Rene Godefroy’s Story: From Poverty in Haiti to Global Stages
In this Fuel Fearless episode, host John Murphy interviews motivational speaker and leadership consultant Rene Godefroy. Rene recounts his life from a poverty‑stricken village in Haiti, through a harsh childhood in Port‑au‑Prince, to immigrating to the United States at 21 with almost no English. He describes how a prophetic encounter with an elderly woman named Tatida gave him a new story to tell himself, shifting his mindset from victimhood to possibility. Rene details his early entrepreneurial hustle washing cars in a bank parking lot, the lessons of persistence, micro‑goals, and the “mirror principle” that our external reality reflects internal stories. He shares practical mindset tools – changing self‑talk, the law of polarity, embracing breakdowns as precursors to breakthroughs, and reframing AI disruption as opportunity. Rene explains how trust, faith, and continuous learning (e.g., reading Deming, building an AI avatar on the Fuel platform) propelled him to speak on global stages and consult for corporations such as Coca‑Cola, AT&T, Verizon, and the U.S. Army. The conversation also promotes Fuel’s resources, upcoming shows, and how listeners can access Rene’s coaching, website, and AI avatar.
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All right, here we go. Sorry about that, everybody. We'll get started now. We've got an awesome guest today, Rene Godefroy, and he's got just an amazing story to share with us. Uh, this is a production of Fuel, and, uh, the Fuel website is www.myfuel.io. Uh, this is our 10th episode of Fearless, and if you have missed any of the prior shows, we've had some great guests, lots of great tips and strategies, and our, our whole mission here with this show is to help people dealing with stress, with doubt, with, with, with worry, especially in these times of uncertainty, to, to work our way through that. And if you think you've had it rough, wait till you hear Renee's story. It's, it's, it's truly inspiring. Renee is a, a, a world-renowned keynote speaker, motivational speaker. He's, he's the author of ex— of What is it? Uh, Kick Your Excuses Goodbye. What a great title, Renee. Uh, Renee is a Fuel instructor along with myself, and he's got, uh, some great stuff out there. And, uh, today we're gonna hear just what Renee's story is and how he got through just, uh, a brutal time. I invite you to open your chat, and if you've got specific questions or anything you'd like to ask, uh, please do. And if you, you get a lot of value out of this, which I think you will, share it, you know, with your team, with your friends, with your family. The idea here is to really grow the show and the advice that we're sharing so that more and more people in the world can benefit from it. Our theme in January was assumptions, how important it is to challenge the assumptions we're making, that inner voice that's telling us what we can and can't do. Renee's going to comment on that. Uh, in February, our theme was the ego thought system, which is a fear-based mindset. How do we get past that? Some great sessions there. Uh, and last month in March, our theme was courage. So we heard some great, uh, tips on how to get through fear and fear less, uh, with courage and the bridge of courage, as I call it. Uh, our theme this month is trust and moving forward With confidence, especially when you trip and fall or you start out in a rough situation. So with that, I'm going to welcome Renee. He's worked with companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, the US Army, Verizon, speaking all over, in particular, North America. And he's a CPE, a Certified Professional Expert by the Cathcart Institute. And I mean, it could go on and on. And what I'd rather do is just get right into Renee's story and leave the— audience with some real inspirational tips, motivational tips on how to go forward. So, René, welcome.
Great to be with you, John. I'm looking forward to this conversation. I actually have been looking forward to this conversation because every time you do an interview, you always ask the right questions. So, and I want to welcome to everybody who is on the live I'm looking forward to sharing my story with you. And because, you know, John, without stories, 'cause we, my whole thing is about the story or the stories we tell ourselves will determine the actions we take every single day. And so, for myself, I was telling myself a story for a long time because of how I started in a tiny village in Haiti in poverty. And the people around me in the village also, they were reminding me constantly about poverty. And so that's a story I kept telling myself over and over and over again. I kept rehearsing this story in my head, and my life did not— was static. Everything was the same for me. I was taking the same actions every single day because of the story I was telling myself. It wasn't until I changed changed the story, everything changed for me in my life. So you want me to start, John, with the village in Haiti where I started?
Yeah, let's go right there. That's amazing. Go ahead, René, please.
Okay, so my mom left me in the village in Haiti. The village was very primitive. There was absolutely nothing there, and she went to Port-au-Prince to find a better way to provide for me. I was about 9 months old. still a little baby when she left, and after she left, several deadly diseases pounded me. They vowed to end my existence, and many of the people, as I said, in the village predicted that I would not survive. They were playing God on my life, and so they kept feeding that story over and over in my head. Eventually, my mom was able to send for me and I went to Port-au-Prince to be with her. And I thought it was life because there was nothing in the village, no electricity, nothing. Like 6 o'clock, we go to bed with the chickens and everything because it was pitch dark. No medical clinics, nothing, not even a Tylenol. But when I went to Port-au-Prince, John, I thought my misery was over from the life that I was having in the village. When I arrived in Port-au-Prince, I discovered my mom was really struggling. She lived in a little dungeon infested with rats and roaches, and there were mornings when I would wake up, the rats would nibble the bottom of my feet.
Hmm.
It was really tough in Port-au-Prince. In fact, you know, I would rather be in the village than being in Port-au-Prince; that's how tough it was. And so it was the same thing, the neighborhood, the environment, and somebody said, your environment is more powerful powerful than your willpower. That's why we have to sanitize our environment. We have to clean up our environment. There are some people that we don't need in our environment. If we have a choice, we have to stay away from them because they kept reminding me. Now, I had a story in my head and they kept reinforcing the story for me, making me believe that I would never be anything in life. Until, John, there was this old lady by the name of Tatida in Port-au-Prince. She was just as poor as we were, but somehow she had a vision. She could see in the future. And one day I was really starving. I was really, really hungry. And I went to her, I was crying to Tatida, was her name, and said, life is not fair and my mom has nothing to cook and I'll never be anything. I was just in my pity party like we, Most people do, right? And I remember she held my hand and she predicted my future, and she changed the story for me instantly. Because when you have a new future, when you have a vision of something you are looking forward to, right, you have a new story. And Tatyda told me one day life is going to be better and I'm going to make a name for myself. I'm not I'm going to travel. She said I was going to travel and she predicted that I was going to be a speaker, a motivational speaker. She didn't really say it that way, but she said, your story will mean a lot for a lot of people. And I kept, I believed her. That's the thing, I really believed Tatyda when she told me that because of how she said it to me. And now I began to look forward to something greater than my circumstance, my situation. Simply put, John, I was literally telling myself a different story. Right now, you are having a story in your head about me. Everybody who is watching me, you have a story. Maybe this is the first time you are hearing me. Maybe it's my accent or whatever it is. There's a story, right? But that story will determine the actions that you take. And we have a story about for everything, John. Go ahead. Sorry.
I was just going to say not just the actions we take, but the actions we don't take.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
If our story is paralyzing, I'm afraid I'm going to fail. I'm not going to make it. I have these doubts. The I am's. I use the affirmations a lot. It's affirmative if it's positive. But a lot of people's I am's, if you listen to them, aren't positive and they're barriers to exactly what you're talking about. Even when you have that vision, Renee, and I know you, you, you called it the American dream. You had a, a United States flag that you looked at every day. They, you were made it part of your vibration, right? And the problem I see with a lot of people is they have a, a vision and I encourage them to stretch with that vision. And then that inner story, that inner voice starts saying, well, you could never do that. You know, that doubt.
Yeah.
And you got through that. So you had a very wise and intuitive guide or woman help you examine that story. And so now where do we go from there?
Okay. So from Port-au-Prince, because see, the story will determine the actions you take. Okay. So when I'm having a breakdown, because you cannot have a breakthrough without a breakdown, right? When I'm in Port-au-Prince, There's nothing to eat and life is tough. By the way, Tatida passed away. She passed on and I was living with her words. When I'm going through having a breakdown, I remember her words. I remember what she said. Now I know on the other side, they have the law of polarity, John. You know that very well.
Okay.
To have a breakthrough, you have to have a breakdown. Okay? And without a breakdown, it's impossible to have a breakthrough. Now, when I'm having a breakdown, I tell myself a different story. If I'm having a breakdown, I say I'm about to have a breakthrough. You see, as simple as it is, some people take it as something to feel miserable, to feel depressed, and to give up. Right now, John, a lot of people are having stories about AI, artificial intelligence, and a lot of people are afraid. But the fear comes from the story we are telling ourselves. I'm telling myself a totally different story about AI, and I'm so excited about it. I'm so pumped up. I'm so ready. I'm like a student, John. I'm learning all there is to learn about AI because of my story. Now, if I had a different story, okay, I would be having a breakdown thinking like, I'm going to lose my job. I'm not going to be able to speak and all the other stories that people are telling themselves right now, change and disruption and stuff. But the thing is, if you literally, if you simply, I know I keep repeating it. If you simply change the story or maybe question the story, asking yourself, what is the story I'm telling myself right now that is making me feel this way? And the next question you have to ask yourself, is this story True. John, a lot of people say, I'm not a good storyteller. Yes, you are. You tell yourself stories every single day. You are a great storyteller. And most of the stories we tell ourselves are fictional stories. They're not true stories. They never really happen in reality. But we don't know what AI is going to do. All the predictions, all the experts, right? They are just guessing, but we don't know. But why be afraid right now? Why don't we embrace the change? Why don't we embrace the disruption or embrace the breakdown? Because without embracing it, we can't break through it. So you have to go through it in order to get to the next level.
Absolutely. And Renee, that's why our theme in January kicking this show off was assumptions, because we're making assumptions all the time. And if our assumptions looking ahead are AI is going to take my job away from me, or AI is going to Destroy the world. That's an assumption, but a negative assumption triggers fear. If it's a positive assumption, there's no fear. It's, you can't be enthusiastic and passionate about something and afraid at the same time. So I know when you get up to give a keynote, you're not afraid. I mean, am I right? You're, cuz your assumption is I'm gonna, I'm gonna nail it, you know, and I'm gonna really help a whole lot of people here. So. You're enthusiastic about it. And so I, you know, to our audience, start with that vision. What is it? And stretch a bit. I always encourage people to stretch. So even now, 5 years out, what is your vision? And not just your vision of your profession or the amount of money you're making, but your physical health and your emotional wellbeing and your spiritual connection, your whole belief system. Because when you shift beliefs, And you shift assumptions, paradigm shifts, it shifts everything. So now you get to the United States at age 21 with very little. Go ahead and elaborate on that and then what you did with it. I love it.
21, I'm in the United States and talking about change. I mean, everything was different for me. Like, I didn't speak English. The first 2 words I learned were same thing. I started using those 2 words to the max. I would go to McDonald's, I couldn't read the menu. I would wait until the person in front of me order. And when they say, may I take your order? I would say same thing. Of course, same thing was not always the same, but that's what I had to, carry on in this country. And I got to a point I began to question myself, am I going to really make it in this country? I heard about the American dream. Am I going to be able to live that dream? Now, the questions we ask ourselves determines the direction we take. So I kept asking myself that question until one man told me about the American dream and he explained To me how it is possible for anyone who is willing to work hard, work hard, not overnight success, burn the midnight oil, and who is willing to stay with it. Don't give up. All right? That's resilience. If you stay with it and you work hard and you believe. Okay? So I had those things in my head. Now, a different story that the man gave me. It's like an angel really at every step of my life. there's always a person there to actually give me the wisdom. And then, so I couldn't get a job 'cause I didn't speak English. Nobody would hire me. I went to McDonald's to try to get a job to pick up trash in the parking lot. The guy didn't give me the job because I didn't speak English. Okay. But I discovered I'm in America. I can create my own opportunity. On the way back, I saw a bank and a lot of business people, a lot of cars going in and out of the bank. And I said, maybe they need the car wash. Okay. So I went to Goodwill, I bought me some used towels, and I went to the dollar store, bought a bucket and a bottle of dishwashing soap. I had about $3. That was like over 40 years ago. And I went to the parking lot of the bank and I started asking people to wash their cars. And there were so many rejections, one no after another. No, no, no. They kept saying no. But I remember when I was a poor kid in Haiti walking, John, behind the American tourists begging for whatever they could afford. I heard so many nos, but I was hungry. I was determined and I never stopped. So, but this time in the parking lot, I was not asking for a handout. I was asking for an opportunity, an opportunity to make a life for myself. And one person said no, said, And that one yes changed everything for me because I did a spectacular job, John. And I tell people all the time, right? I tell people all the time, when you are delivering your product or your service, you are auditioning for the next opportunity. So when I was washing that car, I knew that the job that I did on the car will determine if another person says yes or I get referrals. That said, I did a spectacular job and I started my business in the parking lot and the same guy went inside the bank and he started referring me. And one person was referring me. I didn't even have to ask anymore. I was overloaded with cars. I was washing cars for like $3, sometimes $5 a pop. But that was a lot of money to me, given the fact that, you know, I came from nothing. I had nothing.
Well, that's a pretty good return on investment, you know.
Of course.
That's— but you know what, there's, there's so much power in that example. That story is a little bit of creativity can go a long way. And, you know, I often say that if your what and your why are important enough, the how shows up. Yeah. Because all of a sudden, you know, we're a lot more creative than we think we are. But it takes courage to get on the road. You know what you want, you know why it's important. And all of a sudden, when I was growing up as a kid, I didn't grow up like you did in poverty in Haiti, but I was super entrepreneurial and I'd go out with a rake or a shovel, snow shovel. I grew up in Michigan and I just, like you with cars, Get people to pay me a few dollars to shovel their walk or rake their yard. And then that grew. And I, before I graduated high school, I had a whole lawn crew and 40 customers and was making it. I loaned my father money for my older brother's college tuition at one point. And I'm 16, 17 years old. So it's that how shows up. I started my company 38 years ago.
Wow.
Uh, not knowing how, but having faith. And I know that our theme this, this month is trust. You, you somehow found, uh, the capacity to trust yourself and to trust people who gave you help along the way. And then the how just continued to go. So let's fast forward. Now you're on, uh, huge stages. You're a leadership consultant with, with major corporations. I mean, the list goes on. Coca-Cola and Verizon and AT&T, the US Army. I think we mentioned that. You've been on CNN, ABC, NBC. Wow, right? I mean, wow. So fast forward to where are you going next?
What's your vision now? So I was a doorman in Atlanta. I was a doorman for 14 years after I left Miami, washing cars and being a janitor. And when I got the job to be a doorman, I decided that was going to be my university and I was going to learn how to communicate. And I started discovering books on the backseat of the cars that I was parking. And I would jot down the titles because I didn't know anything about books or what to read. And I said, if those successful people are reading these kind of books, so I need to check 'em out too. And I was buying all those books. I was not reading books back then. I was studying books. One of the books is by Edward Deming, Out of the Crisis, Out of— and I actually met him and got his autograph. And so I— in one of the books, John said that you can, uh, speak for a living. And I'm like, wait a minute now, I've been speaking for free all my life, right? I've been running my mouth and you say I can speak for a living? And I decided, you know what, I'm going to be a motivational speaker. Now, did I know how? Just like you said, when you started your business 38 years ago, you had faith, right? And trust, right? And that's what we need. We have to have faith and trust and step out. Most people are trying to figure out all the— they're trying to get the puzzle, everything together before they start. Well, there's a saying that goes, you don't have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good. Okay? So start now, wherever you are, with whatever knowledge that you have. I promise you, just like John just said.
Okay.
trust and faith, all the answers will find you. They will come to you. You will become a magnet. Because if you are dreaming, thinking, and telling yourself a good story about your vision, everything will come to you. That's what the law of attraction is. Start now. Just go for it. Like, even if you're going to apply for a position, don't worry that you're not qualified for the position. Most people are not qualified anyway. Like, if you look at presidents of countries, they are not qualified. They just take the job and they learn. Like, you know, that's— do that. Trust yourself. Have faith in yourself. That's what confidence is. I know I'm going to figure it out. And so I launched my speaking career. I didn't know what I was doing, John. I was like, to this day, some people, some audiences I spoke, uh, with, like, I was like, I was so, I was so bad, right? I was like, was that me? But you know what? I, I just started. Just start.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, you find your way and that's, that's how the, that's how the how shows up. If you have to figure out the how before you even get started, you never build any momentum. And I, I'm a big believer in momentum. So break your vision down to, I call 'em micro goals, just steps. And every day do something that moves you forward toward that vision. It could be reading something from a A book. You know, you mentioned W. Edwards Deming. I'm a huge Deming fan. I quote him all the time in my line of work. But one of the things he said was, hard work and best efforts without guidance of profound knowledge may well be the root of our ruination. There is no substitute for knowledge.
So, wow. But John, go back to writing down the micro goals again, because how many people who will listen to this and will just like, But this is the key. Just break that down a little bit so that people can really get it.
Yeah. And you know what? I will. And I think one of the things I recommend to people is not just start doing things, it's stop doing certain things. So if you're tuned into a bunch of negativity on the news, negative people, just grievances all over, you mentioned law of attraction. There's a vibration to that. It's measurable. This is To quote Einstein, this is not philosophy, it's physics. So when you start attaching your vibe, if you will, to that vibe of your vision, and you start hanging around with people, books have vibrations, music has vibra— everything's vibrational, you know? And so you break that down to steps. And so, for example, if I wanna be fit and healthy 5 years from now, and I have a target weight, I'm not, my story is not, I'm, I'm, I'm too, too heavy. I, I'm 20 pounds overweight. That's negative. The story is I have a target weight and every day I'm gonna do something to move in that direction. What I eat, what I exercise, what I do. If it's mental wellbeing, I'm gonna read something valuable every day, not some ridiculous thing or watch some ridiculous thing on TV or on the social media. Every day I'm gonna do micro goals that move me in that direction of the vision. In your case, I, I'm gonna get a bucket and start washing cars because that's moving me closer and closer to the dream I have and the freedom I have. And I mean, that, that's what I mean, Renee.
Yes. So there's also, and, and you just mentioned something that is powerful also, and you've heard of the mirror principle. Okay. So the mirror principle, as you know, John, is we create our own world. We create our own reality. So whatever you see around you, whatever your circumstance, whatever your condition now, whether you like it or you don't like it, you create it. You are not seeing something out there. It is something in you that is reflecting back to you. So the world out there, The world is a mirror, and we are seeing what is reflecting to us. So if you look in the mirror, you see a spot on your face, you cannot change it on the mirror. You cannot break the mirror and then say, I don't want that spot on my face. Okay? That's the world you are seeing, the mirror. Okay?
Hmm.
So if you want to change that spot, you have to change it here. So the brain, your mind, Actually is the image that is projecting into the mirror, and it's reflecting your situation to you. So nobody is coming to your rescue. Nobody is going to change your situation.
It has—
you have to change it right in here. The image that you are seeing in the mirror, your circumstance, your situation, in your relationship, in your business, in your life, whether you like it or not, is your own making, is your own creation. Okay, change the story, change what you are creating here, and you'll see the spot on your face in the mirror will disappear. That's the mirror principle.
Yeah, that's what a great tip, Renee. I mean, we could go on, I think, for hours on this topic because you've got such rich experience and knowledge. And knowledge doesn't come from books alone. You've got apply it to know it. You know, you can't be a cat, you can't know a cat without being a cat. That's just a Zen metaphor, if you will. So we gotta be, you know, be whatever it is we dream of. And by vibrationally connecting with that, we become it. So it's all about being the change, right?
Correct.
So, how do people get a hold, how do people reach you?
It's very easy to reach me. It's my name. If you see my name on the screen, it's reneegodefroy.com. That's how you go to my website. And I'm practically on every social media platform, on TikTok, on LinkedIn, on Instagram, Facebook. You'll find me on Twitter. You'll find me pretty much everywhere. But more importantly, just go to my website. And by the way, there is There's a, there's a, if you go to my website, you'll find some resource there about this whole thing that the, I'm talking about the mirror principle or the power of questions or how we change the story in our head. So you'll find all of that on my website.
Yeah. And I encourage everybody to do that. Also go to, to check out Renee on Fuel. On Fuel.
Yeah. You can, you actually, you can have me coaching you on Fuel. Right? Because they have my— this is incredible, isn't it? My AI, my avatar with all my knowledge. Okay. Everything that I'm saying right now, you can go have a conversation with me on Fuel and I can coach you in real time.
Yeah. Yeah. The AI bots. I have one too with 30 years of hundreds of articles, YouTube clips, interviews. loaded into this bot. So if you're not familiar—
I know I've talked to you many times inside Fuel without having this conversation. I said, well, let me see what John thinks about this. Right. And then I just go ask you a question. I asked Todd, everybody. Yeah. I just, I have all those coaches, people with years, like a combined, like 200, 300 years of experience. And I have access to that. Just like that in fuel. That's incredible.
Yeah. That's one of the things when you look at, listen to what Deming had to say about knowledge, how do we gain knowledge? We ask experts, we listen to experts, and then we apply what they're suggesting and we learn and we know. So, I encourage everybody to check out Renee. Also, look at Mindset Matters on Mondays. I've got a session coming up. And it's, it's about choice and consequence and building momentum with microsteps. I've got a show next week, uh, the John Murphy, the Change Mastery Show with John Murphy on the Transformation Network with Dr. Pat, uh, Basili. Uh, check those out. Check out, you know, Leadership Live with, with Fuel and, and, and, and learn and learn everything you can. I think that's the biggest tip I can give anybody because it's something I'm still doing. And if I hadn't been passionate about learning from experts, you know, 40 years ago, I certainly wouldn't be where I am. And I think that's very true for you too, Renee. Next week we've got Mark Tabit. Mark's got an amazing story. He's a very successful entrepreneur who lost everything in the Palisades fire last January 2025. So everything, not just his house and all of his assets, his entire neighborhood. Banks, churches, stores, everything. If you know anything about that fire, went up in flames. And so, Mark's story is quite amazing. And then, I've got Gary Garfield the following Friday. Gary was CEO and chairman of Bridgestone Americas. And just before he took on that role, he was diagnosed, he had to have major heart surgery, open heart surgery. And he laughs because he says, I was chief legal counsel for Bridgestone and appointed CEO and chairman, and I've never taken a business class. Before. There's another example of the how, you know, showing up, cuz he turned Bridgestone around and, and, uh, has a great book out now called Driving Results. And then following that, I've got a phenomenal international, uh, star, Deborah Poneman, uh, founder of Yes to Success, a New York Times bestseller. And she's got some pretty amazing tips too. So Fearless is growing. Pass on the word. Uh, all of these are recorded on YouTube, so, uh, Share it, and Renee, I just have to say thank you. And wow, what a story you have, and what an inspiration you are to the world. Thank you.
Thank you, John.
Thank you, John. All right, that's it for today. See you next Friday, everybody. And if not sooner, come on, come on to Fuel and check us out. Talk to our bots. Yeah. Bye bye.
