Hi, my name is Leon Giafaglione.
I have been referred to as a transformational motivational speaker. My core platform is personal empowerment. I speak about finding your personal Passion and Purpose resulting in greater Peace and Productivity in the workplace and your entire life. This is a system dependent on and achievable by each individual employee, with or without the group as a whole.
Leon’s awakening to the power of Purpose and Passion.
This whole thing started a long time ago when I was building a small apartment complex, and realized I was very fortunate to be able to achieve the things I was achieving in my life, considering where I came from. At that time I was far from where I wanted to be, but was on the path and with each new success I was getting closer to my ultimate goal. It was exhilarating and confidence-boosting to set out to achieve something and then be able to do it. I began to realize that the only difference between me and some other people who never do anything with their dreams was sheer stubbornness, a refusal to fail. It was then that I decided that I needed to share my discovery with as many people as possible.
Leon’s start as a motivational speaker.
My original plan was to write a book and then start speaking. In the process of doing the research for and writing the book, I became even more excited about my progress and discoveries. When people asked what I was doing or where I had been spending all my time, I was happy to answer their questions and share some of my material. On more than one occasion this resulted in an invitation to speak to their group or business. Those experiences helped shape the content of my first book, Why Don’t You Kill Yourself: It’s Math Not Magic, An Inspirational Book About Following Your Dreams, and I am happy to say it is now a better product. It’s available here on Amazon.com and wherever life-changing books like this are sold.
Where did Leon come from?
I came from a refrigerator box. No, I didn't live in a refrigerator box, or at least it wasn't my home. I did, however, spend all of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade with my desk inside a refrigerator box. I was labeled with what at that time was called a learning disability, now ADHD, and Dyslexia. (On a funny side note, at Christmas one year someone asked me if I knew my name spelled backwards is Noel. I explained to them I was dyslexic and I know what everything spelled backwards is!) I was taken to doctors and specialists of all kinds. I remember one of these specialists telling my parents that with much help (and much help was given) I might make it through high school and get a labor grade job that would get me through life.
The trigger that changed Leon’s life came from a surprising source.
After college, a year of traveling, and quite a bit of goofing off, I settled into a menial job in sales where I enjoyed the challenges and quickly excelled. After a few years at this job I decided I wanted to try my hand at running my own business. I did this at a level I would describe as barely successful for about seven years. My priorities at that point in life were mostly how much time I could spend racing my sailboat, or sitting on a beach somewhere watching the sunset. Sometime during these years I began to dream about doing something more than just getting by. Earlier, I had stumbled on an article about success in one of my grandmother’s Readers Digest magazines. The article was written by a successful bodybuilder. It was the author, not the subject matter, who attracted me. I started to think that if he did what he did, maybe I could make some of my crazy dreams come true as well.
From barely successful business owner to a blue collar job in the oil fields.
My initial goal was to eventually become a land developer and build apartments. After quite a bit of daydreaming and research, I decided that the quickest way to achieve this plan was to give up my business and take a high paying blue-collar job where the income was three times what I was making in my comfortable white collar business. So I dove in headfirst and went straight to the oil field of the Gulf of Mexico. This was a complete culture shock for me, as well as the good old boys I worked with, but I worked this job for a few years, and eventually used a connection from that job to move into a management position with a large international corporation. My plan was to pay off my house in four years, buy some property to build on, pay off that property, use it for collateral, and start building apartments.
Leon’s purpose and passion kept him on his plan.
I followed my plan, and did without a lot of things to pull it off. This was not an easy chapter of my life, but I kept my eyes on the ball and made it to the goal. After paying off my house and the land I bought for the development, I fought with banks to secure a loan. Because I had no experience as a developer, and could give them nothing to make them feel comfortable that I could pull this off, I was turned down by almost every bank I contacted. Finally, a loan officer at Hancock Bank very reluctantly took a chance on me and loaned me enough money to begin phase one of development. The loan officer told me that if I dropped this ball, it could be her career and if I pulled it off, I would be able to borrow any amount of money I wanted in the future. I have to admit, the ball was very slippery and on the tip of my fingers more than once, but I pulled off phase one and moved forward. Somewhere during phase three of the development, people began to make comments about just how rare my refusal to fail was. I realized that I wanted to use what I had learned to motivate others, to help people tap into their passions. I wanted to pay back, to empower other people to achieve their dreams.
Leon changed his life and you can too.
In 2010, after working my plan for seven years, I stepped down from a leadership position with the international corporation that then provided me with a six-figure income to finally pursue my dreams of empowering the world. I want each individual to know that we can do anything we set our minds to, regardless of the circumstances. I am nowhere near who or where I want to be in LIFE and unless the future is different from the past, when I get to those marks, they will have moved, but I am very pleased with where I am. Just a few weeks ago I was on a trip that took me through the town where I went to college. I was ahead of schedule and decided I would take a trip down memory lane. Riding around campus and reflecting on my time and my thoughts while I was there, I realized how far I am ahead of what at that time were my wildest dreams. This is a good feeling I want everyone to feel one day. And this is a perfect example of what I talk about when I use the analogy of LIVING as much of your LIFE as you can (Inside the Parentheses). That was without a doubt a parenthetical moment in my life.
Leon’s personal challenge to you.
I want to encourage you to do something with your dreams, and not only encourage, but empower you and show you proof that you can do what you dream you can do. It is as simple, and as challenging, as that.
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