July 11, 2025 • 34 mins
🎙️ He Was Called Trash and a Loser, Now He Fights with God-Given Confidence and Purpose
This is one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had on GRASP Confidence, because today’s guest isn’t just a storyteller with an incredible testimony—he is a very dear friend of mine.
David Mulldune’s journey is raw, unfiltered, and heartbreakingly real. He grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, labeled “poor white trash,” the oldest of three children living in poverty so extreme his mother had to place them in orphanages just to give them a chance at an education.
David’s early life was marked by pain and chaos:
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Being separated from his family at a young age
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Joining a gang by 11 and seeing violence firsthand
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Sleeping in abandoned houses and cars
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Staring down a future of crime, violence, and hopelessness
He was kicked out of high school, lived on the streets, cycled through juvenile hall, and was called “loser” more times than he could count. Society had written him off completely.
But God didn’t.
When David was just a boy, someone took him to a Billy Graham Crusade. There, he asked Jesus to save him and even though he didn’t fully understand it then, that moment planted a seed that would grow through every dark chapter that followed.
He went on to serve in the Marines during Vietnam, enduring unimaginable loss and trauma, watching friends die in combat, and questioning everything he thought he knew about survival, leadership, and morality.
David’s story is not just one of survival, it’s one of radical redemption.
Even now, as he faces what many would call the ultimate test—an incurable cancer diagnosis—David is living out his purpose with unwavering faith and unbreakable confidence. He’s not just telling people about Christ’s power to transform a life—he’s showing them.
He is the embodiment of the truth that your past does not define you.
This episode is a testament to what real, gritty, humble confidence looks like. It’s not about titles, accolades, or polished leadership. It’s about the courage to surrender, the strength to obey, and the grace to serve even in life’s hardest battles.
In this powerful conversation, you’ll hear:
✅ The unfiltered reality of David’s early life in poverty, violence, and street gangs
✅ How a simple moment of faith at a Billy Graham Crusade became the seed of hope
✅ His brutal experience in Vietnam and the crisis of faith and ethics it created
✅ The spiritual battle between selfish ambition and servant leadership
✅ How he is facing incurable cancer with rock-solid faith, purpose, and confidence in God
David is not just a guest on this show, he is someone I admire deeply, and someone I’m honored to call a friend. His story is one of the most moving and convicting I’ve ever heard, and I truly believe everyone needs to hear it.
If you’re a high performer, a leader, or someone striving to live with purpose, this episode will challenge you to look at your own life through the lens of God’s calling.
👉 Connect with David:
Please take a moment to connect with David Mulldune on LinkedIn. He would lo
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:25):
Have you ever wondered if
you can turn your life
around from rock bottom?
Well, today's guest has lived it.
Growing up in abstract poverty in Arkansas,
bouncing between orphanages
and even gangs,
getting expelled and
banished from the state of
California as a teen,
(00:47):
his path seemed hopeless.
But the Marines offered a
turning point with one
life-changing message.
Others have done it.
You can too.
That mantra carried him through Vietnam,
divorce, bankruptcy, homelessness,
ultimately helping him
build a thriving business,
(01:08):
rebuilding his family,
and even earning a master's
degree at the age of sixty-seven.
He'll also share wisdom
about confronting the eye of the storm,
where ego gives way to real change.
If you're ready for an
unfiltered story of resilience, faith,
(01:29):
and hope, don't miss this episode.
And let's welcome our next guest,
a dear friend of mine, David Maldon.
David, welcome to the show.
Thank you very much, Tara.
I appreciate you having me.
Of course.
You know, it's funny how we met.
I do want to mention how we
met for everybody.
I was giving a talk at our
(01:52):
local C-Suite for Christ
chapter in December.
It was the first faith-based
message I'd ever delivered in my life.
Prior to that, you know,
the messages that I
delivered in keynotes were
things like personal branding, marketing,
leadership, personal development.
But that was the first time
I ever delivered a talk about faith.
(02:13):
And you were in the audience.
And then a little bit later,
sometime later,
I can't remember the exact
sequence of it all.
But you called me on the
phone or I called you one or the other.
And then we talked for over
an hour and just kind of hit it off.
And the rest is history.
What a great story, right?
(02:33):
It is a great story for kindred spirits,
I think, Tara.
Yeah.
I think so, too.
It's it's you know,
it's a fun way to meet.
And, you know,
your story is just so impactful,
so powerful.
I relate to it in so many different ways.
You know, when I was growing up,
(02:54):
we were in the richest
county in the United or one
of the richest counties in
the United States.
And we were like the poor family, you know,
in that rich county.
And I never felt like I fit in anywhere.
I'm sure that resonates with you a lot,
right?
And the fact that you grew
(03:15):
up so poor that your mother
had to put you in
orphanages just so that you
could get an education and
have three square meals a day.
Incredible.
I would love for you to take
us back because that also
led into some gang activity
and other things like that.
And there's people that are
listening to this episode right now
(03:37):
who may be, you know,
they may have really big
dreams and goals in their
life and they may be thinking,
but what about my past?
Does that really,
make me able to do something big.
So I would love for you to
take us back a little bit
to your childhood and kind
(04:00):
of unravel those details so
that we can give some
inspiration and hope to our
listeners today.
What was it like growing up
in abstract poverty in Arkansas?
Well, to be truthful,
we didn't realize we were that poor.
My mom was nineteen years old.
She had three kids.
(04:21):
I was the oldest.
She was divorced and she had
dropped out of high school.
So we had nowhere really to go.
We were on welfare.
And she realized that she
couldn't make a life for
herself and for us unless
she did something to change
(04:44):
this course for us.
So she put, I had two younger sisters.
We're each a year apart.
And she put us into,
the first home was in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas.
for two years and they
couldn't get away with this
today I don't think but the
house mother of that
(05:05):
particular home was very
strong christian lady and
she read the bible she had
a bible study every night
while we were in that home
and that was my first
introduction to christ
And I just thought, OK,
this is something that sounds good,
but I didn't know how that
(05:25):
really related to me.
I was eight years old at the
time entering into the home.
And then that home was
closing at the end of two years.
So she put us in another home for one year,
the Methodist Home for
Children in Little Rock, Arkansas.
and um they too since it was
a methodist home we went to
(05:46):
church every uh sunday and
a lot of times for
punishment our house mother
made us write bible verses
so I don't know if that's a
good way to punish somebody
because you're saying man I
got to write this
But we did and it stuck.
And toward the end of that
(06:08):
last year in the Methodist
Home for Children,
they took us to a Billy
Graham crusade at the War
Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
And I was up in the stands
and Billy Graham gave his invitation.
And I didn't understand it all,
but there was something
about the appeal of Christ
(06:29):
that touched me deeply.
And he gave the altar call, so to speak.
We went down to the field of the stadium.
and he had us all get on our
knees and uh to pray and um
I'm bowing my head I'm
closing my eyes I didn't
know what to really say and
I felt a hand touch my head
(06:51):
and it was billy graham and
uh he said he asked me he
said would you like me to
pray for you son and I said
yes and he prayed for me
again I didn't quite understand
But that's when I really
believe I was saved at that moment,
even though I didn't
understand at all the idea of salvation,
(07:14):
repentance, this kind of thing.
But it left a very deep, deep longing.
at the bottom of my heart to know Christ.
But since there was no follow up,
my mom did eventually get us out.
I was eleven years old and I
did join a gang and we got
(07:34):
in a gang fight with another gang,
obviously,
and somebody got stabbed and I
decided to leave that.
uh since we well during
those times in the homes
going to school everybody
knew that so we were my
sisters as well we were
called losers and this kind
(07:56):
of thing and that does a
lot to the way you perceive
the world and I for one
started developing a chip on my shoulder
And would get in fights with
guys over nothing, really.
If they just looked at me wrong,
I would be ready to fight somebody.
(08:19):
And so that's what led me into the gang.
But I got out of that.
My mom eventually married.
She became an x-ray technician.
and married one of the
patients that had come through,
and he took us to California.
And from there,
I had the deep southern drawl,
(08:39):
and the girls loved the drawl.
They thought it was cute and
the kind of thing,
and I kind of liked the attention, too,
as well.
But I got the attention from
the guys as well,
but they saw me as hillbilly, a hick,
this kind of thing.
And so that led to more fights.
So I fought a lot through
school and in high school
(09:02):
and had been kicked out
three times in high school.
The last time was at the
beginning of my junior year.
I punched out a guy in English class.
And so that wasn't acceptable.
And they kicked me out.
And that's when I started
basically wandering through
Northern California,
(09:23):
up by San Francisco and Ukiah and
this kind of thing.
And I lived on the streets
and I would sleep in people's cars.
I slept in school buses, abandoned houses.
And at one time,
even I slept in somebody's basement.
(09:45):
And snuck in and slept in.
It was like January.
It was cold.
And in the middle of the night,
I still think about this to this day.
And I'm amazed how much God
washed out for me,
even though I didn't realize this.
But in the middle of the night,
I snuck upstairs and went
into the refrigerator.
I hadn't eaten probably for
(10:06):
a couple of days or whatever.
And there was pie in the refrigerator.
It was a couple of pieces missing.
Anyway, I ate the whole pie.
right there standing at the refrigerator.
I'm surprised, I think about this,
that I didn't wake somebody up,
been discovered,
maybe shot or been arrested or whatever,
(10:27):
but I ate the pie, went back downstairs,
slept, and left before anybody got up.
I've often wondered to this
day about the fight that
occurred that following day
in that house about who ate the pie.
and everybody proclaiming their innocence.
And they were innocent,
but somebody got blamed,
(10:48):
or at least doubt was
raised among that particular family.
But things kept getting worse.
The only way I could survive, really,
I stole food from grocery stores.
And I had one thing I don't know why,
but I latched onto.
I would steal watch bands
from jewelry stores.
(11:09):
and at that time you could
uh return items and you
didn't have to have
receipts and all this kind
of stuff so I would steal
the watch band from the
jewelry store and I was
foolish enough I got away with it
um that I would return the
watch band to that jewelry
store and get a refund in
(11:31):
cash so that's how I got
money and uh as far as
stealing food from grocery
stores they didn't have
cameras or anything back in
those days so it's
relatively easy to do but I
knew I couldn't keep living
that way I was just I was a
loose cannon and um
I decided that I had to do something.
(11:52):
Vietnam was going strong.
So I joined the Marines,
which was the biggest shock of my life.
And the thing, the first,
it may not have been the first night,
but first couple nights at boot camp,
um one of the di's made the
(12:13):
comment uh I mean they
weren't friendly at all
they said they were there
to break us they weren't
there we were either going
to be made into marines or
they were going to break us
and kick us out of the
military and uh I thought
okay the challenge was
there but one of the di's said
(12:36):
I just want to remind you maggots,
you know, and I'm putting it mildly,
that others have done it,
you can do it too.
And I thought about that a lot.
And I thought, you know,
I've never been challenged in my life.
And I thought, okay,
this is something I can latch on to.
(12:57):
And I believe that I adopted
that into my way of thinking.
And it served me well while
I was in the Marines.
I went from private to
corporal leave for in fourteen months,
which is in the Marine Corps,
that's fast.
even in a combat situation.
(13:18):
I was a combat Marine in
Vietnam for thirteen months.
And the thing that's, I took that to heart,
as others have done it and
you can do it too,
but the thing that shattered that to me
was I had other Marines with me,
my Marine buddies,
(13:38):
my brother Marines that were killed,
wounded ones.
We lost over forty eight
thousand of our military and hostile
fire in Vietnam.
So obviously that others have done it,
you can do it too didn't work for them.
(14:00):
But what is seductive about
that particular saying is
that you can be successful.
doing that but inevitably
somewhere down the line you
will fail and then what and
during this time too I did
things in vietnam that I
(14:20):
never thought I would do as a human being
And I look back on these times.
Now I look back on these
times and I always take Romans eight,
twenty eight,
twenty nine to heart that
God causes all things to
work together for good to
them that know and love the Lord.
And the fact that he allowed
(14:43):
Those things in my life were
designed or orchestrated to
bring me to him.
So this idea of others have done it,
you can do it too,
I began to redefine what
this really means.
And when I turned my life over,
(15:05):
became committed to Christ,
rather than just
acknowledging a relationship with him,
which was pretty much non-existent.
But to develop a relationship,
an intimate relationship with Christ,
I thought about a lot that Paul,
where he points out in
Philippians two verses five,
(15:31):
to write about Jesus'
staggering example of
selfless servanthood and
his humility in setting
aside his right to be
treated as God so that we
(15:56):
could be with him forever.
And I just was thinking that
if we can take on this
humble attitude of denying ourselves,
and this can only be done
in surrendering ourselves to Christ,
this is how I had been living for me.
(16:18):
I had set myself up.
I was the determining factor in my life.
Vietnam taught me that I am
not the determining factor in my life.
And so who's the standard?
And it's Christ.
And surrendering to Christ
is what really crushes or
(16:38):
helps kill that I factor.
It's me.
Pardon me?
I love that.
It's so powerful, right?
And well, on a lot of different aspects,
I love the fact that, you know, that's,
I didn't realize that was a Marine saying,
because I say it all, all the time.
And people ask me that work with me, they,
(17:01):
they typically ask,
is it possible for me to achieve this?
And I always say back to them,
have others done it?
And they say, of course,
others have done it.
Well, then you can too.
right?
It's a perseverance, it's a mindset,
and it's a resilience
factor that goes into there.
(17:22):
It's a consistency.
And I think that's really powerful,
especially for
entrepreneurs and leaders
to understand that
If there is someone out
there that you're emulating,
if you have some goal,
if you have some desire
that you're seeking in life,
others have done it, you can too.
(17:43):
But what I also liked about
what you said is it's
taking the eye out of the storm.
It's about showing up not
just for your own glory and
for your own ego and for
your own objectives.
I like to think of any goal that I have
It's about adding value and
being obsessed with adding value,
(18:04):
helping other people
achieve their goals and
dreams and not holding back in that.
And part of that is the
servant leadership and
example we have in Jesus.
And, you know,
he was the greatest example
of a leader that's ever lived.
Humble, kind, servant leadership.
(18:29):
He was a servant leader
before there was even such a term, right?
Because we hear this a lot nowadays,
right?
And there's programs and
there's courses and there's
keynotes and it's all about
servant leadership.
This wasn't a thing before.
So he was the first example,
the best example that's ever lived.
And all of this information
that we're talking about is free in the
(18:51):
in the word right now for us
all to lean on and become
better because of it, right?
Yes.
Well, I agree.
And I think the best way to
accomplish this is through John,
(19:11):
where it says, if you love me,
you will keep my
commandments or you will obey me.
And I thought about this, too,
that this love and
obedience to God is you
can't separate the two.
They build upon one another.
So when we say, if you love me,
(19:32):
we're saying, since you love me,
you will obey me or be
obedient to God's word.
And the more we're obedient to God's word,
the more our love for God grows.
And the more our love for God grows,
it builds on itself.
The more we become obedient
and it becomes an upward spiral.
And this is this selfless
(19:53):
servanthood that you
mentioned and that Christ
did when he came to earth as God-man.
And by doing this, this is how
We live our lives in this
selfless servanthood that
(20:14):
we can be servants to our
brothers and sisters in Christ,
and we can help each other
get through this life,
which is a struggle enough, but together,
and we can become this...
have this loving,
obedient servanthood through Christ.
(20:36):
And as a result of this,
this exalts Christ in our
lives and in others that
shines throughout the world for the lost.
Hmm.
I say this frequently that, you know,
when we think about the Gospels,
we know there's Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John.
So we think of the four Gospels,
(20:56):
but there's actually a
fifth Gospel and that fifth
Gospel is the life of the believer.
And I like to say that because.
Any day,
any chance that we get is a chance
to proclaim that through
our own word and inspired action.
And this is so impactful and
(21:18):
powerful because when we
take on that gospel,
that fifth gospel in our
own lives and have
ourselves as an example for
others to follow and emulate and
it's so powerful that it
says so much because this
is something that we all need to remember,
(21:40):
especially as leaders, right?
That it's not about hitting the metrics.
It's not about making some magical number.
It's about the lives we
change and the people we
transform in the process.
And part of that as leaders is,
is to take again that
(22:01):
example that he set and
emulate it in our own lives,
in our own actions.
And the employees that we
bring on to our companies,
the clients that we have,
how can we honor people,
truly honor people?
And I use that term honor
people because we know that
(22:22):
every person is created in
the image of God and God died for us.
all of us so that we could be saved.
So this is really important
because I do considering
honoring others and showing
them that they have innate
value as human beings just by existing.
(22:43):
And no matter what they've
done in the past,
no matter what mistakes they've made,
no matter what challenges
or adversities they've experienced,
their life is no less
valuable in the eyes of the father.
Absolutely, absolutely.
That's a valuable lesson.
(23:03):
And I think that when I, I mean,
I think about my past and
years that I would regret those things.
I would say, why couldn't I have had,
you know, the regular mom and dad, Beaver,
Cleaver kind of family and
right upbringing.
(23:24):
And then I think, you know,
I thought,
why did it take me so long for
this to sink in?
But you know what?
Praise God, I think, or not,
I think I know,
that he allowed those
circumstances in my life.
Even, I'm
(23:46):
and to have god bring me to
this point this realization
he's allowed me to live to
get to this point he has
saved me on the basis of my
past I'm grateful for that
and if god can use me then
to be an encouragement just
to even one person.
(24:06):
That's my heart's desire.
That has ripple effects
throughout eternity.
So we need to see each other
as brothers and sisters in Christ.
We're servants to each other, really.
This is who we are to be.
This is the only way we can
exalt Christ in our lives.
And as a result, hopefully,
(24:26):
the world gets to see this unity,
this servanthood that
Christians have with each other,
this brother and sisterhood,
and that it shines this
light throughout the world
and is an attraction to
them to come and know
Christ as their Savior as well.
That's my goal,
is just to be able to be an
(24:46):
encouragement to one person.
I love that.
It's so powerful because
regardless of who we are,
I look back at my life.
I'm like, what was I thinking?
Right.
What was I thinking when I did that?
Oh, my gosh.
It's like I look back and
it's almost like it's a
completely different person.
Right.
And you know what?
It was a different person.
(25:07):
I am a changed person.
And there's plenty of things
that we've all done in our
past that we kind of go
like one of those like, oh, my God,
what was I thinking?
What have I done?
Yes.
and you you think on this
and for a long time david
for a long time I'll I'll
be honest I look back at my
past I was ashamed I was
(25:30):
mortified I was so
mortified you know thinking
about like all of these
terrible like things that I
thought you know in my life
that I've done but the
thing of it is it really is
just a lesson and
As long as we repent, as long as we change,
(25:51):
as long as we transform our hearts.
And honestly,
that's what life is all about.
Nobody's going to have a perfect journey.
Nobody's story and
background is crystal clean and clear.
It just is what it is.
What matters is that we move forward,
(26:13):
that we embody ourselves.
Eventually, the characteristics of Jesus,
qualities that are the qualities of love,
of servant mentality, of forgiveness.
And by the way,
forgiveness is not
something we just extend to others,
(26:33):
right?
That's something that I had
to learn hugely,
a huge lesson that
forgiveness also extends to myself.
And actually,
I think that's the best way to do it.
Because sometimes we think,
how can I forgive others?
Well,
have you started to forgive yourself?
(26:54):
I found in my own experience,
I don't know about you,
but when I was able to
finally forgive myself for
all the dumb things I did in the past,
that I was finally able to
forgive people like my father,
which was the hardest thing
for me to forgive.
I was finally able to forgive him.
(27:14):
And this is going to be in my last book,
in my next book, pardon me.
that I am in the process of
writing was that final act
of forgiveness that took me
all of these years.
And you know what?
I have no weight on my shoulders.
I feel so energetically clean,
(27:37):
so free from that.
I highly recommend,
and I know maybe that sounds hard.
Maybe that sounds tough.
Maybe it sounds insurmountable.
But I would like to just
offer that for everybody
that extend the forgiveness,
extend it to yourself and
others and watch as
(27:58):
transformation happens.
What do you think about that?
I mean, I absolutely agree.
You're writing a book on this right now?
I'm writing a book.
Okay, great.
I'm always writing a book, David.
David, I will always be writing a book.
I don't think I'll ever stop.
Well, I'm going to get several of yours,
(28:19):
but I definitely want that one.
I find forgiveness for
myself to be the most difficult.
I can think,
and I've prayed more than dozens of times,
and I know I've been forgiven,
but it still eats at me.
I can still recall hurtful times.
(28:40):
comments I've made to people in the past,
and I feel so badly about that.
But I can recall doing
terrible things in Vietnam,
torturing prisoners,
other things that I really
won't get into.
that I find difficult you
know to think that you know
how could god love somebody
(29:03):
like me yet he does and
he's forgiven me satan
wants to use these things
against us to keep us down
and this kind of thing but
the thing I take from all
the hurt and regret and everything
is that I know that I will
never treat another human
being like that.
(29:24):
Because I have been forgiven.
And I know how hurtful those things are.
I will never say, deliberately anyway,
a hurtful comment to anyone.
I will never be a part of abusing anyone.
And this is only because God
allowed those things again in my life.
(29:47):
He's brought me there,
and this is part of this,
when I talked about this
love-obedience cycle of
this upward spiral,
this really is nothing more
than sanctification.
I'm getting a little theological here,
but growing toward...
We won't get there until
we're with Christ someday,
(30:09):
but we will get there.
And he's bringing us there.
So our past experiences,
they do shape us who we are today,
but they don't determine who we are.
And it's God now,
it's God's word that
determines who we are.
And that's when I have
finally found the peace
that I never had in my life in the past.
(30:32):
And it's to me,
my favorite verse in the
whole Bible is John, sixteen,
thirty three, Jesus speaking.
He said,
These things I have spoken to you.
That in me, we're in Christ.
He says, in me, you may have peace.
In the world, you will have trouble.
(30:54):
He doesn't say maybe.
He says you will.
have trouble, but take courage.
And again, where are we?
We're in Christ.
He says, take courage.
I have overcome the world.
That has freed me from so much,
freed me from so much.
And I, again,
(31:15):
I don't know if someday when
I'm with Christ, if I will ever, you know,
if he's walking around,
I'm going to be at his feet
following him around all through heaven,
I think.
That's my picture anyway.
I love that.
You are so forgiven.
I just want to mention that
because I look at you and I
(31:38):
see an example.
I don't see anybody's past.
I see an example to follow.
You're a beautiful person.
I can see it.
You have a light shining from you.
You're a beautiful person.
It's all Christ.
(32:00):
Well,
I recommend to anybody that maybe if
you're thinking about,
you're listening to this
episode and you're thinking,
I have so much baggage.
Maybe you're thinking,
I have so much that I need to forgive.
Maybe you're thinking you're
beyond repair or repentance.
(32:22):
I encourage anybody to reach out to David.
He is an exceptional mentor,
an exceptional coach,
an exceptional instructor
that can help guide you
through these things.
Because we all need a champion, David.
We all need somebody who can
(32:43):
see us the way we are meant to be seen.
Not CB.
our past, not see our problems,
not see our mistakes,
but see the soul of the person,
the heart of the person.
And I would strongly
recommend anybody doing that.
So that being said,
what a fantastic episode.
(33:05):
Connect with David on LinkedIn.
He's really growing his LinkedIn platform,
but also you're speaking as
well on these exact same topics,
aren't you, David?
Yes.
So hire David to speak as
well at your next event or conference.
(33:26):
Are there any particular
events that you're looking
to speak with or groups of
folks that you're looking to talk to?
Yes,
I have with C-Suite and also Sherry Jo
coming up.
(33:47):
And I've had functions with
Dorcas Ministries,
which is a charitable
organization here in Cary,
North Carolina.
Forgive me.
Somebody keeps beeping me over here.
(34:09):
No, it's fine.
Yes.
Wonderful.
Wonderful.
Well, I appreciate you.
Thank you for being a guest
on the show today.
And thank you for everyone
who tuned into this episode
of Grasp Confidence Podcast.
Guys, there is hope.
I just want you to know that
regardless of the adversities,
regardless of the struggles,
regardless of your past,
(34:29):
none of that matters.
What matters is where you are going.
Trust me on that.
So don't forget to like, share, subscribe,
and leave a review on your
favorite platform so new
listeners see the value of tuning in.
We will catch you on the next episode.
Take care.
Have you ever wondered if
you can turn your life
around from rock bottom?
Well, today's guest has lived it.
Growing up in abstract poverty in Arkansas,
bouncing between orphanages
and even gangs,
getting expelled and
banished from the state of
California as a teen,
(00:47):
his path seemed hopeless.
But the Marines offered a
turning point with one
life-changing message.
Others have done it.
You can too.
That mantra carried him through Vietnam,
divorce, bankruptcy, homelessness,
ultimately helping him
build a thriving business,
(01:08):
rebuilding his family,
and even earning a master's
degree at the age of sixty-seven.
He'll also share wisdom
about confronting the eye of the storm,
where ego gives way to real change.
If you're ready for an
unfiltered story of resilience, faith,
(01:29):
and hope, don't miss this episode.
And let's welcome our next guest,
a dear friend of mine, David Maldon.
David, welcome to the show.
Thank you very much, Tara.
I appreciate you having me.
Of course.
You know, it's funny how we met.
I do want to mention how we
met for everybody.
I was giving a talk at our
(01:52):
local C-Suite for Christ
chapter in December.
It was the first faith-based
message I'd ever delivered in my life.
Prior to that, you know,
the messages that I
delivered in keynotes were
things like personal branding, marketing,
leadership, personal development.
But that was the first time
I ever delivered a talk about faith.
(02:13):
And you were in the audience.
And then a little bit later,
sometime later,
I can't remember the exact
sequence of it all.
But you called me on the
phone or I called you one or the other.
And then we talked for over
an hour and just kind of hit it off.
And the rest is history.
What a great story, right?
(02:33):
It is a great story for kindred spirits,
I think, Tara.
Yeah.
I think so, too.
It's it's you know,
it's a fun way to meet.
And, you know,
your story is just so impactful,
so powerful.
I relate to it in so many different ways.
You know, when I was growing up,
(02:54):
we were in the richest
county in the United or one
of the richest counties in
the United States.
And we were like the poor family, you know,
in that rich county.
And I never felt like I fit in anywhere.
I'm sure that resonates with you a lot,
right?
And the fact that you grew
(03:15):
up so poor that your mother
had to put you in
orphanages just so that you
could get an education and
have three square meals a day.
Incredible.
I would love for you to take
us back because that also
led into some gang activity
and other things like that.
And there's people that are
listening to this episode right now
(03:37):
who may be, you know,
they may have really big
dreams and goals in their
life and they may be thinking,
but what about my past?
Does that really,
make me able to do something big.
So I would love for you to
take us back a little bit
to your childhood and kind
(04:00):
of unravel those details so
that we can give some
inspiration and hope to our
listeners today.
What was it like growing up
in abstract poverty in Arkansas?
Well, to be truthful,
we didn't realize we were that poor.
My mom was nineteen years old.
She had three kids.
(04:21):
I was the oldest.
She was divorced and she had
dropped out of high school.
So we had nowhere really to go.
We were on welfare.
And she realized that she
couldn't make a life for
herself and for us unless
she did something to change
(04:44):
this course for us.
So she put, I had two younger sisters.
We're each a year apart.
And she put us into,
the first home was in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas.
for two years and they
couldn't get away with this
today I don't think but the
house mother of that
(05:05):
particular home was very
strong christian lady and
she read the bible she had
a bible study every night
while we were in that home
and that was my first
introduction to christ
And I just thought, OK,
this is something that sounds good,
but I didn't know how that
(05:25):
really related to me.
I was eight years old at the
time entering into the home.
And then that home was
closing at the end of two years.
So she put us in another home for one year,
the Methodist Home for
Children in Little Rock, Arkansas.
and um they too since it was
a methodist home we went to
(05:46):
church every uh sunday and
a lot of times for
punishment our house mother
made us write bible verses
so I don't know if that's a
good way to punish somebody
because you're saying man I
got to write this
But we did and it stuck.
And toward the end of that
(06:08):
last year in the Methodist
Home for Children,
they took us to a Billy
Graham crusade at the War
Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
And I was up in the stands
and Billy Graham gave his invitation.
And I didn't understand it all,
but there was something
about the appeal of Christ
(06:29):
that touched me deeply.
And he gave the altar call, so to speak.
We went down to the field of the stadium.
and he had us all get on our
knees and uh to pray and um
I'm bowing my head I'm
closing my eyes I didn't
know what to really say and
I felt a hand touch my head
(06:51):
and it was billy graham and
uh he said he asked me he
said would you like me to
pray for you son and I said
yes and he prayed for me
again I didn't quite understand
But that's when I really
believe I was saved at that moment,
even though I didn't
understand at all the idea of salvation,
(07:14):
repentance, this kind of thing.
But it left a very deep, deep longing.
at the bottom of my heart to know Christ.
But since there was no follow up,
my mom did eventually get us out.
I was eleven years old and I
did join a gang and we got
(07:34):
in a gang fight with another gang,
obviously,
and somebody got stabbed and I
decided to leave that.
uh since we well during
those times in the homes
going to school everybody
knew that so we were my
sisters as well we were
called losers and this kind
(07:56):
of thing and that does a
lot to the way you perceive
the world and I for one
started developing a chip on my shoulder
And would get in fights with
guys over nothing, really.
If they just looked at me wrong,
I would be ready to fight somebody.
(08:19):
And so that's what led me into the gang.
But I got out of that.
My mom eventually married.
She became an x-ray technician.
and married one of the
patients that had come through,
and he took us to California.
And from there,
I had the deep southern drawl,
(08:39):
and the girls loved the drawl.
They thought it was cute and
the kind of thing,
and I kind of liked the attention, too,
as well.
But I got the attention from
the guys as well,
but they saw me as hillbilly, a hick,
this kind of thing.
And so that led to more fights.
So I fought a lot through
school and in high school
(09:02):
and had been kicked out
three times in high school.
The last time was at the
beginning of my junior year.
I punched out a guy in English class.
And so that wasn't acceptable.
And they kicked me out.
And that's when I started
basically wandering through
Northern California,
(09:23):
up by San Francisco and Ukiah and
this kind of thing.
And I lived on the streets
and I would sleep in people's cars.
I slept in school buses, abandoned houses.
And at one time,
even I slept in somebody's basement.
(09:45):
And snuck in and slept in.
It was like January.
It was cold.
And in the middle of the night,
I still think about this to this day.
And I'm amazed how much God
washed out for me,
even though I didn't realize this.
But in the middle of the night,
I snuck upstairs and went
into the refrigerator.
I hadn't eaten probably for
(10:06):
a couple of days or whatever.
And there was pie in the refrigerator.
It was a couple of pieces missing.
Anyway, I ate the whole pie.
right there standing at the refrigerator.
I'm surprised, I think about this,
that I didn't wake somebody up,
been discovered,
maybe shot or been arrested or whatever,
(10:27):
but I ate the pie, went back downstairs,
slept, and left before anybody got up.
I've often wondered to this
day about the fight that
occurred that following day
in that house about who ate the pie.
and everybody proclaiming their innocence.
And they were innocent,
but somebody got blamed,
(10:48):
or at least doubt was
raised among that particular family.
But things kept getting worse.
The only way I could survive, really,
I stole food from grocery stores.
And I had one thing I don't know why,
but I latched onto.
I would steal watch bands
from jewelry stores.
(11:09):
and at that time you could
uh return items and you
didn't have to have
receipts and all this kind
of stuff so I would steal
the watch band from the
jewelry store and I was
foolish enough I got away with it
um that I would return the
watch band to that jewelry
store and get a refund in
(11:31):
cash so that's how I got
money and uh as far as
stealing food from grocery
stores they didn't have
cameras or anything back in
those days so it's
relatively easy to do but I
knew I couldn't keep living
that way I was just I was a
loose cannon and um
I decided that I had to do something.
(11:52):
Vietnam was going strong.
So I joined the Marines,
which was the biggest shock of my life.
And the thing, the first,
it may not have been the first night,
but first couple nights at boot camp,
um one of the di's made the
(12:13):
comment uh I mean they
weren't friendly at all
they said they were there
to break us they weren't
there we were either going
to be made into marines or
they were going to break us
and kick us out of the
military and uh I thought
okay the challenge was
there but one of the di's said
(12:36):
I just want to remind you maggots,
you know, and I'm putting it mildly,
that others have done it,
you can do it too.
And I thought about that a lot.
And I thought, you know,
I've never been challenged in my life.
And I thought, okay,
this is something I can latch on to.
(12:57):
And I believe that I adopted
that into my way of thinking.
And it served me well while
I was in the Marines.
I went from private to
corporal leave for in fourteen months,
which is in the Marine Corps,
that's fast.
even in a combat situation.
(13:18):
I was a combat Marine in
Vietnam for thirteen months.
And the thing that's, I took that to heart,
as others have done it and
you can do it too,
but the thing that shattered that to me
was I had other Marines with me,
my Marine buddies,
(13:38):
my brother Marines that were killed,
wounded ones.
We lost over forty eight
thousand of our military and hostile
fire in Vietnam.
So obviously that others have done it,
you can do it too didn't work for them.
(14:00):
But what is seductive about
that particular saying is
that you can be successful.
doing that but inevitably
somewhere down the line you
will fail and then what and
during this time too I did
things in vietnam that I
(14:20):
never thought I would do as a human being
And I look back on these times.
Now I look back on these
times and I always take Romans eight,
twenty eight,
twenty nine to heart that
God causes all things to
work together for good to
them that know and love the Lord.
And the fact that he allowed
(14:43):
Those things in my life were
designed or orchestrated to
bring me to him.
So this idea of others have done it,
you can do it too,
I began to redefine what
this really means.
And when I turned my life over,
(15:05):
became committed to Christ,
rather than just
acknowledging a relationship with him,
which was pretty much non-existent.
But to develop a relationship,
an intimate relationship with Christ,
I thought about a lot that Paul,
where he points out in
Philippians two verses five,
(15:31):
to write about Jesus'
staggering example of
selfless servanthood and
his humility in setting
aside his right to be
treated as God so that we
(15:56):
could be with him forever.
And I just was thinking that
if we can take on this
humble attitude of denying ourselves,
and this can only be done
in surrendering ourselves to Christ,
this is how I had been living for me.
(16:18):
I had set myself up.
I was the determining factor in my life.
Vietnam taught me that I am
not the determining factor in my life.
And so who's the standard?
And it's Christ.
And surrendering to Christ
is what really crushes or
(16:38):
helps kill that I factor.
It's me.
Pardon me?
I love that.
It's so powerful, right?
And well, on a lot of different aspects,
I love the fact that, you know, that's,
I didn't realize that was a Marine saying,
because I say it all, all the time.
And people ask me that work with me, they,
(17:01):
they typically ask,
is it possible for me to achieve this?
And I always say back to them,
have others done it?
And they say, of course,
others have done it.
Well, then you can too.
right?
It's a perseverance, it's a mindset,
and it's a resilience
factor that goes into there.
(17:22):
It's a consistency.
And I think that's really powerful,
especially for
entrepreneurs and leaders
to understand that
If there is someone out
there that you're emulating,
if you have some goal,
if you have some desire
that you're seeking in life,
others have done it, you can too.
(17:43):
But what I also liked about
what you said is it's
taking the eye out of the storm.
It's about showing up not
just for your own glory and
for your own ego and for
your own objectives.
I like to think of any goal that I have
It's about adding value and
being obsessed with adding value,
(18:04):
helping other people
achieve their goals and
dreams and not holding back in that.
And part of that is the
servant leadership and
example we have in Jesus.
And, you know,
he was the greatest example
of a leader that's ever lived.
Humble, kind, servant leadership.
(18:29):
He was a servant leader
before there was even such a term, right?
Because we hear this a lot nowadays,
right?
And there's programs and
there's courses and there's
keynotes and it's all about
servant leadership.
This wasn't a thing before.
So he was the first example,
the best example that's ever lived.
And all of this information
that we're talking about is free in the
(18:51):
in the word right now for us
all to lean on and become
better because of it, right?
Yes.
Well, I agree.
And I think the best way to
accomplish this is through John,
(19:11):
where it says, if you love me,
you will keep my
commandments or you will obey me.
And I thought about this, too,
that this love and
obedience to God is you
can't separate the two.
They build upon one another.
So when we say, if you love me,
(19:32):
we're saying, since you love me,
you will obey me or be
obedient to God's word.
And the more we're obedient to God's word,
the more our love for God grows.
And the more our love for God grows,
it builds on itself.
The more we become obedient
and it becomes an upward spiral.
And this is this selfless
(19:53):
servanthood that you
mentioned and that Christ
did when he came to earth as God-man.
And by doing this, this is how
We live our lives in this
selfless servanthood that
(20:14):
we can be servants to our
brothers and sisters in Christ,
and we can help each other
get through this life,
which is a struggle enough, but together,
and we can become this...
have this loving,
obedient servanthood through Christ.
(20:36):
And as a result of this,
this exalts Christ in our
lives and in others that
shines throughout the world for the lost.
Hmm.
I say this frequently that, you know,
when we think about the Gospels,
we know there's Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John.
So we think of the four Gospels,
(20:56):
but there's actually a
fifth Gospel and that fifth
Gospel is the life of the believer.
And I like to say that because.
Any day,
any chance that we get is a chance
to proclaim that through
our own word and inspired action.
And this is so impactful and
(21:18):
powerful because when we
take on that gospel,
that fifth gospel in our
own lives and have
ourselves as an example for
others to follow and emulate and
it's so powerful that it
says so much because this
is something that we all need to remember,
(21:40):
especially as leaders, right?
That it's not about hitting the metrics.
It's not about making some magical number.
It's about the lives we
change and the people we
transform in the process.
And part of that as leaders is,
is to take again that
(22:01):
example that he set and
emulate it in our own lives,
in our own actions.
And the employees that we
bring on to our companies,
the clients that we have,
how can we honor people,
truly honor people?
And I use that term honor
people because we know that
(22:22):
every person is created in
the image of God and God died for us.
all of us so that we could be saved.
So this is really important
because I do considering
honoring others and showing
them that they have innate
value as human beings just by existing.
(22:43):
And no matter what they've
done in the past,
no matter what mistakes they've made,
no matter what challenges
or adversities they've experienced,
their life is no less
valuable in the eyes of the father.
Absolutely, absolutely.
That's a valuable lesson.
(23:03):
And I think that when I, I mean,
I think about my past and
years that I would regret those things.
I would say, why couldn't I have had,
you know, the regular mom and dad, Beaver,
Cleaver kind of family and
right upbringing.
(23:24):
And then I think, you know,
I thought,
why did it take me so long for
this to sink in?
But you know what?
Praise God, I think, or not,
I think I know,
that he allowed those
circumstances in my life.
Even, I'm
(23:46):
and to have god bring me to
this point this realization
he's allowed me to live to
get to this point he has
saved me on the basis of my
past I'm grateful for that
and if god can use me then
to be an encouragement just
to even one person.
(24:06):
That's my heart's desire.
That has ripple effects
throughout eternity.
So we need to see each other
as brothers and sisters in Christ.
We're servants to each other, really.
This is who we are to be.
This is the only way we can
exalt Christ in our lives.
And as a result, hopefully,
(24:26):
the world gets to see this unity,
this servanthood that
Christians have with each other,
this brother and sisterhood,
and that it shines this
light throughout the world
and is an attraction to
them to come and know
Christ as their Savior as well.
That's my goal,
is just to be able to be an
(24:46):
encouragement to one person.
I love that.
It's so powerful because
regardless of who we are,
I look back at my life.
I'm like, what was I thinking?
Right.
What was I thinking when I did that?
Oh, my gosh.
It's like I look back and
it's almost like it's a
completely different person.
Right.
And you know what?
It was a different person.
(25:07):
I am a changed person.
And there's plenty of things
that we've all done in our
past that we kind of go
like one of those like, oh, my God,
what was I thinking?
What have I done?
Yes.
and you you think on this
and for a long time david
for a long time I'll I'll
be honest I look back at my
past I was ashamed I was
(25:30):
mortified I was so
mortified you know thinking
about like all of these
terrible like things that I
thought you know in my life
that I've done but the
thing of it is it really is
just a lesson and
As long as we repent, as long as we change,
(25:51):
as long as we transform our hearts.
And honestly,
that's what life is all about.
Nobody's going to have a perfect journey.
Nobody's story and
background is crystal clean and clear.
It just is what it is.
What matters is that we move forward,
(26:13):
that we embody ourselves.
Eventually, the characteristics of Jesus,
qualities that are the qualities of love,
of servant mentality, of forgiveness.
And by the way,
forgiveness is not
something we just extend to others,
(26:33):
right?
That's something that I had
to learn hugely,
a huge lesson that
forgiveness also extends to myself.
And actually,
I think that's the best way to do it.
Because sometimes we think,
how can I forgive others?
Well,
have you started to forgive yourself?
(26:54):
I found in my own experience,
I don't know about you,
but when I was able to
finally forgive myself for
all the dumb things I did in the past,
that I was finally able to
forgive people like my father,
which was the hardest thing
for me to forgive.
I was finally able to forgive him.
(27:14):
And this is going to be in my last book,
in my next book, pardon me.
that I am in the process of
writing was that final act
of forgiveness that took me
all of these years.
And you know what?
I have no weight on my shoulders.
I feel so energetically clean,
(27:37):
so free from that.
I highly recommend,
and I know maybe that sounds hard.
Maybe that sounds tough.
Maybe it sounds insurmountable.
But I would like to just
offer that for everybody
that extend the forgiveness,
extend it to yourself and
others and watch as
(27:58):
transformation happens.
What do you think about that?
I mean, I absolutely agree.
You're writing a book on this right now?
I'm writing a book.
Okay, great.
I'm always writing a book, David.
David, I will always be writing a book.
I don't think I'll ever stop.
Well, I'm going to get several of yours,
(28:19):
but I definitely want that one.
I find forgiveness for
myself to be the most difficult.
I can think,
and I've prayed more than dozens of times,
and I know I've been forgiven,
but it still eats at me.
I can still recall hurtful times.
(28:40):
comments I've made to people in the past,
and I feel so badly about that.
But I can recall doing
terrible things in Vietnam,
torturing prisoners,
other things that I really
won't get into.
that I find difficult you
know to think that you know
how could god love somebody
(29:03):
like me yet he does and
he's forgiven me satan
wants to use these things
against us to keep us down
and this kind of thing but
the thing I take from all
the hurt and regret and everything
is that I know that I will
never treat another human
being like that.
(29:24):
Because I have been forgiven.
And I know how hurtful those things are.
I will never say, deliberately anyway,
a hurtful comment to anyone.
I will never be a part of abusing anyone.
And this is only because God
allowed those things again in my life.
(29:47):
He's brought me there,
and this is part of this,
when I talked about this
love-obedience cycle of
this upward spiral,
this really is nothing more
than sanctification.
I'm getting a little theological here,
but growing toward...
We won't get there until
we're with Christ someday,
(30:09):
but we will get there.
And he's bringing us there.
So our past experiences,
they do shape us who we are today,
but they don't determine who we are.
And it's God now,
it's God's word that
determines who we are.
And that's when I have
finally found the peace
that I never had in my life in the past.
(30:32):
And it's to me,
my favorite verse in the
whole Bible is John, sixteen,
thirty three, Jesus speaking.
He said,
These things I have spoken to you.
That in me, we're in Christ.
He says, in me, you may have peace.
In the world, you will have trouble.
(30:54):
He doesn't say maybe.
He says you will.
have trouble, but take courage.
And again, where are we?
We're in Christ.
He says, take courage.
I have overcome the world.
That has freed me from so much,
freed me from so much.
And I, again,
(31:15):
I don't know if someday when
I'm with Christ, if I will ever, you know,
if he's walking around,
I'm going to be at his feet
following him around all through heaven,
I think.
That's my picture anyway.
I love that.
You are so forgiven.
I just want to mention that
because I look at you and I
(31:38):
see an example.
I don't see anybody's past.
I see an example to follow.
You're a beautiful person.
I can see it.
You have a light shining from you.
You're a beautiful person.
It's all Christ.
(32:00):
Well,
I recommend to anybody that maybe if
you're thinking about,
you're listening to this
episode and you're thinking,
I have so much baggage.
Maybe you're thinking,
I have so much that I need to forgive.
Maybe you're thinking you're
beyond repair or repentance.
(32:22):
I encourage anybody to reach out to David.
He is an exceptional mentor,
an exceptional coach,
an exceptional instructor
that can help guide you
through these things.
Because we all need a champion, David.
We all need somebody who can
(32:43):
see us the way we are meant to be seen.
Not CB.
our past, not see our problems,
not see our mistakes,
but see the soul of the person,
the heart of the person.
And I would strongly
recommend anybody doing that.
So that being said,
what a fantastic episode.
(33:05):
Connect with David on LinkedIn.
He's really growing his LinkedIn platform,
but also you're speaking as
well on these exact same topics,
aren't you, David?
Yes.
So hire David to speak as
well at your next event or conference.
(33:26):
Are there any particular
events that you're looking
to speak with or groups of
folks that you're looking to talk to?
Yes,
I have with C-Suite and also Sherry Jo
coming up.
(33:47):
And I've had functions with
Dorcas Ministries,
which is a charitable
organization here in Cary,
North Carolina.
Forgive me.
Somebody keeps beeping me over here.
(34:09):
No, it's fine.
Yes.
Wonderful.
Wonderful.
Well, I appreciate you.
Thank you for being a guest
on the show today.
And thank you for everyone
who tuned into this episode
of Grasp Confidence Podcast.
Guys, there is hope.
I just want you to know that
regardless of the adversities,
regardless of the struggles,
regardless of your past,
(34:29):
none of that matters.
What matters is where you are going.
Trust me on that.
So don't forget to like, share, subscribe,
and leave a review on your
favorite platform so new
listeners see the value of tuning in.
We will catch you on the next episode.
Take care.
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