coming here today my challenge was to
find a way to connect with each and
every one of you and to tell you a story
on how I became an architect of human
bridges because honestly I never even
knew what that meant let alone I would
be one I mean when I was growing up I
absolutely knew without a doubt that I
needed to grow out of that stage quick I
think it was at the point I realized
that my kneecaps were bigger than my
legs that something had to happen quick
when I was growing up I absolutely knew
without a doubt that I wanted to be this
guy professional skateboarder so much so
that I would spend all my free time
skating around the neighborhood learning
how to do all these cool tricks I
envisioned myself traveling the world
and hanging out with the guys that I
read about in magazines and for years
when I would go to sleep at night
sometimes I actually dreamed of this
awesome life I’ll tell you in one of
those dreams I was skating in the
driveway at my father’s house and I
remember it was a summer day I can feel
the warmth of the Sun on me I can smell
the freshly cut grass I could even smell
the laundry detergent on the clothes
hanging on the line as I was doing all
these spectacular tricks that no one
else in the world could do and even
though I couldn’t see my father I can
sense his presence that’s how real this
dream was when I woke up from that
amazing dream it was the middle of the
night dazed from being in such a deep
sleep I slowly sat up put both feet on
the floor grabbed the back of my neck
and when I looked down I noticed that my
other hand was gripping the mattress
like a vise although it had taken me a
few moments I was now fully awake
back in reality a painful reality I was
27 years old and five years in on a
30-year prison sentence although I had
these aspirations as an adolescent to be
this famous skateboarder my life from
the age of 17 to 22 was nothing even
close to that I was a kid with no
direction I struggled to find an
identity and I was so naive and
impressionable that the choices I made
put me on a path of a downward spiral of
a violent and criminally dangerous life
from the people I associated with car
thefts robbery police chases bank
robbery and ultimately someone losing
their life as a result of my knowingly
negligent and criminal actions for my
crimes the judge handed down a 30-year
maximum sentence in the state
correctional facility at that time I
should just throw away the king my home
now was a six foot by nine foot concrete
cell protruding on one side of the wall
was a thin solid sheet of steel on top
of it like a 2-inch thick piece of foam
my bed for the next 30 years directly
across on the other side of the wall a
small stainless steel sink with a toll
it attached the same told it I would
wash my clothes in for the next 30 years
a barred window where I can stare out
and count the bricks on the wall of the
cell block next to me for the next 30
years and in the corner a tiny metal
table with a stole where I can sit and
every
thing in that cell was more than I
deserved when they first put me behind
the walls of the penitentiary I remember
standing outside in the recreational
yard looking around at my new life a
life that wasn’t much different than I
was already used to except now I would
be surrounded by and living with more
than 2,500 other convicted felons of
various crimes ranging from drugs
burglary robbery rape murder and so much
more serving sentences of five years to
life in prison
hardened convicts who already had 20 or
30 years in and Here I am a kid coming
into their world as I looked around this
dejected sea of hopelessness violence
and negativity I closed my eyes and I
thought to myself is this going to be
the rest of my life is this going to be
me and as I had these thoughts something
happened something happened in me and
Awakening and when I opened my eyes I
saw two paths in front of me one I can
continue to live my life the way I had
been living it that ultimately brought
me to prison and in the slimmest of
chances they ever decided to let me out
that’s when I’ll make the effort to
change that’s when I will show the world
what I am capable of or I can start now
and forge my commitment to change in
here and if I can do it behind these
walls for decades upon decades then
there wasn’t anything I can do
beyond those same walls that day I made
one of the most pivotal decisions of my
life I chose the road less traveled and
so over the course of the next 13 years
I spent taking advantage of all the
educational and vocational opportunities
that the state had offered from
collaborating with a local Community
College to work towards a degree in
business management to attending in
graduating culinary school and attaining
multiple certifications in various
vocational trades while in prison I also
began to read and study human behavior
I watched the interactions between the
staff in the inmates I spoke to hundreds
upon hundreds of men who were released
and had reoffended and to those who had
served a significant amount of time for
a violent offense such as myself I
chronicled countless pages of notes what
I found were several common themes one
of them being societal stigma of
incarceration I heard stories of how no
one wanted to hire someone with a
violent criminal background let alone
just released from prison or how they
felt unfairly judged by society because
of how they looked just coming out of
jail or of their past but the truth is
the US Department did a study for nine
years of state prisoner recidivism
across 30 US states and would you
believe that violent offenders were the
least likely to reoffending to other
individuals who had been convicted of
drug property and public order crimes
even though the statistics were in my
favor
I knew that public perception was not
and I would be facing the same
obstacles breaking through the barriers
that society places on individuals who
have been incarcerated especially
violent offenders my challenge was the
debunk the stereotype that we cannot be
successfully reformed could not be
reintegrated back in the community and
to prove that we can become contributing
members of society as crazy as it sounds
being locked away in a tiny concrete
cell of a closed environment behind the
walls of a Penitentiary allowed me to
look at the world from the outside again
there was no internet no cell phones no
accessibility to the technological
advancements that are so readily
available to the population today
everything and I mean everything is
stripped down to its rawest form for me
my confinement was a time of
enlightenment discovery and of personal
growth which allowed me to find an
identity and also to develop and refine
a series of core practices and
principles that I could apply to my
everyday life and used to build
relationships outside of those walls
just a few of them or understanding the
differences between subjective and
objective thinking constructive and
destructive criticism and how to be
versatile in different environments also
what is foundational building I’ll tell
you what it’s not it’s not some complex
mathematical formula that takes months
or even years to figure out in a
nutshell it’s human and
action and building relationships based
on genuine interest and not personal
benefit it’s taking the time to not be
so consumed with ourselves but to expand
with others I quickly realized that this
could go way beyond me wanting to make a
positive impact in the world and it
doesn’t matter if someone’s been in
prison or they never even seen the
inside of a jail before the idea and its
true purpose is within each and every
one of us we all have some type of
barrier stereotype judgment or
vulnerability that we feel within
ourselves or with others and through the
practice of foundational building and
authentic human interaction we can
eventually break through those but wait
how does that even sound a convicted
murderer coming out of prison after
almost a decade and a half saying to the
world hey everyone listen to me I have
the keys to unlock your potential you
think I was crazy I think I was crazy I
first saw this my solution was time time
to test my theories and so after almost
15 years I was granted an early release
and spent the next year after year after
year building old and new relationships
meeting people I got to learn them for
who they are and I allowed them to get
to know me for who I am now my actions
were congruent to how I spoke and lived
my life
and the more that I effectively
communicated with others the more I felt
but here’s the key they also felt
comfortable enough to open themselves up
to me that is how I became an architect
of human bridges I can honestly stand up
here and say that over the course of my
release nearly every single person that
I have shared my story with through this
simple practice of foundational building
has only allowed our relationship to
grow stronger from affluent members of
society the judges CEOs even the deputy
district attorney who prosecuted me is
to this day one of my closest friends
and strongest supporters how Wow does
that but most important I built
relationships with people just like you
proving that this simple practice of
foundational building works earlier you
were able to hear who I was as a
teenager with dreams a real person and
then my decline how I chose to spend my
imprisonment and the transformation that
followed to where we are today I
designed and built an honest
relationship with you had I not laid the
framework first you may have been more
inclined to associate a stigma to pass a
judgment or to even express disdain do
you want to hear the best part about all
this it doesn’t end
me it starts today with each and every
one of you and so from one architect to
another I ask you take the time to look
within yourself and how you engage with
others on a daily basis maybe meet for
the first time or haven’t seen in years
value and appreciate the human
experience cultivate and grow it and
remember this we are all architects of
our own design our level of
vulnerability with others is dependent
on how we choose to build the foundation
of the bridges for which we shall let
them cross how many bridges will you choose to build today
find a way to connect with each and
every one of you and to tell you a story
on how I became an architect of human
bridges because honestly I never even
knew what that meant let alone I would
be one I mean when I was growing up I
absolutely knew without a doubt that I
needed to grow out of that stage quick I
think it was at the point I realized
that my kneecaps were bigger than my
legs that something had to happen quick
when I was growing up I absolutely knew
without a doubt that I wanted to be this
guy professional skateboarder so much so
that I would spend all my free time
skating around the neighborhood learning
how to do all these cool tricks I
envisioned myself traveling the world
and hanging out with the guys that I
read about in magazines and for years
when I would go to sleep at night
sometimes I actually dreamed of this
awesome life I’ll tell you in one of
those dreams I was skating in the
driveway at my father’s house and I
remember it was a summer day I can feel
the warmth of the Sun on me I can smell
the freshly cut grass I could even smell
the laundry detergent on the clothes
hanging on the line as I was doing all
these spectacular tricks that no one
else in the world could do and even
though I couldn’t see my father I can
sense his presence that’s how real this
dream was when I woke up from that
amazing dream it was the middle of the
night dazed from being in such a deep
sleep I slowly sat up put both feet on
the floor grabbed the back of my neck
and when I looked down I noticed that my
other hand was gripping the mattress
like a vise although it had taken me a
few moments I was now fully awake
back in reality a painful reality I was
27 years old and five years in on a
30-year prison sentence although I had
these aspirations as an adolescent to be
this famous skateboarder my life from
the age of 17 to 22 was nothing even
close to that I was a kid with no
direction I struggled to find an
identity and I was so naive and
impressionable that the choices I made
put me on a path of a downward spiral of
a violent and criminally dangerous life
from the people I associated with car
thefts robbery police chases bank
robbery and ultimately someone losing
their life as a result of my knowingly
negligent and criminal actions for my
crimes the judge handed down a 30-year
maximum sentence in the state
correctional facility at that time I
should just throw away the king my home
now was a six foot by nine foot concrete
cell protruding on one side of the wall
was a thin solid sheet of steel on top
of it like a 2-inch thick piece of foam
my bed for the next 30 years directly
across on the other side of the wall a
small stainless steel sink with a toll
it attached the same told it I would
wash my clothes in for the next 30 years
a barred window where I can stare out
and count the bricks on the wall of the
cell block next to me for the next 30
years and in the corner a tiny metal
table with a stole where I can sit and
every
thing in that cell was more than I
deserved when they first put me behind
the walls of the penitentiary I remember
standing outside in the recreational
yard looking around at my new life a
life that wasn’t much different than I
was already used to except now I would
be surrounded by and living with more
than 2,500 other convicted felons of
various crimes ranging from drugs
burglary robbery rape murder and so much
more serving sentences of five years to
life in prison
hardened convicts who already had 20 or
30 years in and Here I am a kid coming
into their world as I looked around this
dejected sea of hopelessness violence
and negativity I closed my eyes and I
thought to myself is this going to be
the rest of my life is this going to be
me and as I had these thoughts something
happened something happened in me and
Awakening and when I opened my eyes I
saw two paths in front of me one I can
continue to live my life the way I had
been living it that ultimately brought
me to prison and in the slimmest of
chances they ever decided to let me out
that’s when I’ll make the effort to
change that’s when I will show the world
what I am capable of or I can start now
and forge my commitment to change in
here and if I can do it behind these
walls for decades upon decades then
there wasn’t anything I can do
beyond those same walls that day I made
one of the most pivotal decisions of my
life I chose the road less traveled and
so over the course of the next 13 years
I spent taking advantage of all the
educational and vocational opportunities
that the state had offered from
collaborating with a local Community
College to work towards a degree in
business management to attending in
graduating culinary school and attaining
multiple certifications in various
vocational trades while in prison I also
began to read and study human behavior
I watched the interactions between the
staff in the inmates I spoke to hundreds
upon hundreds of men who were released
and had reoffended and to those who had
served a significant amount of time for
a violent offense such as myself I
chronicled countless pages of notes what
I found were several common themes one
of them being societal stigma of
incarceration I heard stories of how no
one wanted to hire someone with a
violent criminal background let alone
just released from prison or how they
felt unfairly judged by society because
of how they looked just coming out of
jail or of their past but the truth is
the US Department did a study for nine
years of state prisoner recidivism
across 30 US states and would you
believe that violent offenders were the
least likely to reoffending to other
individuals who had been convicted of
drug property and public order crimes
even though the statistics were in my
favor
I knew that public perception was not
and I would be facing the same
obstacles breaking through the barriers
that society places on individuals who
have been incarcerated especially
violent offenders my challenge was the
debunk the stereotype that we cannot be
successfully reformed could not be
reintegrated back in the community and
to prove that we can become contributing
members of society as crazy as it sounds
being locked away in a tiny concrete
cell of a closed environment behind the
walls of a Penitentiary allowed me to
look at the world from the outside again
there was no internet no cell phones no
accessibility to the technological
advancements that are so readily
available to the population today
everything and I mean everything is
stripped down to its rawest form for me
my confinement was a time of
enlightenment discovery and of personal
growth which allowed me to find an
identity and also to develop and refine
a series of core practices and
principles that I could apply to my
everyday life and used to build
relationships outside of those walls
just a few of them or understanding the
differences between subjective and
objective thinking constructive and
destructive criticism and how to be
versatile in different environments also
what is foundational building I’ll tell
you what it’s not it’s not some complex
mathematical formula that takes months
or even years to figure out in a
nutshell it’s human and
action and building relationships based
on genuine interest and not personal
benefit it’s taking the time to not be
so consumed with ourselves but to expand
with others I quickly realized that this
could go way beyond me wanting to make a
positive impact in the world and it
doesn’t matter if someone’s been in
prison or they never even seen the
inside of a jail before the idea and its
true purpose is within each and every
one of us we all have some type of
barrier stereotype judgment or
vulnerability that we feel within
ourselves or with others and through the
practice of foundational building and
authentic human interaction we can
eventually break through those but wait
how does that even sound a convicted
murderer coming out of prison after
almost a decade and a half saying to the
world hey everyone listen to me I have
the keys to unlock your potential you
think I was crazy I think I was crazy I
first saw this my solution was time time
to test my theories and so after almost
15 years I was granted an early release
and spent the next year after year after
year building old and new relationships
meeting people I got to learn them for
who they are and I allowed them to get
to know me for who I am now my actions
were congruent to how I spoke and lived
my life
and the more that I effectively
communicated with others the more I felt
but here’s the key they also felt
comfortable enough to open themselves up
to me that is how I became an architect
of human bridges I can honestly stand up
here and say that over the course of my
release nearly every single person that
I have shared my story with through this
simple practice of foundational building
has only allowed our relationship to
grow stronger from affluent members of
society the judges CEOs even the deputy
district attorney who prosecuted me is
to this day one of my closest friends
and strongest supporters how Wow does
that but most important I built
relationships with people just like you
proving that this simple practice of
foundational building works earlier you
were able to hear who I was as a
teenager with dreams a real person and
then my decline how I chose to spend my
imprisonment and the transformation that
followed to where we are today I
designed and built an honest
relationship with you had I not laid the
framework first you may have been more
inclined to associate a stigma to pass a
judgment or to even express disdain do
you want to hear the best part about all
this it doesn’t end
me it starts today with each and every
one of you and so from one architect to
another I ask you take the time to look
within yourself and how you engage with
others on a daily basis maybe meet for
the first time or haven’t seen in years
value and appreciate the human
experience cultivate and grow it and
remember this we are all architects of
our own design our level of
vulnerability with others is dependent
on how we choose to build the foundation
of the bridges for which we shall let
them cross how many bridges will you choose to build today
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