“It only took a minute for someone to look at an evaluation and categorize me as someone who couldn’t learn. And I believed them. It took another minute for someone to tell me different. Thankfully, I believed them, too.”    Les Brown

1957 – Liberty City, Florida: Les Brown was in the principal’s office again. The 11-year-old 5^th grader’s hyperactivity and non-stop talking kept him in trouble with his teachers. After an evaluation, he was diagnosed as “educable mentally retarded” (EMR), moved back a grade, and placed in a special education class at Liberty City Elementary School. Les wore the EMR label for six years.

In the 11^th grade, Leroy Washington, a teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, asked Les to go to the blackboard and write a sentence. Les shook his head, “I can’t do that Mr. Washington. I am EMR.” The English teacher leaned over Les’ desk and whispered, “Son, don’t ever say you are EMR again. Someone’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

In February 1946, Les and his twin brother, Wes, were born on the floor of an abandoned building in Liberty City, a low-income section of Miami, Florida. Mamie Brown, a single, 38-year-old school cafeteria worker, adopted them a month later. With five other adopted children, she wasn’t sure how she would get the money to raise the twins, but she knew that somehow God would provide.

Les Brown’s elementary and middle school years were difficult. He was trapped in special education. A classmate nicknamed him DT, short for Dumb Twin. It was Leroy Washington who changed Les’ life. With his encouragement Les began to dream. Someday, he wanted to be a radio disc jockey and earn enough money to buy his mother a real house.

After high school, Les got a job working for the city’s sanitation department, but he really wanted to work at a local radio station. One day, he arrived at the station manager’s office and asked for a job. Unimpressed with Les’ sanitation overalls, the manager asked, “Do you have a background in broadcasting?” Les shook his head. “Then we don’t have a job for you.”

The station manager showed the 19-year-old the door. However, after Les showed up every day for a week asking for a job, he was hired as an errand boy at no pay. His dogged persistence eventually landed him on the air in Miami as a disc jockey.

In his early 20s, Les moved to radio station WVKO in Columbus, Ohio, and became a top-rated radio talk show host. He became interested in social and political causes, which led him to run for political office. Elected as the Ohio State House 29^th District Representative in 1976, Les passed more legislation in his freshman term than any representative in Ohio legislative history. He served three terms in the Ohio House of Representatives while continuing to work in radio.

Mike Williams, the Columbus radio station manager and friend, recognized Les’ gift as a master communicator and encouraged him to become a motivational speaker. Les studied motivational speakers, read books on public speaking, and dreamed about the possibility. Still, his lack of a college education held him back. It took Williams 14 years to convince him to try motivational speaking.

In 1986, Les started Les Brown Unlimited in a small office in Detroit, Michigan. A few months later, when he was sleeping on the floor of his office because he was too broke to afford an apartment, Les wondered about the wisdom of his decision.

But after an inauspicious start, Les’ phone began to ring. He spoke to schools, civic organizations, prisons, and small businesses. In 1989, he received the National Speaker’s Association’s highest award, the Council of Peers Award of Excellence. In 1990, Les recorded a series of motivational talks for National Public Broadcasting TV and began to reach bigger audiences. AT&T, General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, and corporations worldwide soon sought him out to inspire their employees. People flocked to stadiums and arenas to hear Les speak.

Today, 79-year-old Les Brown is among the world’s top motivational speakers. Toast-asters International has selected him as one of America’s top five motivational speakers. He is a bestselling author of many books, including his guide to success, Live Your Dreams, and his speaking engagements sell out quickly. Les donates 20% of his business profits to help fund youth drug prevention programs. And about his other dream? Mamie Brown’s baby boy bought her a beautiful 10,000-square-foot house on a lake near Miami.