Kallen Diggs

Lecture (30 minutes)
Opening or closing keynotes (1 hour)
AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with the audience (1 hour)
Panelist discussion (1-2 hours)
Half day workshop (4 hours)
Full day seminar (8 hours)
[Your idea here .. what is it? I'm flexible] (30 minutes - 8 hours)

I always strive to create an interactive and collaborative experience for the attendees by using various group activities, which may include written activities and small group discussions.

I didn't choose my family, but I chose to live. That life started in North Philadelphia.

I lived in a neighborhood overwhelmed with crime and was often ignored by the police. The economic struggle was severe and I wasn't a stranger to it.

My parents argued so much that I believed that they hated each other. There were many times that I had to live away from them because it wasn't a healthy environment for a child.

I enjoyed being in school more than being with my parents. School was the safest place for me.

When I started high school, school wasn't the safest place anymore. Public high school wasn't only unsafe, but it wasn't helpful either. Problematic students prevented my teachers from teaching for most of the class. Once the teachers neutralized the situation, the teachers had about 10 minutes to teach their class.

Whenever I wasn't working or at school, I was at the public library. I was spending about 10 hours there every week because I had to go to school to learn almost nothing.

I would browse through my high school textbooks and make notes to study at the library. I also read books about business fundamentals and career development.

Due to the economic challenges in the ghetto, I was giving free career advice to my neighbors. Some advice was good and some wasn't as good, but I did my best.

After a year, I started to become popular. People were telling others that they knew a person who could help with their problem. I still laugh about it sometimes because the people in need were expecting an adult to help them. Some people laughed when they saw me. They couldn't believe that their friends suggested a teenager to help them.

My neighbors believed that I was the most promising teenager to succeed from the ghetto. I graduated from high school and got accepted to attend Penn State University.

Fifteen years later, I still have that eager desire to help people to reach the finish line in their careers.

In 2014, I authored Reaching The Finish Line: A Practical Guide to Discovering the Champion in You. The book became a #1 bestseller in Mexico.

I recognize that there are people in the world that can't afford a book because their weekly wages equal the cost of a book. So, five years ago, I partnered with Library for All to give away my first book to Haitian and African communities.

I also donated my second book, Reaching The Finish Line: How to Thrive in the Generation Y Era, to the non-profit organization, (link hidden). They host a library for Rwandans, Congolese, and Haitians.

Those countries have limited access to local language books. As a consequence, people can't learn how to read in their native language.

For some people, it'll be a great resource to help them to become literate. For other people, it'll be a great resource to help them to be better citizens and achieve great things.

I wish that I had a better childhood, but I didn't choose my family. I chose to live a life with meaning.

Ever since the Great Recession, I have helped thousands of people reach the finish line in their careers. More than 3.5 million people quit their jobs every month and millions of more people commute to their disheartening jobs every day. We're witnessing a job dissatisfaction epidemic!

In addition, college enrollment has declined for eight consecutive years. Why? Either college is too expensive or graduates are buried in so much student loan debt that they don't see the value in continuing their education.

My vision is to work with organizations to maximize the impact in helping more people reach the finish line in their career. And I hope that you'll welcome me to speak to your audience!

My mission is to educate people that work is supposed to be an activity to utilize one's strengths in a preferential environment, find a joy in the process, and challenging oneself to grow personally and professionally. And it's possible once they start reaching the finish line!

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