The journey of Leslie Calvin Brown, popularly known as Les Brown, is that of a man who lived his dream. From being a “mentally disabled” student, Les Brown grew up to be a loved radio jockey, politician, motivational speaker, and author. How can a man do so much in a single lifetime and excel in all these diverse fields at the same time? Let us go back in time and relive the journey of one of the greatest motivational speakers in the world- Les Brown.
The abandoned child
On 17th February 1945, Les Brown was born in a desolate building in Miami with his twin, Wesley. The kids’ birth was a secret affair as they were the offsprings of their biological mother’s illicit relationship with a man other than her husband. To keep the matter far from the public’s eyes, their mother put them up for adoption after three weeks of their birth.
When the twins were about six weeks old, they found their home in a 38-year old single woman named Mamie Brown. Brown adopted the boys and bestowed immense love and care, something they valued all their lives. To this day, Les Brown never holds back in giving credit to his mother, who, he asserts, was a great inspiration for him and shall remain so forever.
The educable mentally disabled kid
In school, Les Brown was known to be an extremely mischievous and overactive kid. When he was in fifth grade, his school principal demoted him to a lower grade as a punishment for being disruptive in class. Brown often found it difficult to concentrate in classes and struggled with studies most of his student life, which ultimately awarded him a label of being “educable mentally disabled.” With this label, he was admitted to special student classes till high school.
The world’s greatest orator
In high school, Les Brown found inspiration in Mr. LeRoy Washington, the speech and drama instructor at his school in Miami. Since school days, Brown imagined himself in front of a huge audience listening intently to what he has to say. Whenever he found a piece of paper lying around, he wrote his destiny in his own words claiming that he is the greatest orator in the world. However, the possibility of this dream becoming a reality seemed distant as even Brown started believing that he was educable mentally disabled.
This fact came into light when he refused Mr. Washington to do a task giving his label as the reason. Hearing this, the instructor became furious and shocked. He told Brown to never limit himself to the opinions that others had for him. This realization finally liberated Brown from the label of a developmentally disabled kid.
The radio jockey
Brown did not pursue college after clearing high school. Instead, he found a job in the City Department of Sanitation as a worker. His dreams were indeed bigger than that. He wanted to get into the world of radio broadcasting. Determined to get himself a job in this field, he went to a local radio station owner. Since Les Brown did not have any experience in radio broadcasting, he was denied any position. However, Brown was not somebody who could give up his dream so easily. He kept pestering the owner repeatedly. Finally, the owner gave up and hired Brown for odd jobs such as picking up guest entertainers. While he kept himself busy in whatever task his seniors assigned him, he also taught himself small details of the radio jockeys, like their hand movements.
One fine day, Les Brown finally got the opportunity he was waiting for. A radio jockey could not go on air as he was drunk. Brown, being the only person in the station at that time, decided to take benefit of the situation and filled in his position. Impressed by his performance, the owner promoted him to a part-time jockey and later a full-time jockey. Now, there was no turning back.
The politician
As a radio jockey and broadcast manager, Les Brown emerged as a controversial figure whose views on political and social issues influenced the nation. This affected his job, and he was soon fired. But he found himself being directed towards the political arena by the radio station’s news director, Mr. Mike Williams. Les Brown contested for the Legislature of Ohio State and emerged victoriously! He also served the Human Resources Committee as the chairman in his third term. After completing three terms in office, Brown decided to quit and shift back to Miami to take care of his ill mother.
The motivational speaker
After returning to Miami, Brown carried on his work on social issues when he met Zig Ziglar, a millionaire motivational speaker. From his chance encounter, he decided to go down this road as well. In the 1980s, Les Brown shifted to Detroit. At this time, he only had a single tape containing his motivational speech among his most prized possessions. In Detroit, he started working in an office on rent. However, the office did not entirely belong to him. He shared it with another man who was an attorney by profession.
Brown acquainted himself with the intricacies of public speaking by reading numerous books and researching the lives of other motivational speakers. His first speech was in grade school, followed by high school, clubs, and local organizations.
After around four years in his new career, he became the first African-American to win the highest award of the National Speakers Association. From then on, Les Brown became ‘The Motivator,’ conducting excellent motivational programs for reputed companies, prisoners, and special school students. Apart from being a successful orator, Les Brown is also a well-established author who has inspired millions through the magic of his words.
Today, Les Brown is among the most famous and highest-paid motivational speakers in the world, with a multi-million dollar company in his name.