CEO of Lately Kate Bradley Chernis sits down with the wonderful Orlando Bowen to hear his incredible life story. A story filled with hardship, resilience, and overwhelming compassion. Instead of the usual marketing and social media chat, we pause to listen to a story that truly moves you and shows you that in the face of the worst kinds of adversity, you can still be compassionate and go through life spreading positivity.
Most of us can say we’ve faced hardships in our lives, if not absolutely all of us, but Orlando Bowen’s story is different. Moving to North America in his youth and learning hard work from his parents, he achieved great success through football and was able to start seeing a promising future ahead of him, a future his son could be proud of. After fighting so hard for all he had and finally seeing his hard work pay off, it was all taken away in a matter of minutes.
Attacked brutally by what turned out to be corrupt undercover cops, Orlando shares that his life took a massive turn, football was now out of the picture and his world was flipped upside down. But the way he came back from this cruel attack and further mistreatment from law enforcement is where we can all learn so SO much from his story.
We all want to raise the bar, right? We want to be the best of the best, to set a new standard. But we are never told to raise the floor. Orlando describes this idea, “As you learn, and as you grow, how do you level up - not just what you've been able to achieve - but the floor on which others can stand, or perhaps the shoulders on which others can stand, so that they can see their own possibility.”
We can already see how great of a guy he is… right? Especially in the crazy whirlwind of today, it's safe to say we as people are hyper fixated on our own success. But what if we change the way we think about success, so not only are we helping ourselves, but we’re helping others as we grow. At the very least, we’re gonna get some karma points.
It’s inevitable that we as humans have differences. I mean c'mon, is your family even a family if Thanksgiving doesn’t end in a fight? We go through life encountering people with polar opposite views, and especially in today’s climate, division is everywhere.
It’s normal to think that you are right about everything and the people who don’t agree with you are wrong. Do I think that autumn is the best season and anyone who disagrees is a downright sociopath? Yes, yes I do. But instead of focusing on differences, we can grow by shifting to see the things that bring us together as people.
Orlando describes this using the word Ubuntu, a word with a meaning he has carried with him throughout his life. He elaborates on the meaning saying, “Not only do I see the humanity in you, I'm willing to stand for that humanity and honor that humanity, even if it means standing in a harm's way”.
This guy is an angel on earth, I mean…. I don’t know about you but I’m taking notes.
Hearing Orlando talk about his story, a story filled with so much injustice, it would be completely justifiable if he settled into a life of anger and resentment. He could have gone down a path filled with negativity, but instead he chose to choose light. He tells his story as a lesson in resilience and mental strength, instead of being someone who uses their story to frighten others.
Kate recognizes this and touches on the fact that he is out here not spreading fear, but spreading LOVE. And honestly, the only emotion more powerful than fear IS love.
I’ve said over and over how inspiring this man and his story is, but my synopsis doesn’t do the original justice at all… trust me on that. Listen to the amazing Orlando Bowen and our own Kate Bradley Chernis here: https://youtu.be/WrHdNI_AN0M
Orlando Bowen is an international speaker and GAMECHANGER. He encourages people to become proactive in their lives and make the change towards growth. His youth group One Voice One Team Youth Leadership Organization helps kids learn the valuable lessons of resilience and working together. He uses his story to inspire people to overcome their adversity and strive towards greatness. Get the full scoop over at his website https://www.orlandobowen.com/ for more details.
