69: LeRon Barton - 3x TEDx Speaker & Celebrated Author on Overcoming Immense Setbacks, Speaking Your Truth, and Disrupting the Status Quo

One of the most rewarding aspects of hosting Untether Your Life is having conversations with folks who have attained great success by overcoming adversity, fighting the status quo / ripping up templates, and staying true to themselves. This week's guest, LeRon Barton, typifies these values.

LeRon L. Barton is a a 3x TEDx speaker, writer, and information technology professional originally from Kansas City, Missouri. LeRon is the author of two books, Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American Drug Culture and All We Really Need Is Love: Stories of Dating, Relationships, Heartbreak, and Marriage.

In addition to his books, LeRon is an essayist whose topics cover racism, mass incarceration, politics, gender, and dating. These works have appeared in Black Enterprise, Salon, Harvard Business Review, Newsweek, and many other outlets.

LeRon is an international speaker who has given three TEDx speeches and has appeared at Oxford University, University of San Francisco, Square, and Defy Ventures.

In this week’s episode, LeRon and host Nikhil touch on many topics, including the following:

• LeRon’s youth in Kansas City, his days in California, and his multi-faceted career as a writer, speaker, information technology professional, and much more
• The silver lining in the storm clouds of COVID, in providing black workers with remote work opportunities that could benefit their mental health
• Code switching, and the compulsion for minorities to surrender parts of their identity in the workforce. How LeRon encourages these employees to stay true to themselves, and still achieve advancement in corporate America.
• The meaning of the Nelson Mandela quote "I never lose. I either win or I learn." How this mindset of perseverance and determination inspire LeRon - someone with a decades-long stutter, anxiety, and fear of public speaking - to become a 3-time TEDx speaker all the while prolifically writing thought-provoking articles in the most influential journals of our time

Want to learn more about LeRon or work with him? Visit him at leronbarton.com, or reach out to him on LinkedIn or Instagram.

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