A short first-person testimony by Andy Elliott describing childhood instability (absent/alcoholic mother, frequently changing step-parents), poverty that motivated him to enter sales at 18, a consequential career decision in his mid-30s that led to legal trouble when his employer was investigated by the FBI, and a spiritual recommitment (he says he gave his life to God in 2012) that led him to value faith and becoming the leader he lacked. The narrative concludes with advice to "become the leader you never had."
Questions this video answers
18
2012
About 30
About 34
Chapters
This is my story really quick. It's one minute my mom leaves. When I was 2, she's an alcoholic crackhead. She doesn't care. Moms don't leave homes. That was the case in mind. So I had no manners, and Jacqueline took me over. I was a mess. My dad was married like seven, eight times. So, like our whole life, every two years, people were coming in out of the house. Stepmoms, basically. We were raised by kids. Jerry springer show. At 18 years old, I craved two things. The first one I craved was money. You know why? Because we were so broke our whole life growing up, it was embarrassing. We couldn't buy anything. We couldn't go anywhere. Dad, I want to go to this. I want to go to that. I want to do this. You can't do any of that. We were so freaking broke. I wore the same two pair of pants every day. Same two pair of clothes every day. It's embarrassing. So I found cells at 18 years old. Sales. It was my way out. So I wanted to run with whoever could help me with my dream. There's a rule here. Never make decisions based off money. Ever. There's a decision I made when I was about 34 years old to go work for a man I interviewed for three companies. And this man was going to pay me about three times more than the other two. Now, a lot of you here are like, dude, you got to take that job. Jackie, women have amazing intuition. Always listen to your wife. And I'm not saying she's going to be right 100% of the time, but if. If they're warning you something's there, it's not right. And she said, don't. I don't like. I don't like this guy Andy. Everybody ever said, trust me. I'm like, babe, trust me. Trust me, Babe, just. And anybody ever said, just give me a couple years, babe, just trust me. Give me a couple years. Wait till you see what's going to happen. We're going to be financially set. We're going to be good for life. Long story short, he wasn't a good guy. He was the Antichrist. I gave my life to God in 2012. I was about 30. By the time I was 34, though, I forgot about him. Anybody ever gave your life to God then walked away from him? That's what I did. You know why? Because I was chasing the world. That owner was a piece of. The FBI came after him one day, and all the leadership that was with him, which was me and about three other people, they came after all of us, because we were his upper leadership. I've never been in trouble in my life. During that time, I realized I had no one to rely on but God. And for the first time in my life, I felt the presence of God. For real. Not an amen. God, I love you like a real. Like God. I know you're here. And I went through a time in my life that no human could go under, which is not knowing if you're going to prison or not. And we built our business. We started it, we did everything. And I still didn't know the verdict. I just trusted in God that he was going to fix it. And I want to tell you this, that I watched as we went to trial. All the people got sentenced and. And it was my time. And the judge goes, you didn't lie. Get out of here. I want to tell you guys, my advice to you is don't wait for something bad to happen to change your life. Some of you never had a good leader. But I'm telling you, whatever you didn't have in your life, I want you to become it. Become the leader you never had.
