Tony is one of the top substance abuse and motivational speaker in the United States. Please visit http://www.tonyhoffmanspeaking.com

1. How I Became A Motivational Speaker
Public speaking or motivational speaking has not always been a recognized gift for me. I can’trecall
ever liking to stand in front of an audience of any size and speak about anything, especially school
related stuff. That obviously changed quite a bit for me considering I now travel the country and
share my store with thousands hoping to make a positive impact on just one person. Standing in
front of crowds and speaking is something that excites me today. I welcome the nerves I feel before
a big speech in front of a huge audience and there is no greater feeling when a crowd is connected
and motivated by your words. My quest of becoming a public speaker has been a lot about passion
and a lot about others. If it wasn’t for those two things I wouldn’t be standing in front of crowds
motivating people through my personal story. When I was in prison, nearing the half way point of
my 2 year sentence, I knew that I wanted to speak to kids in schools. I felt so passionately about the
lie that I fell into and that I wanted to motivate kids with my story to avoid drugs all together and
chase after their dreams using their talents. I had washed so many valuable years of my life down
the toilet, 1825, I didn’t want other kids to do the same or worse, die.
When I paroled prison in December of 2008 my first goal was to get back on my bike. The bike was
going to be the centerpiece of how I connected with my audiences is how I saw it in my mind. So it
was important for me to get to work on the bicycle and start to create a successful comeback story
that would be worth listening to. I began to mentor a young man by the name of Austin Hiatt who
was 14 at this time. Austin is now my right hand man with the work being done through my non-
profit, Freewheel Project. Austin was a talented young BMX racer and I wanted to make sure that
with his talent he was able to stay away from the negative situations like partying and substance
abuse and focus soely on his gift riding a bike.
after meeting his parents and talking to them about me sharing my story, Austins mom said she
knew of a school that had a small group of athletes who met with FCA (Fellowship of Chrisitan
Athletes) who would probably be willing to let me come and share. I pursued this opportunity and
was invited to speak to about 20 middle school students apart of FCA at quail lakes middle school. I
was extremely rough around the edges and didn’t quit have down what I would say about my story
but I was passionate and I genuinely cared about my audiences futures. I certainly didn’t get any
phone calls after that speech with agents and people looking for a fantastic motivational speaker,
that’s for sure haha.
I never looked at my speaking situation and asked myself if I was good at it or not. I never looked at
my speaking and said I need to earn a living doing this. I only said to myself I want to make a
difference and here is why. Following that passion is what I believe has opened all of the doors I
have walked through with my public speaking. I was introduced to Chris Herren, who I will say is
probably the top speaker in the United States right now on substance abuse. Chris and I spoke about
my motivational speaking that I was doing locally in Fresno, California, where he went to college and
he offered to connect me with his agent. It’s crazy to think for me.. If I never would have shared my
story that day in quail lakes or if I would have made speaking all about the money I would have
never made the connection with Chris which is ultimately the reason I am on the speaking platform I
am today.
Please visit at http://www.tonyhoffmanspeaking.com/