Tuesday, August 27 l 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Grand Saguaro Ballroom 

Damon West
College Professor,
Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author,
Internationally Known Keynote Speaker

In this intimate and personal address, Damon shares his cautionary tale and message of hope in a brutally honest presentation. Damon takes his audience on an emotional journey from his great success as a starting quarterback at a Division One school, to the pitfalls of a career-ending injury and an insatiable meth habit.

Damon will share his nightmare life of meth-addicted crime and receiving the maximum punishment (life) during this Inspirational Keynote. His survival stories throughout a span of seven years in a Texas maximum security prison and the lessons he learned while incarcerated, are riveting. Join Damon as he takes you on an exploration of what it means to change the environment around you for the better despite the pressures you face.

Learning Objectives

1. Discover how accidents and addiction can alter a person’s life.

2. Identify key steps necessary to change your life path and overcome adversity.

3. Evaluate ways your organization can look within to create better outcomes and increase productivity.

4. Adopt a results-oriented attitude to exceeding expectations within your day-to-day life.

About Damon West:

Damon West, M.S. Criminal Justice, is a college professor, internationally known keynote speaker, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change, which Forbes’ listed in the “Top Twenty Books You Need to Read to Crush 2020.”

His autobiography, The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World, vividly tells how he transformed the pot of boiling water that is a Texas maximum-security prison into a pot of coffee.

At 20 years old, he was a Division 1 starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, when he suffered a career-ending injury. He turned to hardcore drugs to cope with the disappointments of life. After graduation, he worked in the United States Congress, was a national fundraiser on a U.S. Presidential campaign, and eventually trained to be a stockbroker for the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). One day at UBS, he was introduced to methamphetamines; he became instantly hooked—and the lives of so many innocent people would forever be changed by the choices he made in order to feed his insatiable meth habit.

After a fateful discussion during his incarceration with a seasoned convict, Damon had a spiritual awakening. He learned that, like a coffee bean changing with the application of heat and pressure, he was capable of changing the environment around him. Armed with a program of recovery, a renewed faith, and a miraculous second chance at life, Damon emerged from over seven years of prison, a changed man. His story of redemption, grit, and determination continues to inspire audiences today.

The Coffee Bean message has inspired thousands. Damon’s clients include such companies as Walmart, AIG, Chick-fil-A, Southwest Airlines, and sports teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Timberwolves, Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia. The U.S. Army has even incorporated the #BeACoffeeBean mindset into their resilience training. Damon’s story has been featured both nationally and globally.

He is passionate about the Coffee Bean message and loves sharing how it changed his life and how it can change yours, too.