John Parker, Motivational / Inspirational / Leadership Speaker

Although it say 200 miles on the distance he will travel, John Parker will travel an unlimited distance to speak to your group or event. Just work out the travel logistics. You will be glad to know that John is very down to earth. People whom have worked with him say he is very accommodating and likes to have a good time, but at the same time, he is very professional. On site or on-air, John will arrive early, and he will not get up tight about a last minute change that may have to be made. John’s motto is simple. He says “breathe, and never ever sweat the small stuff. Let’s all relax and enjoy ourselves”.

When you hire John Parker, you can be confident that you have hired a true professional. John will make your speaker planning easy and hassle free. You will get lots of applause, accolades, and acknowledgment for your speaker selection. In other words, you will be a hero with your function, organization, group, or company.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE 200 MILE LIMIT. THIS GUY WILL COME ANYWHERE!!!

Often you come across an individual who lives a humble life, yet his very presence strikes a polarizing cord with the people around him. This is John Parker. He is a retired Professional and College football coach of 25 years. John Parker's expertise and passion are motivation, inspiration and leadership. He is one of the most sought after motivational/leadership speakers nationwide. His keynote speeches and presentations, and his motivational and leadership development programs range from small rooms of top leadership teams to large scale events on very big stages.

John Parker was born in St. Louis Missouri. He graduated from McCluer Senior High School in the suburb of Ferguson, where he was an All State performer in football, basketball, and track. He was inducted into the schools' Hall of Fame in 2003. He was awarded a college football scholarship, and played Defensive Back at Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education, and two Masters of Science Degrees in Sports Medicine and Sports Marketing respectively.

He got his calling to become a coach, and quickly moved through the ranks the college arena. In over twenty four years, he has coached 12 NFL draft choices, 7 of which who have played in the Super Bowl.

Parker on being a "Survivor"

During the summer of his junior year of college, he was driving on a major highway, in the North County area of St. Louis late one evening. The events that would happen next would change his life forever. A drunk driver decided to drive down the exit ramp and proceeded to get on the inside lane, lights off and doing 80-mph, traveling in the wrong direction. When he appeared in front of John, it was too late. They hit head on. John probably should have been killed in the accident, after all, who survives a head on accident at 80-mph? But, although he was only injured, those injuries would be quite devastating. He had stitches in his head, detached the retina in his right eye, broke both collar bones, cracked his sternum and broke nearly all his ribs. In addition, his right knee was smashed and required major reconstructive surgery. He did survived the accident, but he was a mess. But, with a determination and drive unlike most, one year later he was back on the football field at Missouri Valley College (where he transferred to) and finished his college football playing career. when his playing days ended, he joined to coaching profession, where he stayed for the next 25 years. In those 25 years as a football coach, and keeping up his nature of being a survivor, he suffered through 2 battles of spinal meningitis, 1 mild cardio infarction (mild heart attack), 1 mild stroke and a two time battle with testicular cancer. All before he was 45 years old. As he has been known to do, he kept silent about most of his health issues. He truly is a walking miracle.

Parker on "Leadership"

John Parker had many opportunities to do other things with his professional life, but he knew what the game of football had provided to him and he wanted a chance to provide that same opportunity to other young men, especially young men of color. He has often stated that “football has been a platform for everything I have ever done. I owe the game and the coaching profession everything.” He traveled all over this country following his ambition, but he knew that he also wanted to make social changes within the coaching profession. He wanted changes in how the profession was for black coaches. He has stated, “When I first started coaching, less than 1% of NFL teams and major universities had a black head coach, but nearly 80 percent of the players looked like me. That was not right.” In 1994, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Black Coaches Association of America and made a conscious decision to put his career on the line to fight for minority coaches in the football profession.

His first battle was at Stanford University, where he lead his fellow board members, along with the late attorney, Mr. Johnnie Cochran, fought successfully to make Tyrone Willingham, the first black football coach at Stanford University. “We fought with Dr. Condoleezza Rice for nearly 8 days. At the end we insisted that this would be the catalyst for opening more doors, which it was.” But his own coaching career suffered for it. Being virtually blackballed from Division I opportunities. John never became a Division I head coach, but he is not bitter. He always says “Real leadership is not about popularity. Often it is about going against the grain and sacrificing yourself for the greater good. I had a good run for 25 years. More importantly, my players graduated and moved into productive lives when they were done. I was happy with my coaching career. I have no regrets. Furthermore, the work that we accomplished paved the way for opportunities for you coaches of color to gain opportunity. i am very proud of the work we did. Yes, I get really choked up thinking about it. I was very lucky.”

Prior to getting out of coaching, he decided to go into the public relations/crisis communications/contract negotiations business. That came as a surprise even to him. His negotiation skills were made public during several coaching searches, and other coaches began to approach him about negotiating their salary contracts with universities across the country. Very soon, he was privately representing almost twenty percent of the top college and professional football coaches in the country. He was able to parley this into handling their endorsement deals and their crisis situations. He finally walked away from the coaching side of football in 2009, when he left Tennessee State University.

John Parker is currently the Director of Corporate Communications and Media for the St. Louis Development Corporation and the Owner/President of Evolution Communications & Media Group, and firm the specializes in crisis communications and media management for large corporations, government entities and non-profit organizations. He honed his public speaking talents and expertise, and began speaking to both small and large companies, organizations and on college campuses all over the United States. He is former President of the Board of Directors of AHA Unlimited, a not for profit organization in St. Louis specializing in art therapy for at risk youth. He is a board member of The Adoption Exchange, Athletes and Entertainers Circle of Influence, The St. Louis Ambassadors, The St. Louis Small Business Associations and the Viral Cancer Research Foundation.

He has hosted and spoken at events for Emerson, Boeing, Purina, World Wide Technology, The NFL, The National Liver Foundation, The Crisis Nursery, The Jack and J.T. Snow Foundation, and he is a member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the United Way. He had been nominated for “Man of the Year” twice by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society for his national fundraising drive P.A.L.L. (Professionals Against Leukemia Lymphoma) which has raised over a million dollars for the charity. He has been recognized by the “I’m a Survivor” Foundation because of his 2- time successful battle with cancer. John Parker was most recently recognized as one of "The Top 100 Most Influential African Americans" in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area

John Parker is a rare blend of a brilliant talent to repeatedly reinvent himself and over-achieve, unwavering perseverance and dedication, whether it is for a cause or just for the motivational factor and leadership of people. He has been a television show host. He has had a national radio on 130 stations in the country. He is a published author (5 books). He has published a men's magazine. He has built and sold several companies. He is the definition of leadership, inspiration, relentless hard work, passionate preparation and yes, an often polarizing persona that forces people to "get comfortable being just a bit uncomfortable, because John Parker believes in "real" conversation, in order to effect "real" change, "real" motivation and "real" leadership.

He does this by simply CHANGING THE CONVERSATION AND "KEEPING IT REAL" !!!!!!!

Lapel Microphone
Projector for powerpoint (if requested)