Today we’d like to introduce you to Darryll Stinson. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Darryll Stinson was born in Jackson, Michigan. After being teased and bullied for being a black kid who “talked and acted white,” he changed everything about himself to fit in with other people. He changed the way he talked, the music he listened to, the way that he laughed, and started skipping school and selling drugs. He also found that sports made him liked by everyone, so determined that becoming a professional athlete was his way to earn lifelong acceptance, love, and respect.
He became a US Top 100 athlete in both basketball and football and earned a full-ride scholarship to play football at Central Michigan University under the legendary coach Butch Jones.
After having back surgery his true freshman year, Darryll signed a liability waiver and came back to earn a starting position as a defensive end on a Top 25 football program. (https://www.mlive.com/sports/
He started for two years but was a shell of his former self and was numbing his physical and emotional pain with opioids.
Prior to entering his senior year, Darryll was taking so many opioid pills that they were thinking his blood causing his nose to bleed nearly every practice and game. Eventually, his coaches and physical trainers caught on to the fact that he wasn’t experiencing bad allergies, and they removed him from the active roster.
This sent Darryll into a dark depression where he attempted suicide multiple times. After starving himself for weeks, going from 275 pounds to 219 pounds, Darryll’s mother convinced him to allow her to get him some help.
She admitted him to a psychiatric care facility at Henry Ford in Detroit, MI. It was there that Darryll found faith in Christ and started to learn about self-care practices like seeing a counselor, being mindful, and journaling.
From that moment, Darryll started to believe he had a purpose beyond sports and went on a journey to discover and live out that purpose.
He graduated with his degree in integrated public relations and secured an entry-level position with Central Michigan University’s Communication Department.
Within three years, Darryll was running one of the universities largest communication campaigns and earned two awards as part of a team for Higher Education communication and marketing/branding.
Riding this wave of success, Darryll left his promising Higher Education Career to devote himself to full-time speaking, ministry, and community development where he eventually published an Amazon #1 best-selling book, “Who Am I After Sports?”, launched a non-profit, Second Chance Athletes, produced a viral two million plus view TEDx talk entitled Overcoming Rejection, and begin sharing stages with influencers like Les Brown, Magic Johnson, Seth Godin, Sharon Lechter, Eric Thomas and more.
Now, Darryll devotes a good amount of his time to helping other coaches and leaders grow their movements with their message through TEDx talks and speaking engagements infused with vulnerable storytelling.
He also serves as the licensee for TEDxAlexanderPark in metro Atlanta.
He is married to his wife, Brittany, and has the honor of being father to his four children: Ava, Arianna, Amaya, and Isaiah.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ha! Not at all. Growing up in the streets of Jackson, there were very few days I felt safe. Just like most hoods across America people were always fighting, doing drugs, robbing, and shooting. Thank God I was able to survive, and after falling deep into that lifestyle. Then to overcome depression, suicide attempts was an entirely different season that was a catalsyt that empowered me to learn how to build my life from the inside out vs. the outside in.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We help coaches and leaders grow their movements with their message through TEDx talks and speaking engagements infused with vulnerable storytelling.
We have several consulting packages and a boutique agency that books speaking engagements for our most productive clients.
We also host live, in-person transformational speaking events multiple times a year.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
TEDx, College, Corporate, and Entrepreneur speaking opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.
darryllstinson.com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/stinsonspeaks/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/stinsonspeaks/ - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/mentalhealth- keynotespeaker - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
dstinson97 - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCEHRTpVu- KpqBRHVQBxEwVw
Image Credits
Darryll Stinson All TEDx photos: White Fox Media
