Three people this week told me they want to become motivational speakers.
They asked me to help them get booked at places I have spoken:
USC.
The FBI Academy
Goldman Sachs.
I asked each one the same question:
“Tell me your story.”
One said:
“When?”
I said:
“Now.”
They could not do it.
They could talk about prison.
They could talk about lessons.
They could not clearly explain what they did, who got hurt, what it cost, and what changed.
That is not a story.
That is a feeling.
Before anyone believes the second half of your life, they need to hear the first half clearly.
This Tuesday is 18 years since I surrendered to prison.
I am going live on YouTube at 11 a.m. Pacific.
I am going to tell my story straight through.
Why I say:
“I committed securities fraud.”
And not:
“I got in trouble.”
Why I name the victim.
Why I name the loss.
Why I do not let my lawyer become the main character.
And why this question is so dangerous:
“You were the fall guy, right?”
Because the moment you say yes, you stop being accountable and start being a victim.
Nobody hires a victim.
Nobody gives a victim the stage.
Nobody learns much from a victim who still thinks the lesson is what everyone else did wrong.
Someone may hate what they hear.
That is fine.
The story is mine.
I own it.
Do you own yours?
Tuesday.
11 a.m. Pacific / 2 p.m. Eastern
YouTube.
Why I Went to Federal Prison: 18 Years Later
Justin Paperny
About the Author
I’m Justin Paperny, founder of White Collar Advice. Our team teaches people how to build a timestamped record that influences cynical stakeholders: judges, probation officers, wardens. We will never ask you to do what we have not done and documented.
We give everything away free: courses, blogs, books, podcasts, weekly webinars, and more. You do not need a prison consultant. You need to learn how to engineer your desired outcome. Not through talk or clichés, but aggressive daily action.
The lessons we teach come from the Straight-A Guide framework that Michael Santos developed through 26 years in federal prison. That same framework is now inside every Bureau of Prisons facility through Prison Professors Charitable Corporation, a nonprofit White Collar Advice supports. If you want to learn how we can help you engineer assets and get vested in the nonprofit’s mission, schedule a call. Diagnostic calls start at $500, refunded in full if there is no value.
