The idea of Seacliffs came from my three-year involvement in a leadership development program with Dave Rider of Rider Leadership Solutions. He has been a long-term mentor of mine and invited me into his program that was part of the Townsend Leadership Program. John Townsend is a leading Chrisitan Psychologist who wrote, along with Henry Cloud, the highly popular book Boundaries.
The program was integral in my life in helping me be more comfortable with vulnerability and developing safe and healthy relationships with a small circle of people. Throughout the program, I gained an understanding of how to navigate my emotional world and grow in my leadership capacity to be more influential and bring about change in the areas I was engaged.
One of these areas is with a group of men who are inmate pastors and leaders at Angola, Louisiana State Penitentiary. I have been visiting these men since 2013, and they and that place have become near and dear to my heart. These men set the bar for me in leading lives of authenticity and Christlikeness. I have become very close with these men, and we remain in contact every week. They have taught me so much about living a life that is honorable and full of dignity.
For most of that time I have been involved at Angola, the possibility of being able to return to their families and communities was not existent. That is starting to change! One man, Troy, was released Christmas of 2016 and is now thriving with his wife and son.
I desire to see more of my incarcerated friends released from prison.
This is a long-term proposition as it takes many years to go through the legal process. And it is expensive. And re-entry in a way that is healthy is complicated.
The vision is to set up a for-profit business that coaches salespeople and leaders in their personal growth and helping leaders developing business strategies and executing on marketing and business development plans to achieve professional or organizational growth. The profits from this business will go to seeing freed inmates thrive in society. The money will go to pay for attorneys, pay for experiences for these men to continue to grow, pay for me and others to visit Angola; I don’t know, maybe even pay for weddings (call me a hopeless romantic!)
The name Seacliffs is a name that is near and dear to my heart. It was our family farm growing up. The spectacular rainforest sparked my adventurous spirit and my deep love for trees and ecology. It is now a neighborhood. Who knows, maybe I will live there someday, at the block in front of the waterfall, but if not, that’s ok, the place will always be with me.
I’m unsure if this is something that I will be good at or provide value in doing, but I’m giving it a shot.
Game on.