll take the lessons we're going to cover today and the lessons that are in Damon's book. So let's back up this idea that you have. I know when it changed, but I want them to hear it. One thing you are not afraid to do is ask for help and ask a question. Okay? Like even today, you got here today and you said, hey, I need help getting on these podcasts. I want you. I said, well, I can't do that. You go, well, wait a minute, let me just show you my list. And you, I love this about you. Most people never ask the question that can change their life or never get in the room that can change their life. So I know being on my show was a big catalyst, but before that, I would not have known you, you would have not gotten on my show if it weren't for another room that you got into as well and questions you asked. So share that with them.

[Damon West]

I know what chapter of the book you're talking about, so it's the chapter about always ask the question. I believe the only question you know the answer to in life is the one you do not ask that answers. No every time. Because you never asked your question or Wayne Gretzky may have said it best. He said, you miss 100 of the shots you do not take. So in this story, I get out of prison, Ed. And I know I've got this incredible story in this great message, but when I first get out of prison, there's nowhere for me to share that message. I mean, I just got out of prison, man.

[Ed Mylett]

Right?

[Damon West]

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.

[Ed Mylett]

I didn't think about it on the street, right?

[Damon West]

So there weren't a lot of places for me to speak in the very beginning. But in, in my parents spare bedroom because that's where I lived for the first two years out of prison. I lived in my parents spare bedroom. You talk about all the money and the success now in life. Ten years ago, I was living in my parents spare bedroom. In that spare bedroom, there was a mirror in there. Just happened to be when I moved in. Little vanity mirror my mom had in that bedroom. Every night for two years, I practiced my presentation in front of that mirror. I got in, my rep said, and you know this, man. You talk about this. There's no such thing as an overnight success. Anything you want to be good at in life, you got to practice it. You got to put in the work. For. For two years, I'm practicing in front of a mirror, man. There's no audiences for me. I mean, but I know that I have this message and I know if I get in front of the right audience, and I believe the right audience is going to be the world of college football. Because I played Division 1 college quarterback.

[Ed Mylett]

He could still throw a football. How many yards?

[Damon West]

60 yards.

[Ed Mylett]

60 yards. He goes and talks to these college teams.

[Damon West]

Yeah.

[Ed Mylett]

Blows these kids away. They go, yeah, sure you can. And I've watched the videos. It's for 50 yards, bro. This dude has a cannon to this day, but go ahead.

[Damon West]

Yeah, no, it's one of those things I've never forgotten how to do is throw football. You should have seen it in prison. I got a hold of football. Those guys loved it. So. But anyway, so I believe the world of college football is going to be where I can share my message, because I know I have a message that can impact these players. And I think that's one of the main ingredients to how you want to be good in life is something you find a way that you can help other people and solve other people's problems. That's what you got to be there. How do I serve other people? And I know my story can serve these college athletes. The problem is, though, it's been 20 years. I took a snap. I don't know any coaches. They don't know me. January 11, 2017. One of the most pivotal days of my life. On January 11, 2017, I'm 14 months out of prison. And a buddy of mine in Houston named Mike Orda, he calls me up. He works for khou. He says, 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 got an extra press pass. I'M sneaking you in, and I'm gone. I drive the 90 miles from Beaumont to Houston. I practice my elevator pitch on the way in, what I'm gonna say to these coaches. He sneaks me the back door at Toyota center, hands me a press pass. He said, you're on your own. So there I am. Yet, I mean, all these coaches there. Usc, Wisconsin, Penn State, PJ Fleck. And I run up to these coaches. I shake their hand. I give them my pitch of why they should bring me in to talk to their team. And every single coach I meet that night slams the door in my face. They all said no in one hour. I've been told no seven times by the eight coaches in the room. That's a no every eight minutes, man. I peed through the room in one hour. I got one coach left. I can't get to this guy. He's the hardest guy to get to in the room. His team had just beat Alabama two nights before for the national championship. Everybody wants a picture with this guy. Shake his hand. I'm in the corner of the Toyota Center. I'm 10ft from the door. I'm licking my wounds. I'm feeling sorry for myself.

[Ed Mylett]

Are you thinking of leaving?

[Damon West]

The voice in my head is telling me to go. The voice of my head screaming at me, damon, you don't belong here. You're an imposter. The imposter head man. And I know so many people listen to this right now. I felt you've had that imposter voice in your head. Let me tell you something. Don't listen to yourself. You don't know what the voice in your head is. Fear talking to you. Just tune that out. Talk to yourself. And that's what I did that night. I'm telling myself, damon, you survived prison, man. I'm applying perspective. I know what a bad day looks like. This is not a bad day. Prison was a bad day. I fought to get in that room. I'm gonna fight tonight to talk to the last coach. He's gonna tell me no, and I'm going home. So I stalked Dabo Sweeney around the shrimp. And I look at a crazy person, man. I'm hiding. You know, Dabo you've talked about, I'm hiding behind fake plans. I'm weaving in and out of people. I'm pushing a few people, if I'm be honest. And Dabo sees me. And security has seen me at this point, too, right?

[Ed Mylett]

I'm sure.

[Damon West]

And I'm. I get in front of Dabo, and I give him My pitch of why Let me come in to talk to his team. And, man, Dabo is just like, man, you got a card on you. And I'm. I've seen that look before, Ed. But I. But I gave him a card. I had a smile on my face. He took it from me. He said, I'll check you out. He was gone. And that's what the other nose looked like that night. But I felt good about that. No, Because I left it on the field. One of the biggest lessons I learned from playing sports, you give it your all. Or Muhammad told me in county jail, you don't have to win all your fights. You got to fight all your fights. I fought my fights at night. I went home and slept like a baby. Forgot about that night. Four months later, I get an email out of the blue. It's the director of football operations at Clemson University. Guy named Mike Dooley.

[Ed Mylett]

Mike Do.

[Damon West]

His email says, hey, Damon, Coach Sweeney met you at award show in Houston. He'd love to have you come talk to the team. Do you have August 1st open?

[Ed Mylett]

Wow.

[Damon West]

I'm like, brother, I got every first open mic. I got nothing going on in my life that time. So August 1, 2017, I go speak to the Clemson Tigers, defending national champs of college football. And when I get done my presentation tonight, Dabo's in my face. And you know Dabo, y'all are real good friends, man. Dabo's a high energy guy.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah.

[Damon West]

He's like, man, that's the most amazing story I've ever heard, Damon. He said, have you been to Alabama to talk to their football team? And I'm like, no, I've been to Clemson. I mean, I haven't been anywhere, man. He said, we're going to see about that. He said, I just text Nick Saban from the back of the room, Ed. When my flight lands in Houston the next day for my trip to Clemson, I turn my phone on voicemail and a text message from the director of football operations at University of Alabama.

[Ed Mylett]

Here we go, the Whale.

[Damon West]

The biggest program in America with the best coach arguably to ever do it right. 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 21, 7:30pm work for your calendar? I don't even have a calendar. Pretty good, man.

[Ed Mylett]

So great.

[Damon West]

So I go to Tuscaloosa. Dabo didn't stop there. Dabo becomes the client, the friend that turns the Rolodex over to you. And that's what everybody in sales and life, you're looking for. That friend, that person that becomes the connector. Kirby Smart calls, Lincoln Riley, Chip Kelly, Lane Kiffin, Ryan Day. Every coach in America is calling my phone. When are you coming to talk to my team? But the biggest thing hadn't happened yet, and I hadn't met that second servant leader that I was going to run into in life. And this is why servant leadership is so important, man. It's one of the core tenants of being a coffee bean. It's one of the main things I speak about to any group, team, organization or company. Servant leadership is helping other people reach their goals, helping to raise other people to a different station life. What you've done with me. So it was August of 2018, one year after the first presentation with Clemson. I get a phone call out of the blue that day. And on the other end of my phone is John Gordon. And John Gordon, one of the biggest motivational speakers authors in America. The energy bus guy is on my phone and I follow John, Ed, this is my inspiration every day on social media. I'm like, dude, John, I know who you are. How do you know I am? He said, dabo Sweeney?

[Ed Mylett]

Yep.

[Damon West]

He said. He said, damon, I just got done speaking to Clemson's football team and Dabo brought me the office for 30 minutes to tell me your whole life story. And, and Ed, I'm going to insert something here that I just learned from Dabo this past year since we had a podcast, something I can tell the audience. Here's how the conversation started that day in Clemson in 2018, when Dabo and John are in the office. When I went to speak to Clemson that first time in 2017, I wanted to show Dabo some gratitude for being the one yes in a room full of no's. So I got a little wooden coffee bean keychain off the Internet. Not much money, but I didn't have much money. I wanted to show some gratitude. So when I went to speak to Dabo's team, I gave him the wooden coffee bean quince. He said, what's this for? I said, well, when I speak to your team, you'll understand what the the coffee bean means. Dabo love the coffee bean. He put it on his own keychain. And when Dabo goes in the office that day with John one year later, he pulls his keys out of his pocket, throws them on the desk in his office. Where you've been in the office, John glances down, he sees that keychain with that coffee bean he said, what's that? What's that on your keychain?

[Ed Mylett]

That's how this came up.

[Damon West]

That's how this came up. My entire life, the lives of so many millions of people that have heard that message came because I took a little extra time to show gratitude to somebody for something they did. It didn't have to be much. It doesn't ever have to be much. Sometimes the gratitude is giving someone your time. Dabo tells John, wow, that's the. That's the Coffee Bean. He said, have you ever heard the story of the coffee. Have you ever heard of Damon West? John's like, I don't know who this is. What's the Coffee Bean? I want to know. Dabo tells John the story that day, tells him everything about my story. And that's what John calls me. He said, hey, I was just in Dabo's office, and Dabo told me the story of the Coffee Bean. He said, damon, the world needs a Coffee Bean message. Damon, let's deliver this message to the world. He said, well, you write a book with me, we'll call it the Coffee Bean. Here's what I told John. You're John Gordon. You go right to Coffee Bean, you can have it, man. It's all yours. Share with the world. You don't need Damon West. John Gordon is one of the best men I've ever met in my entire life. John said, damon, God told me to call you and write this book with you. In fact, God showed me what the COVID of the book was going to look like, and your name's on it. Let's listen to God. Do the book together. John said, hey, Damon, I'll give you half of the advance that I get for a book. I'll split everything with you. 50, 50. And at that time, John's advance was a hundred thousand dollars. It's a lot more now for a John Gordon book. Got $100,000 per book back then. He said, I'll give you $50,000 if you write this book with me, and I'll give you half of everything after that, too. And true to his word, we write the. The Coffee Bean, you know, and you're an author. You've written several books. You know this. You know, your manuscript gets turned in way before the book comes out. And after the manuscript was turned in, I got a check in the mail for $50,000. And my wife, Kendall, was sitting there with me when I opened this check, more money than I've ever legally. Legally held. She said, I know what you're gonna do with that? And she said, you should go do it. And I smiled, and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna go do it. I call my mom and my dad now. My mom and my dad live a few miles.

[Ed Mylett]

Just change. This is gonna be good.

[Damon West]

Yeah, man. My mom. My dad just live a few miles away, about 10 miles away from where I live. Kendall and I have a place together. At the time. We're. We're a young couple starting out. And my mom and my dad. When I went to trial, Ed, they. They cashed into retirement to get me lawyers. They wanted their son, even though their son was guilty of everything, and I did everything wrong, and. And I. And I. They wanted their son to have the best chance possible and have a good representation. So they cash in their retirement. $50,000 to get me representation, man. So I called my dad up that day, and I said, hey, dad, you come. Your mom at home? He said, yeah, we're at home. I said, I got to come by and drop something off. He said, well, come on over. We're at home. A knock on the door. My dad answers. He's like, I thought you had something. Pull out this check for 50,000. Sign it over to him. It's the only time in my life I ever saw my old man cry. And he said, damon, we never thought we'd see this money again. And that was okay. We just wanted what was the best for you. And I was like, dad, mom told me after I got sentenced to life in prison that debts demand to be paid, and I'm paying this debt. And my mom was. There was just a big hugging crime.

[Ed Mylett]

You're making me cry. You know, I didn't know that part of this.

[Damon West]

Yeah, I know. Well, that's. That's the stuff we couldn't all get into in the first episode. This is. And this is stuff that's in the new book, Ed. I think it's fair for people to understand that I don't write this book if you don't tell me to. And we'll get into that story, too. But this book.

[Ed Mylett]

Let's unpack something about that, too, because I did tell you to write this book, but I want to just go back and get a couple other lessons out of what you just said. What you all don't know is he gave all those. That. That great thing he's telling you about Dabo and Saban and all that he was speaking for free. So when Damon was speaking in the beginning, these weren't, like, massively paid speaking engagements. He was Literally paying his dues. If you're going to get something off the ground, you can't expect to be profitable right away. He sacrificed everything to get this thing going. Then he has this so smart to leave that extra keychain thing. That leads to John Gordon asking about the coffee bean. That leads to the book that you guys write, John Gordon's my friend, which leads to getting you on my show eventually. Then he gets on the show. Then his speaking career goes to a different level, starts to be able to do more with his speaking. And so all of this is part of the lessons that are in the book. But I also want you guys to have this inspiring story. What Damon won't brag about is Damon just moved into a brand new spectacular home, dream home that he's built for his family with the proceeds of being on the road 200 nights a year and speaking and changing people's lives. This is all things that you can do in your life. If you'll make the commitment to do the things and whatever your dream is that Damon had in his life, it's just an unreal story. So, hey guys, I want to jump in here for a second and talk about change and growth. And you know, by the way, it's no secret how people get ahead in life or how they grow. And also taking a look at the future, if you want to change your future, you got to change the things you're doing. If you continue to do the same things, you're probably going to produce the same results. But if you get into a new environment where you're learning new things and you're around other people that are growth oriented, you're much more likely to do that yourself. And that's why I love growth Day. Write this down for a second. Growthday.com forward/ed. My friend Brendan Burchard has created the most incredible personal development and business app that I've ever seen in my life. Everything from goal setting software to personal accountability, journaling horses, thousands of dollars worth of courses in there as well. I create content in there on Mondays where I contribute, as do a whole bunch of other influence like the Avengers of influencers and business minds in there. It's the Netflix for high achievers or people that want to be high achievers. So go check it out. My friend Brennan's made it very affordable, very easy to get involved. Go to growthday.com forward/ed. That's growthday.com forward slash ed. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. Hey, listen, one of the things I did, okay as a dad was, I did teach my kids about money and it was one of the most difficult things to teach them because it's not taught in school at all. They learned all of these things in school that quite frankly, they're not going to use in their real life and things they really need like learning about money and budgeting and the value of a dollar. Let's be honest, most of us learned about saving and budgeting way later than we should have. But here's the good news. You can give it to your kids with a head start with Green Light. Green Light's a debit card and a money app made for families that lets kids learn how to save, invest and spend money wisely. Parents can send their kids money on the app and keep track of their saving and spending. It's convenient way for parents to raise financially smart kids and families to navigate life together. It' really good. Maybe that's why millions of parents are already using it with their kids and learning about how money works on Greenlight. So start your risk free Greenlight trial [e-mail] ED that's greenlight.com ED to get started. Greenlight.com ED this message is from sponsor Intuit Turbo Tax. Taxes was dealing with piles of paperwork and frustrating forms and then waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back. Now taxes is easily uploading your forms to a turbo tax expert who's matched to your unique tax situation. An expert who's backed by the latest technology which cross checks millions of Data points for 100 accuracy. While they work on your taxes, you get real time updates on their progress and you'll get the most money back guaranteed. All while you go about your day. No stressing, no worrying, no waiting. Now this is taxes intuit turbotax get an expert now on turbotax.com only available with TurboTax live full service real time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guaranteed details at turbotax.com forward slash guarantees. I want to ask you this because I did not know anybody called you this. I just want to understand they're calling you now. Like a modern day Shawshank Redemption. No, but like legitimately, like this is what people in the media are saying about this man who by the way, I think Damon probably asked to come on the show, you guys. I don't know. So many times that I literally stopped checking the messages. Yes, I wasn't going to have him on and then we had a cancellation and I said if you can get your butt to Los Angeles somehow, not knowing he had to get permission from a parole officer. He got there, got on the show, and I'm telling you, of all the shows we've done, it's in the. It's in a handful. I'm not going to rank shows of people went, oh, my gosh. Did you hear the. Damon West, Ed, my lead episode. What. What's the Shawshank thing, though? What. What does that mean?

[Damon West]

So here's the deal, Ed. One of the things my dad and I, when we got. When I got out of prison, my dad recorded every prison movie while I was locked up. He wanted me to watch them with him, too. He went. He's like, tell me who got it right. Damon. So we watch it, okay? We watch a movie a night. This is another story we didn't tell the last time on your show. So we watch all these prison movies. We started with his favorite, Cool Hand Luke. And so we watched every single prison movie. And the one movie about prison, I've seen them all that got it right was Shawshank Redemption.

[Ed Mylett]

Okay?

[Damon West]

Shawshank is about hope. And actually, the movie Shawshank, it's not even about Andy. The guy that went to prison, that was the innocent guy. You know, for 19 years, Andy Tunnel through a wall. He swims through 500 yards of sewage to escape prison. But the movie's not even about Andy because Andy didn't need redeeming. Andy need escaping. The movies about Red, Morgan Freeman's character. Here's why it's about Red. Red has no hope. Red's a dead man walking. He gets denied parole. The first scene you meet him in. In the movie Shawshank, all the men he hangs out with, they're dead on the inside. They. They wager on who's going to break on the prison bus first. Brooks, the guy that made parole after 50 years. He lasted two weeks in the free world, couldn't take it. He wrote a letter back to the boys in Shawshank, told him he was going to kill himself and why he did it. And as Andy read that letter out to the men in Shawshank Prison, every man in Shawshank understood why Brooks did what he did. Because they had the same hopeless mindset as Brooks. Red is our narrator in the movie, though. He tells us he said, andy, I wouldn't make it out there either. I'm an institutional man now. Red said the words out loud, Andy, for you to truly understand. Red said, hope is a dangerous thing. Remember when he says that? But Andy tells Red, no, man. You get Busy living or you get busy dying. And when Red finally walks out of Shawshank Prison, towards the end of the movie, 40 years later, we don't know if Red's gonna make it right. He walks by the pawn shop. The guns are in the window. He stays in the same room that Brooks hung himself in. But Red makes it. He makes it to that rock wall that Andy told him to go to. And that rock wall was a letter Andy left behind. And that letter had the words that Red need to hear. Andy said, red, hope was a good thing, maybe the greatest of things. And no good thing ever dies. I always tell my audiences, go back and watch the last scene of Shawshank. Remember that last scene on the beach in Mexico?

[Ed Mylett]

Yes.

[Damon West]

Z Watanao, Mexico. ED that's what kept Andy dufrain alive for 19 years in Shawshank Prison. That's what kept me alive for seven years in a maximum security prison. I could always see myself in a better place. Andy always saw himself on that beach in Mexico, working on his boat. In the darkest of times, in the worst of life, he saw himself in a better place. Winning and thriving. That's what we all have the power to do. But we get so caught up in the moment, we forget to do it.

[Ed Mylett]

Let me ask you a question about that. Stay in this moment when you're talking right there. I never thought about this first time we talked or the hundred times we've talked as friends at dinners and stuff.

[Damon West]

Man.

[Ed Mylett]

I think a lot of people live in prison that aren't behind bars.

[Damon West]

I meet more people out here in the free world that are locked up than I ever did when I started time in real prison. More people are imprisoned by their thoughts, their things, their prejudices than by steel bars and bar, bar and concrete combined.

[Ed Mylett]

Limiting thoughts, negative thoughts about themselves, a lack of hope in their life. Is that what you mean? Everyone listen close to a man who's actually lived in a maximum security prison. You're saying more people out here in.

[Damon West]

The free world are locked up by their thoughts, by their things, their prejudices, whatever it is, their iPhone, whatever it is. More people out here are walking around locked up than in a real prison. And you can be physically free, but spiritually and emotionally just caged. And that's the worst kind of prisoner is the spiritual, the emotional, the mental prison. Hardest prison to get out of. Tough to get parole out of there. Ed. Wow.

[Ed Mylett]

Okay, that just shifted right there for me. That might be my favorite thing you've ever said on the show. What about being in Maximum security prison would surprise someone who, who's never been there before. What about being in there? Is there? I have to imagine it's a very hopeless place for most people.

[Damon West]

It is the most violent. Yeah, it's. It's the most hopeless and violent place I've ever walked into. And that was the. That was. The thing about the Shawshank reference is Ed Red got his hope back. And if you listen to the last scene of Shawshank on that beach in Mexico, Red's whole dialogue starts off with two words. He says, I hope. Hope. I hope I make it across the border. I hope I see my friend again so I can shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it was in my dreams. I hope. Last two words, the movie. I have been in a position in life to become a modern day Shawshank because Andy Dufresne was about hope. My life has become about hope. And it's set inside of a prison just like Shawshank. Now listen, when the reporter that said that from USA Today said, hey, this is the modern day Shawshank, and he's, he's a modern day ancient Andy Dufresne, I pushed back a little bit. I said, listen, man, I get where you're going with that, but. But Andy was an innocent guy and I was guilty of everything I did. And I want you to honestly know that because Andy was innocent, I was guilty. But I understand the Shawshank reference. I walked into prison. It was the most hopeless world I've ever been into. That's why prisons are so dangerous, Ed. Because when there's a lack of hope, a void of hope, negativity, evil, darkness fills the void every single time. That's why prisons get so dangerous. Because when you have no hope, you have a dangerous world where evil thrives. I walk into prison. For the first two months, I'm fighting every gang in there, man. It's like Muhammad said, you're going to fight the white gangs first. Then if you survive that, you're going to fight the black gangs. And if you survive all that, you'll earn the right to walk alone. And he's telling me the strongest man in prison always walks alone, doesn't join a gang.

[Ed Mylett]

And that's what your mom had made you commit to. So you had to go through all these fights. Basically, you probably otherwise join the Pecker woods or something, right?

[Damon West]

100 cave. Yeah, 100I cave. And most people do. And Ed, I cannot tell you enough about how grateful I am for my mom for telling me I couldn't get in one of these. She's like, you weren't raised to be a racist. I mean, you're not going to start that stuff because you're going to prison. Don't become something you weren't. I can't tell you how grateful I am for my mom for that. When I was getting ready to leave prison, fast forward to when I'm walking out, I'm walking up to a table of these Aryan Brotherhood guys that are also getting ready to leave prison. They look miserable. I walk up to these abs, I'm like, hey, man, what's wrong, man? What's everybody look so down for? And one of the guys, man, he said, oh, man, we got a report when we get out. I said, well, I got to report to my PO2, man. I got 48 hours to do it. But he's like, no, idiot. We got to report to the gang when we get out. And I'm like, report to the gang? You mean this stuff y'all were playing in here? This gang stuff's not over with. He said, this is for life. You got two weeks to report. If you don't report in the two weeks, they come into your family, they come after you. And I said, then you're going to come to prison for the rest of your life. If you don't die young because you're. That's a criminal organization, you're going to be a part of. My mom standing her ground, telling me I couldn't join a gang was a life changing moment, a fork in the road, Ed. Because if I go down that other fork, which I promise you, I just told you I would have, because prison is hard.

[Ed Mylett]

Even if you got out, you'd be committed to a life, to a life.

[Damon West]

And you'd have all these tattoos all over you and stuff like that.

[Ed Mylett]

Damon, how did you though. We've talked about this over glass. This isn't in any of our notes, and it may not even be in the book. They're going to get the book, right? They could tell. Like, they should get the book, but they should really book you to speak. But I want to just picture this. You're a young dude. You're. You got a drug problem that's severe, okay? Because this is the after. You're way after the after. So you got to go back there for me for a minute, okay? Because these are. There's a lot of people, in their own way, they are in prison, but they're also down or addicted to thoughts that don't serve them.

[Damon West]

Right.

[Ed Mylett]

So you're young, you're. You were a promising college football player, a really good one, right? You piss that away, you get into the drugs. You've now disappointed your family. You're publicly shamed. You're addicted to drugs. You're now convicted. The truth is you're being great. But your sentence was severe for what you did. It was an over sentencing. In my opinion, from what I've read and what you did, we both. You probably. Yeah, okay. He agrees. Okay, so now you've been kind of like justice probably wasn't necessarily served, even though you did some bad things. Now you're locked. Now you're in life. Now you're around these guys, you don't know you're going to get out. You think you're never going to get out. And now every day you're taking an ass beating or giving one to somebody daily in your life and then going back to your cell with your thoughts. How did you not. I mean, I'm being serious. Did you have moments where you're like, effort, my life is over, like days down, or did you somehow have some mental fortitude that came from this coffee bean story or other things during that time?

[Damon West]

Great question, Ed. I can tell you the day it happened. This is six weeks into prison. All right, I'm in there for six weeks at this point in this maximum security level five called the Mark Styles unit. You can look this place up, man. It's one of the toughest prisons in Texas. It's one of the toughest prisons in America. And Ed, I can tell you a lot about tough prisons, man. One of the things I did when I got out of prison, I went back to school, got that master's degree in criminal justice and became a criminal justice professor at the University of Houston.

[Ed Mylett]

Amazing.

[Damon West]

Teaching a class called Prisons in America. I'm the only professor on the planet to teach a prisons class who lived in prison, right? So. So I'm in the Styles unit. Six weeks in, two weeks is what it took me to get through the white gangs. After that, they tapped out and then they sent the black gang. So Muhammad told me the black gangs are coming because the white gang's gonna send them and everybody's gonna work in concert to get you going with your own race, because everybody wants everybody belonging to their own race. That's how it is in prison. Race runs everything. That's just the way prison works. Six weeks in, I get up on a Monday morning, I'm this close, and I'm holding my fingers up an Inch apart. For the people listening to this, I am this close to being their broken man from Shawshank. The man with no hope. The violence, the terror. Too much. Ed. I made a decision that Monday morning, and I'm still fighting the black gangs at this point. I made a decision that Monday morning to use the only thing I haven't used to earn my respect in there. It's my athletic ability, God bless me, to be a tremendous athlete in life. And I was a starting quarterback in Division 1 college football at 20 years old. Man, I can ball. I'm a baller. But, man, the rec yard where you play sports, it's the most intimidating place I've ever seen because it was the most segregated place I've ever seen. Every sport on the rec yard is segregated by the color of your skin. Man. It's like going back in time. The sand volleyball court for the whites and Hispanics. Handball. Everybody can play handball. But if you want to play doubles and handball, your doubles partner has to be the same skin color as you. The weight stack, just like you see in all those prison movies. Everybody wants to push out iron in prison. And all the races can lift weights. But if you want someone to spot you or work out with you, your partner, your spotter, has to be the same skin color as you. You can't mix a race. The chow hall, Ed. In that chow hall, you cannot sit down, eat your meal at a table with people from a different race. Race is everything. Every race wanted that way, too. It's not like one race said, we're gonna do this, and everybody can do it. Every race wants it that way. Everybody separates. And so that Monday morning, six weeks in, I make the decision. I'm going all in. I'm going to play sports. And if this doesn't work for me, I'm going to die anyway. But I got to go do this. I can't become that version of me that I promised my mama wouldn't. So I go out to the rec yard that Monday morning, I face my fears, and I pass up all those other sports I just told you about. And I went straight to the basketball court. Ed, the blacks are on the basketball court in prison. No white boys allowed in that basketball court. But here's what I'm thinking as I go to the basketball court that Monday morning. Before there was Martin Luther King Jr. There was Jackie Robinson, before you integrated lunch counters in the American south, you integrated locker rooms. My dad. My dad was a sports writer in the South. He. He was the first sports writer to Put black athletes on the front page of sports pages in Tech in southeast Texas in 1971. Ed, sports is the great uniter. Sports is the one thing that brings us Americans together like nothing else can. Think about it, man. Not even religion brings people together like sports. You can self segregate religions in America, and we do, but you cannot self segregate a sport. Sports are the melting pot. I knew sports would do it for me. And I go out there that Monday morning, I got myself in a game of basketball and man, I got in way over my head. Those guys let me play some basketball, but it wasn't five on five, it was nine on one head. I don't belong out there there, but I show up every day, I take a beating, I give it back when I can. I get a little bit better, I get a little stronger, I get a little more confident because I'm keeping the prom. Like you said, confidence is keeping the promise you make to yourself. I make that promise every day after I walk off the wreck yard. I'm coming back tomorrow. And I tell those guys I'm coming back just so they can hold me to my promise. All right, white boy, we'll see you tomorrow. You know, I learned two things about adversity that week I'll never forget. And I tell this to every audience I speak to. Adversity is never as bad as you think it's going to be. And you're always capable of more than you think you are because your thinking matters. And sometimes we allow overthinking to get in the way of overcoming when we see adversity. And you can't do that. Sometimes you just got to shut the thing off.

[Ed Mylett]

Chapter 11 of the book, by the way. Six dimes and nickels. Do things you're afraid of so you can do things you're. What does that say? Do things you're afraid of so you can do things you're afraid of. Yeah, that's really good.

[Damon West]

That's what my dad used to tell me. Man, it is so wild. Like so much knowledge my dad passed on to me about, you know, doing things you're afraid of. Is. Is so you can do things you're afraid of. That means the more you do the things that you're afraid of, the more you'll be able to do other things you're afraid of. You know, you say it in a different way. I mean, voluntary adversity is another way of saying this thing. Put yourself out there, man. Find out what you're made of.

[Ed Mylett]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your Progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies. So you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliate not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. Listen, I've made some mistakes in my life. Heck, half the time this podcast is saving you time on mistakes I've made before. Let me tell you one of them. I owned a house in Idaho for a long time. I had these rain gutters that were really pretty, but they weren't functional. Leaves accumulated in it and I lost part of my roof. Clogged rain gutters suck. They're easy to forget, they're annoying to clean and they can grow into a big problem. That's why I love leaffilter. Listen to me. This is a big deal. There's an easier way for you. Ensure your gutters stay clean and avoid costly damage. Every installation comes with a lifetime no clogs guarantee. Leaff Filter uses award winning patented technology to keep out everything but the water. Over a million homeowners have already trusted leaffilter. So protect your home and never clean out the gutters again with leaff Filters, America's number one gutter protection system. Schedule your free inspection. Take advantage of the Spring Spectacular sale with up to 30% off your entire purchase at leaf filter.comed. that's a free estimate. Free inspection and 30% off@leaf filter.comed. see representative warranty for details. Well, what's crazy is what comes back to you. So you're on my buddy Andy's show and you're talking about, well, you tell him. I want you to tell it. I don't want to get the who really? You think has some credit for saving your life?

[Damon West]

Man.

[Ed Mylett]

This is really insightful of you though. Says so much about your character that you would credit these guys with saving your life because that's not what most people would say to the SWAT team that arrested them.

[Damon West]

No, man. And this is another thing that this is like coming back on your show. We're unpacking stuff that has happened in the last three years, man. And this is you, man. You got me on Andy's show. You called up Andy, said you have him on the show. So I get on Andy's show And I know that Andy's got a lot of listeners that are in law enforcement, and so I just throw out there in the. In the podcast. Hey, man, if anybody's from Dallas swat, I'd love to come talk to y'all, man. Y'all saved my life in 2008.

[Ed Mylett]

Are you hearing what he's saying? Yeah, he's telling Dallas swat, who arrested him.

[Damon West]

Yeah.

[Ed Mylett]

In a SWAT raid, that they saved his life.

[Damon West]

You didn't just arrest me that day. You rescued me that day. That's what I'm saying, man. They're my angels. My angels, they don't have wings. They have assault rifles and shields and helmets, and I want to meet these angels. That's what I told him. I said, I want to meet y'all. Somebody from SWAT was listening. Hits me up on Instagram. Messenger, man. And, man, we set it up. I go talk to the Dallas SWAT team, and. And, you know, the body language was tough that day, man. There's a lot of. A lot of those SWAT guys that got their men and women got their arms crossed, and, you know, it's kind of like almost like this thing that the cops call hug a thug, man. Like, we don't want to be there for this hug a thug sess session. So they came in, some of them came in, you know, closed off body. And I didn't care, man. The only thing my job was that day was to. To pour into them and thank them for what they did to me. And I told him, I said, look, man, I was a bad guy. Here's where I was in life when you met me, when you pulled me out of that dope house that day. And you probably don't remember it, but I remember it. And you saved my life. And if you don't do that, I don't get out of that situation alive. And I want to thank y'all. And I told him. I said, man, as a. As a criminal justice professor, one of the first things I always told my class is that this slogan that you heard going around of defund the police was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Right? I mean, because I lived in a world where there's no police. It's prison. You don't want to live in a prison. And I said, I. I just. I'm the opposite of that, man. I'm a very law and order kind of guy. I just got off on the wrong path. I think you can see that. But I want to fund the police, and in this case, let me fund Y'all, if. Give me a list of all the equipment. Equipment you need to get right now that you. You can't get your hands on. I'll buy your equipment for you. Let me be your guy. And they sent me a list of about $20,000.

[Ed Mylett]

They took you seriously.

[Damon West]

And I brought you something today from that list.

[Ed Mylett]

So come on.

[Damon West]

One of the things. Here it is. All right, Let me hide this from you. So they. They asked me to get them breacher bags and plate bags and stuff. Like. Breacher bags. What's. What's cool about this is a breacher bag is something that carries explosives. They carry flashbang grenades. Grenades, Ed, my entire life changes from a flashbang grenade going off in my face. On July 30, 2008, this flashbang grenade, boom. And life changed. It was God sending that flashbang in. And so I said, guys, send me the list. I'll get it for you. But, Ed, I wanted to bring you one of the backpacks, one of their plate bags.

[Ed Mylett]

Wow.

[Damon West]

This is what we have. I'll carry this.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah, I'll show it to them.

[Damon West]

And it's got. There's got to be a coffee bean patch that. That, you know, SWAT team guys. Yeah. Put a patch on there.

[Ed Mylett]

They put the patch on there.

[Damon West]

They told me to get the patches made. We'll see how many of them wear them.

[Ed Mylett]

But it's cool.

[Damon West]

If one SWAT team guy wears a be a coffee bean patch.

[Ed Mylett]

Imagine right there. Yeah, I got this camera here, so right there.

[Damon West]

Yeah, you got it.

[Ed Mylett]

We got it.

[Damon West]

So imagine, you know, them going on raids. If anybody's wearing the be a coffee bean patch, how cool that would be.

[Ed Mylett]

Like, oh, my God.

[Damon West]

The former uptown burglar gets to work with Dallas swat. And my thing is this. Send me a list of things that you need to come home to your family alive so you can save other people. Couple things happen, Ed.

[Ed Mylett]

Okay?

[Damon West]

They got thanked for a job they did that no one's ever come back and thanked them for. They also got to see the example of someone who got it right. And I speak to a lot of law enforcement groups, and if you're law enforcement, listen to what I'm telling you right here, is that you need to see the example that someone can get it right. You need to see that there's another Damon west out there. Maybe because you need to know your job matters. Because if all you do is just take out the trash, and sometimes the same trash keeps blowing back on the road, you start feeling pretty negative. Start feeling like an egg peg. And I wanted him to see the example that someone got it right. So it's been really incredible, Ed.

[Ed Mylett]

I mean, you don't give her. You always give all the credit. You're incredible, like what you've done and how you've turned your life around, by the way. And he's given you the lessons. He's told you what you had to do. You got to be a Coffee Bean. You. You got to ask the question. You got to get in the room. You got to follow up with this stuff. You got to do that extra mile thing, like leaving the Coffee Bean keychain. You got to be able to work for nothing in the very beginning. Let me tell you the bottom line with this dude, okay? Let me give you the real. The real deal. This dude's a hustler. And I bet you were a hell of a criminal, because this dude is a hustler. He busts his tail. He's always after it. He outworks everybody in this space. He also gives back, which we should probably talk about now. This man's given back. He's created great experiences for me. He said John and I to Dallas football games because he's doing a thing with Dak Prescott. We've been down on the sidelines. He invited me to go play Cypress Point golf with Jim Nance from cbs, which I couldn't go play, so he ends up taking my son Max on what is.

[Damon West]

Dude, we had an incredible time with Max, man. He's such a good golfer, but any better human being. Thank you.

[Ed Mylett]

Well, you're the great. I agree with you on both those things, but this man took my son on a dream trip. Those of you that don't know golf, that's like literally saying, I'm gonna take your son to heaven for a day. And he played heaven with the most famous golf commentator of all time. So I want to thank you commentators. Oh, by the way, I actually have some mentioning that I want to ask you about one of your swings, so I want to play a video for you here. I want your commentary on this. But this is you. I think Max is filming, and you're in Jim Nance's backyard. I'm allowed to show this clip. I can't show clips from the golf course, but this will give you an idea of how Damon plays.

[Damon West]

Jim's got that famous hole from pebble beach, number seven. Seven in his backyard.

[Ed Mylett]

Number seven, half the distance. And let's see if you hit the hole. What did you hit here? Let's just watch this video. We're Showing it on the YouTube, everybody. Here he goes. Here's Damon. There's Jim Nance right there commentating.

[Damon West]

Oh.

[Ed Mylett]

So just so you all know, the YouTubers know, but he didn't hit the holy. He hit Jim Nance's house.

[Damon West]

Oh, hey, Jim's house.

[Ed Mylett]

Did you play that bad on the golf course, man?

[Damon West]

I did not play well on the golf course, Ed. I. When you're on the road a couple hundred days a year, you don't get a lot of time to play golf. I probably play six times a year, but I tell you, man, my dad used to say a bad, a bad day at the golf course better than a good day at the office. So I had a great time. If you don't have a good time at the golf course and Cypress Point, it's your own fault.

[Ed Mylett]

You went from. You guys, by the way, is that not hilarious? Everyone on YouTube and they can, they're going to hear the, they're going to hear the audio.

[Damon West]

Jim is narrating it with the masters music in the background.

[Ed Mylett]

Oh, I know, bro. They're going to hear it on the audio too. They're going to hear it. But think about this, everybody. This is just incredible. He went from being life in prison to being one of the most book speakers, to playing Cypress Point with Jim Nance, to going into the SWAT team that arrested him and bringing them gifts and speaking to them, going into the very prison type environments that he was in. It's unbelievable. What other lesson, Damon, help us here, man. There's someone listening is going, I'm down too. I got self doubt too. I'm living in the prison of my own mind. What other lesson in the book or out of the book would you give to somebody who's like, man, I have got. I'm running out of time. I got to change my life right now. I'm. I'm living my own life sentence, so to speak. And it's not the script I want. Yeah, like yours wasn't. What would you say to them?

[Damon West]

There's a principle I try to live my life by and it's a principle in the book. It's. It's about integrity. Integrity. And I, I believe integrity is who you are when no one else is watching you. Integrity is that little voice in your ear that says we're going to do the right thing even though we could get away with the wrong thing right now, this situation, that's integrity. It whispers to you and hopefully it's louder than the other voice that tells you, man, do it. Just do it. You know, one of the biggest thing that's happened in my life since we came on the show and applies to the question you just asked about someone really in a rut, trying to figure it out. One of the biggest questions has ever been asked to me is, have you found Muhammad yet? You know, people want to know, man, where is this Muhammad guy? What's he doing now? And the truth is, Ed, I couldn't find Muhammad right at first. Because Muhammad's not his real name. It's his Muslim name. You know, person converts to Islam, they get rid of the real name to take on a Muslim name. Kind of like Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. And so I go back to Dallas County Jail when I want to get out of prison. And I ask him, I said, I'm trying to find my friend Muhammad. Dallas County Jails like, hey, man, listen, we don't have a record of this guy. We need a real name or a birthday. We can't find him with a Muslim name. So I don't have any of that. So I have to hope he finds me. And three years ago, Ed, he finds me. And here's how he finds me. I get a letter from an inmate. The Texas Department of Criminal justice, y'all. I get a lot of inmate mail. Men and women all over the American prison systems write me letters all the time. Because to every man and woman in prison, I am Hope.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah.

[Damon West]

I am Andy Dufresne. I'm the real life Andy Dufresne to them. And I'm the dream. And that's one of the reasons why, Ed, I make myself available every month to voluntarily walk into a prison somewhere in America. Is this phrase that I heard on your show. I have to make myself available for them to touch the dream.

[Ed Mylett]

Yep.

[Damon West]

You told a story about going to the Ritz Carlton when you had no money with your wife. Remember?

[Ed Mylett]

Yep.

[Damon West]

And you went because you wanted to touch your dream. I listen to all your stuff, Ed, in it. Thank you. And that's. That is the reason which pushed me into doing this thing every single month, man. I don't have a lot of time on my schedule, but I make time for them to touch the dream. This inmate writes me. There's no return address, has one sentence. The one sentence says, find James Lynn Baker, and you find Muhammad. Oh, boy. Seven years of waiting on the schoolhead. I go back to Dallas. I get with my lawyer. We get a private investigator. The first thing the PI Finds is his criminal record. And it matched everything he told me in and out. Of prison his entire life. Life had him in County Jail in 09 when I was there. So this is my friend. I know it's my friend. All we have to do is find my friend's current address, right? But we couldn't find his current address, Ed, because James Lamb Baker ii, Muhammad. He died of an opiate overdose in Dallas on May 9, 2017. Muhammad has been dead for eight years now. He was a drug addict just like me, but he never got to a program recovery, and he died in his addiction. There's a big lesson there, Ed. This man sat on the coffee message his entire life, but he couldn't apply it in his own life. You can sit on all the knowledge and information in the world. You can read all the best self help books. You can listen to all the best podcasts. You can quote your bible, your religious book, whatever it is, scripture and verse. But if you can't apply the knowledge, the knowledge does you no good. You have to apply knowledge. So now that I know who this guy is, I mean, I know that I owe my life to this guy. The world has a new message because of this guy. I told my lawyer, I said, well, if. If he's dead, then let's go find his family, because I need to. I need to find his family. I need to tell him about what he did in my life. I need them to understand who he was. You know, lawyers are very risk adverse people. My lawyer's like, I don't know, Damon. I don't think it's the best idea in the world. Look what part of Dallas he came from. Are you sure you want to go find this guy's family? I'm like, man, I don't think God brought it this far just to bring it this far. Go find his family. I need to. I need to find my. I need to find him so I can tell him about my friend. He came from a dynamic family, Ed. His. His little sister is a woman named Von Seal Baker. Von Seal Baker lives in Dallas right now. She's in her 70s.

[Ed Mylett]

Look at you.

[Damon West]

Von Seal Baker is the first Dallas Cowboy cheerleader ever. Look at the first woman to ever wear that uniform, Ed. His mother is a. A pioneer of civil rights in Dallas. She's a historical figure. In 1948, Bertha Baker, his mother, opens up the first licensed black daycare in Dallas. This man came from an incredible family. Me, just like I did substance abuse, addiction, right? So I reach out to his family. He's got three living sisters. Visha, Voncil and Vanessa. I call These ladies up one night, I tell them the story about the time I met their brother in the county jail, the message he gave me, and what I've been able to do. That message, both in prison, out of prison. And I told the sisters, I said, listen, your brother saved my life. He met me at the most vulnerable time in my life, and he shared with me the message that helped me change my life, and I'm changing the lives of others, and I'm going to impact the entire world with the message you gave me. Me. But I need to impact your world. I said, here's what I want to do. I want to start a scholarship in your brother's name. We'll call it the James Lamb Baker II Be a coffee bean scholarship. And I said, every year, I'll fund it. I'll put $10,000 into a trust. You tell me where to put it, I'll put the money in. But I want your family to pick that winner every year so that every year, one little boy or one little girl that grows up in his own neighborhood, that goes to his old school, they. They get a better chance at life doing education because these two guys met up in county jail in 09. Ed, the sisters took me up on it, man. I've got, got. I've got a new family. I mean, the Baker family's like my family now. They're. They're incredible people. They pick these winners. One of the winners is this little girl named Megan. Ed, this little girl named Megan, her. Her mother's a school teacher. Her dad's a disabled veteran. Right now, Megan's sitting in class at Texas A M. She's going to be an engineer one day. Ed, I finally found Muhammad. That's what I'm saying to anybody struggling out there. It took me seven years to find my friend. It took seven no's at night in Houston to get the one yes I needed with Dabos. It took seven years to walk out of a maximum security prison. And some of your goals in life take longer than others, but. But you don't quit. You don't give up before the miracle happens.

[Ed Mylett]

Amen. You're doing it again. This is like an Alzheimer. Look at Stephen. This is an alz Timer. Dude, by the way, you're a movie. Well, by the way, he actually, literally is a movie. I can't give you all the details on that, but, like, bro, I'm just listening to you. I'm absolutely, overwhelmingly proud. Proud almost sounds like I'm judging. I'm proud of you, but, like, I'M really. I can actually say this over the last I'm really honored with friends. Oh, I'm really fortunate you're my friend. So what makes a leader? It's a tough question, but one thing's for sure, a true leader leads by example. And a true leader takes risks too. They plunge into life with determination. For those who lead by example and those who approach life with a palpable passion, there's a Range Rover Sport. Each model has a well appointed cabin that brings a sense of occasion to every drive. And its cocoon like interior creates an engaging and supportive journey with features like active noise cancellation that filters out unwanted sound, making the cabin of your Range Rover a sanctuary. An optional PM2.5 filtration that helps reduce odors, bacteria and allergens, while CO2 management enhances the wellness of everyone on board. There's also configurable cabin lighting to curate the mood of every journey, and an optional 22 way adjustable heated and ventilated electric memory front seats to bring a hint of refinement to every exhilarating drive. Range Rover is a symbol of high adrenaline and high achievement. Where dramatic design meets distinctive sporting character, it truly redefines luxury with dramatic Mardini Explore the Range Rover sport@range rover.com US/sport like I you're such a good person. You're doing so good with your life. You know what I mean? Like you're doing so good with your life. And you weren't.

[Damon West]

No.

[Ed Mylett]

And that's what I love. The other thing that you know you have in chapter 10, which is you know, you credit me in the book for saying but just that you're most qualified in life to help those you used to be. And I quote you I know you do and but you're doing that and the used to be isn't just prisoners or people that have messed up. It's people that live in the prison of their minds.

[Damon West]

Oh yeah.

[Ed Mylett]

And that's what you're doing today. That's where this has gone to a new level.

[Damon West]

Well, that's why you said to write the book. Because you said Damon the stuff I never forgot you said the stuff that's happened in your life since prison is bigger than the stuff that happened in prison.

[Ed Mylett]

It will listen to you.

[Damon West]

It is like you're right Ed. And it's but you gave me the formula. You're like man, tell stories. You said stories sell.

[Ed Mylett]

That's what you facts tell stories and yours. But the thing about your stories is they're overwhelmingly real and mind blowing.

[Damon West]

Want to share something with you today. You asked me your question, but I want to share something with you that I've never shared with an audience.

[Ed Mylett]

No, share.

[Damon West]

It's in the book. Okay, but you have to get the book to understand the context of what this is going to be.

[Ed Mylett]

Give it to us.

[Damon West]

It's one of the chapters in the book called the Healing Power of Forgiveness.

[Ed Mylett]

Yep. All right, so chapter eight, which is my number.

[Damon West]

Yeah, that's your number. Seven, man. We're close to each other. Right next to each other, so. Oh, Ed, in Texas, they have a law. If you have a victim of a crime that you go to prison for, you get convicted, you cannot apologize to the victim of your crimes. That's why you sat through an entire podcast today, and you sat through the last one. If you remember, when I was on three years ago, I never made an apology to anybody I did any harm to, because I can't. The state of Texas says it's a felony to apologize to the victim of your crimes. They'll send you back to prison in Texas if you make an apology. I believe the law is. Got good purpose. I think it's really made for victims of violent crimes. People that have survived rapes, murders, assaults with the family members, whatever, but they just lump every criminal in. They just say, hey, man, if you committed a crime, you can't reach out to your victims. So I'll never be able to apologize to my victims. I work a 12 step program, recovery ed. The eight step says you make a list of all the people you harm. The ninth step says you go out and make the apologies, except when to do so would cause you or them harm. So in that case, they have what's called a living amends. Living amends in the program, recovery means that you go out, do good deeds, you expect nothing in return. You've seen the theme throughout my life. And I'm just doing these deeds because that's my living amends to the world. I've got to do this to stay sober and to pay back the debt that I owe. So for the victims I can't ever apologize to, I go out do living amends. And I did this news story in Dallas back in 2020, and I didn't want to do a story in Dallas, Ed, because my victims were all there. And I thought, man, I just don't want to be in their faces. But this reporter, this guy named Kevin Reese, great storyteller, he said, we're not here to tell the story of the uptown burglar. That's Been told. He said, we're here to tell what the uptown burglar is doing now. And he said, that's a great story. This is five years ago, you know. And so he does this story, really good story. And even in the story, I was like, man, you got to let me say in there, I'm a bad guy. And I do. I say, I'm a scumbag. I was a bad guy. So I got it out, and I felt good about the story, and I went home that night. And then I opened up my email, and there were two emails, and the first email is from one of the detectives that took me down, and it was not a good email. He's basically saying the email, I don't think you're a good guy. I thought you were. I think you were a bad guy then, and I think you're probably a bad guy now. And. And basically he says that I don't believe any of this stuff. And I sat with that for a second. I thought to myself, you know what? He's entitled to his opinion. And this is another lesson in life, Ed. Other people's opinions of you are none of your business. He's entitled to his opinion. And he represented society. Whenever I was breaking the law, society, I broke the social contract. He represented society. He brought justice to me. He can feel that way if he wants to. It's not in my business. Besides, I'm not a criminal. He has no power over me. The other email was from a name I didn't recognize, and I opened it up and it said, damon, I forgive you. The biggest victim of any of my crimes. I won't go into the details about this victim. I do in the book, but I want to share this with your audience. She writes me an email, and, ed, this is the. This is the person that I think about every day I'm in prison. And I didn't ever physically hurt anybody. Remember that? I didn't ever physically hurt anybody. But it's. Is what was stolen from her. And, man, the negative role that I played in her life. And I thought about her every single day that I was in prison. It was like a toxic. A toxic friend I brought with me. And I thought, I'm supposed to carry this around because I was a bad guy. And this. I deserve to carry this around. And she writes in this email, and she's telling me about what she thought about when she walked in her apartment and this item was gone. And, man, I'm struggling reading through it. And she gets to the very end, and this is what she says to me, Ed. And I don't know if I'm gonna make it through this. With that, I'd like to say I forgive you. I'm moving on in the hopes that you're a genuine person with a good heart. In the hope that you put others before money or fame as you share your story. In the hope that you and your family never experienced great loss or violation, most importantly, and the hope that you feel peace in knowing that we are saved from the mistakes we make in this world, thanks to the unfailing love of Christ. Life is such a gift. May you live it to the fullest. Damon.

[Ed Mylett]

Oh, it's beautiful. That's awesome.

[Damon West]

I don't know if I was gonna make it through that.

[Ed Mylett]

I'm glad he did.

[Damon West]

Oh, my God. But I've never shared that with anybody. And it's gonna come out. It's in the book. Thank you. But. But I can't apologize to my victims. And I can't. I can't. I can't reach out to them when they reach out to me. But I can share with you what they say to me. And this is the one victim that I never thought I'd hear that from.

[Ed Mylett]

That's awesome.

[Damon West]

And the message is this to your audience, Ed, if that person can forgive me for what I did to her, why can't you forgive someone else that you're holding a grudge against? Because resentments are the most poisonous thing in our lives. Lives. They're like drinking poison, hoping the other person dies. And the people, the places, the things that we resent, usually don't know we have this resentment. And if they find out, they don't care. Yeah. Let go of your resentments. Why are you holding on to them?

[Ed Mylett]

And forgive yourself. Yeah, you can forgive yourself for mistakes you've made or failures you've had as well, man. Thank you for doing that. I didn't know that you were gonna do.

[Damon West]

I didn't know I was gonna do it either. I felt it in the moment.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah, brother. I love you. By the way, what I was going to ask you about was recovery and the most important step, and you've clearly said it's amends, so you answered my question. I don't know, man. I guess it's probably. I don't know. I don't know how you could have a better podcast than this. But I said that to you. I said that to you last time.

[Damon West]

He did better than the first time.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah, we did, but. Well, I just. I just literally got to be here. I just feel like honored that I was here. I'm really proud of you and so, so happy for you. And I hope that what you gave everybody today, some of the lessons for sure. But is hope. Hope is hope. If this man can change his life, so can you. From the darkest of the dark spaces of his life to bring in light to literally millions of people. So thank you, brother Damon west, for being here today.

[Damon West]

Ed, man, thank you. And my mom told me to tell you thanks.

[Ed Mylett]

To tell mom. I said hello because Max told me to tell you thank you. Oh, and he actually sent me that video that we played. Said you got to ask him about this video. So great, man.

[Damon West]

I'm glad he sent you that video. And like, like my mom. Ed, I want to share this with you real quick because without the influence that you've had in my life, we came on, I came on the show, it changed the. It changed my space in the speaking world. I mean, it literally took me from doing really well to like just crushing it and then still crushing it. But because of that, my dad died is another. My dad passed away. Your father passed away. So. And I remember we talked right after my dad died. Thank you for the condolences. And my dad told me before he passed away, he said, you got to take care of your mom. And I didn't really know what that meant. Ed. My mom was about 10 or 15 minutes away from me, you know, and my wife and I just built this house on this piece of property we got. It's beautiful, about four acres. Yeah, thanks, man. And I realized what it was. I was supposed to take care of my mom. My mom was very lonely after my dad died. And even though she's just 10 or 15 minutes away when you're gone, you know, when you're home 36 hours a week from a road trip, 10 minutes, might as well be, you know, 10 miles.

[Ed Mylett]

Yeah, so.

[Damon West]

Or. Or 100 miles. Y I didn't see her as much, but when I saw her, I could see that she was lonely and, and said this, this summer, I told her, I said, kendall and I are going to build you a house on our property and we're going to put you at the front of our property and you'll be able to watch your granddaughter Clara grow up and you'll be able to hang out with your daughter in law. When I'm home, I'll stop in every time, say hello, and I'll stop out on the way out. Ed. Dec. 23, she moved into her new home, built my mom home, man. Bro, I mean, boy doesn't want to build a home for their mom.

[Ed Mylett]

That's just freaking awesome. And by the way, you've climbed in the speaking ranks. Not because you know my show. You climbed through the speaking ranks ranks because you're an unbelievably great speaker and people are moved after you speak. And those of you that want someone to come speak to your organization, you know who to call now after listening to this today. So by the way, go get six dimes and a nickel pre order that book. And where do they find you to speak or just follow you on social to come to Instagram?

[Damon West]

Find me to speak at my website, damon west.org d a m o n w s t.org last time I was on your show, I said the www you're like, don't do that.

[Ed Mylett]

Told you you don't have to say that.

[Damon West]

Instagram and X and everything else is at Damon West 7. But my website is where people find me to speak all the time. And I don't have an agent. It's just my wife and I that run it.

[Ed Mylett]

So thanks for this experience.

[Damon West]

Ed was awesome. Thanks for letting me come back. And I got to meet your wife today, which is great.

[Ed Mylett]

Awesome. On your private jet. Hey, everybody, share today's episode if you're not on my email list. By the way, I've been pushing this lately because we get the show out to you earlier. If you do it, just go to edmylet.com, put your email and we'll get you the shows quick. All right, Max out. God bless you. This is the Eden Milan show.