From McDonald's to Motivational Speaker: 'Power to the People' In Real Life (Episode 93)

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Lawrence C Harris brings a refreshing authenticity to youth empowerment that cuts through the noise. At just 19, this Philadelphia-based speaker shares how he transformed childhood trauma and his autism diagnosis into powerful tools for connection rather than barriers.

"You'll never find your real people until the real you shows up," Lawrence explains, describing his journey from isolation to empowerment. Growing up preferring National Geographic while peers played basketball created loneliness, but eventually became his superpower. His natural tendency toward deeper conversations now fuels his success as a speaker who connects genuinely with audiences.

Lawrence's wisdom extends far beyond his years. His book "Power to the People," published when he was just 18, helps teenagers reclaim agency over their minds, habits, and self-worth. He challenges young people to question the influences around them—particularly social media's false reality. "You can rent a Lamborghini for $600, a mansion for $200, and pay models to take photos with you," he reveals, exposing the smoke and mirrors behind many influencer success stories.

The most profound moment comes when Lawrence describes speaking to high schoolers worried about others' opinions. "One day you're going to be in that casket and you're the only one in it," he told them. "Everyone's opinion who you're worried about—they're not getting buried with you." This perspective shift encourages authentic living over people-pleasing.

Whether you're a teenager navigating identity or an adult who's lost touch with your authentic self, Lawrence's message transcends age barriers. Follow his journey using the links below and discover why knowing yourself is the answer to 99% of life's problems.

https://www.lawrencecharris.com/

https://www.instagram.com/lawrencec.empowers/#

https://www.tiktok.com/@lawrencecempowers?_t=ZP-8wBtqPPB6A3&_r=1

To purchase his book on Amazon:

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Episode Transcript

Fatima Bey (00:09):
Welcome to MindShift Power Podcast, the world's only
podcast built to empower thenext generation.
I'm your host, fatima Bey theMindShifter, because shaping
tomorrow's world starts withconversations we have today.
And welcome everyone.
Today we have with us LawrenceC Harris.

(00:31):
He is a youth empowermentspeaker out of Philadelphia,
pennsylvania, right here in theUS.
How are you today, lawrence?

Lawrence C. Harris (00:39):
I'm doing absolutely fantastic.
Thanks for asking.

Fatima Bey (00:42):
Well, thank you for coming on today.
I'm looking forward to thisconversation.
Absolutely fantastic.
Thank you for asking.
Well, thank you for coming ontoday.
I'm looking forward to thisconversation, so I like to dive
right into it.
So tell us you're a youthempowerment speaker, and how old
are you?
I'm 19.
At 19 years old, you're a youthempowerment speaker.
So how did you arrive at that?

Lawrence C. Harris (00:58):
Well, often people see who I am today and
they see Lawrence up on thestages and he's speaking and
he's motivating people.
They see all the great stuffnow, but where this came from
was when I was 12 years old, mydad started to become abusive to
me and my siblings and I wantedto keep them safe and I wanted
to make sure that they were wellprotected.

(01:19):
But doing that for so long Ihad so much trouble
understanding myself and feelinggood about me.
But over the years I've beenable to grow and do therapy and
journaling and meditation andall of these great things.
I've been able to help myselfand help them.

(01:39):
So I began making YouTubevideos to help other people and
going up on the stages justnaturally happened.

Fatima Bey (01:47):
Wow, so you've been through a lot in life?
It sounds like yes, and tell usone of the challenges that you
revealed to me that you dealwith on a daily basis.

Lawrence C. Harris (02:00):
Well, one of them is that I'm autistic.
Now, people often think ofautism as these two polar
opposites.
They think of somebody droolingon themselves, or they think
about the super nerd who can do50 math questions in his head
without a calculator.
But then there are people likeme who are just high functioning

(02:24):
.
But then there are people likeme who are just high functioning
.
We seem just warm and open andthere's so much beauty in being
different.
But growing up, being different, not being able to understand
or relate to other people, was abig challenge for me, because I
don't relate to people the sameway.
I like to dive into the deepquestions.

(02:46):
I like to understand what makesyou you.
Why do you love watching movies?
What makes you just light up?
And for a lot of my life thatwas a struggle because not
everybody wanted to have a deepconversation, right.
But now it's turned into asuperpower of mine.

Fatima Bey (03:07):
How did this affect your self-esteem?

Lawrence C. Harris (03:09):
It made it hard growing up because when I
wanted to watch a NationalGeographic and everybody else
wanted to go play basketball, itwas hard to make friends.
It was very hard to makefriends with people because I
like doing different things thanmost people, so it made me feel
lonely, it made me feel likenobody wants to be my friend.

(03:34):
But, like I said, with time youcan find your people.

Fatima Bey (03:40):
You can, and how did you go from that to funding
your people?

Lawrence C. Harris (03:44):
Well, there was a time when I would hide
myself and I was afraid of justbeing me because I was scared of
people's opinion.
But when I stopped being soafraid of their opinion and I
just dressed how I want to dress, talk how I talk, did the
hobbies I like and started to bemyself the people who relate to

(04:10):
me and understand me naturallythey would find me.
They might find me from anInstagram video I made, or they
might compliment how I dress, orthey might say, man, I love
your hair dress.
Or they might say, man, I loveyour hair.
Or you just find them naturally, they just flow to you because

(04:31):
when you're being yourself, theycan relate to who you really
are.

Fatima Bey (04:34):
Yes, I say oh man, I say this all the time you got
to be yourself.
You're never going to find yourreal people until the real you
shows up, and definitely so I'mglad that you were able to go
from that to now being a speaker.
Do you feel you are moreconfident now than you were a
few years ago?

Lawrence C. Harris (04:53):
A lot more confident.
Why?
Because I've gotten used tojust being me, and when you fall
in love with being yourself,you don't need other people to
validate you and cheer for youand clap for you, because you
already clapped for yourself.
Yes, and by being myself andjust being who I genuinely

(05:18):
authentically ain't.
I don't plan my speeches aheadof time.
I might think of an idea, butthen I get up there and I just
give you, lawrence, by doingthat so much, I built the
confidence and comfortabilityand understanding of who I am,
what I like to do, and I go outthere and I give it to the world

(05:39):
.
The people who like me, like me, the ones who don't don't, but
either way, you know who Ireally am.

Fatima Bey (05:46):
I think that's awesome and it's awesome to hear
, because there are a lot ofpeople who they may not look
like you, they may not soundlike you, but they've been there
where they feel less than andnot accepted by others and I'm
glad you finally arrived at thefact that who the hell cares
what they all think?
You don't need everybody else'sacceptance.

Lawrence C. Harris (06:09):
Once you that, who the hell cares what
they all think?
You don't need everybody else'sacceptance.
Once you are yourself, theright people actually will find
you, and they, they want to.
Yeah, I was, um.
I was speaking at a high schoola few months ago and some of
the students were telling meabout how they're very worried
about their parents opinion andhow they're worried about what
their friends are going to think, what their girlfriend's going
to think, what their girlfriendis going to think.
And I said to them all you dorealize that one day you're
going to be in that casket andyou're the only one in it.

(06:32):
Everyone's opinion who you'reworried about.
They're not getting buried withyou.
You're getting buried with you.
And when you're 85 years old andyou're about to die and you're
looking up at the ceiling andyou start thinking about man, I
would've, I should've, Icould've, but you didn't because

(06:56):
you were worried about whatyour girlfriend in 10th grade
was going to think.
Yeah, you held yourself backbecause of the opinion of
somebody who isn't gettingburied with you.
So, yeah, you know, don't doanything terrible, don't do
anything crazy.
Don't gamble your life savingsaway crazy.

(07:17):
Don't gamble your life savingsaway, but understand if you want
to become an artist, but yourfamily wants you to be a doctor.
If you don't want to be adoctor, you don't have to.
Yes, it's hard to make money asan artist, but it's possible.
A lot of people do it you cando it too.

Fatima Bey (07:39):
You just have to give yourself a chance, making
that effort.
Yeah, absolutely so.
The thing I did not mention inyour introduction is the fact
that you are an author at 19.
Actually, technically, you'rean author at 18 because that's
when it was published.
So tell us about what's thename of your book and what is it
about.

Lawrence C. Harris (07:56):
The book is called Power to the People.
It dives into the subject ofbuilding mental resilience,
self-love, better financialhabits.
I tried to put everything Iknew when I was 18 into this
book and once I first wrote itthe first version was 300 pages

(08:16):
I realized nobody wants to sitdown and read all of that,
especially not teenagers, whothe book is for.
So I edited it down to about180.
And those pages are what haveallowed me to make a business
where not only do I get paid tospeak, but I do something I
absolutely love.
I've been able to go fromworking at McDonald's to

(08:40):
traveling and all in all, I'vebeen able to just wake up happy.
I've been able to wake up andlove myself because for a lot of
my life I did not love who Iwas, because I was busy trying
to be what the world wanted meto be.

Fatima Bey (08:55):
Yes, and a lot of people can relate to that and
are still living there, and notjust teenagers.
Now, why did you call it?
Power to the People?
What people?

Lawrence C. Harris (09:05):
Ultimately, I was just trying to give people
people back their power oftheir mind their habits, their
self-worth, because growing up,you'll be told a lot of things
about what you should be andwhat you shouldn't be.
Some of it is good, some of itis really good.
You shouldn't be a criminal.

(09:25):
That's a really good piece ofadvice to listen to.
Other things are people willtell you you should come out and
drink with us.
You shouldn't do that Verydangerous.
Other people will tell you youshould go play basketball
because you're a.
Do that Very dangerous.
Other people will tell you youshould go play basketball
because you're a black man.
If you want to go playbasketball, go ahead and do it,

(09:46):
but I don't play basketball.
I like fishing.
I like fishing.
That's my thing.
Other people are going to tellyou what college you should go
to or what career you should gointo, and they could have good
advice, but you have the powerto make a decision for your life

(10:06):
and you are the only one whohad to live with the
consequences of your own actions.
Yes, so the reason I called itPower to the People was, as the
name implies, I'm trying to giveyou back power to yourself, and
the people in question areteenagers and young adults,

(10:27):
because that's who I aim mymessage at, but anybody can get
the book off Amazon.

Fatima Bey (10:34):
So there are two versions of your book, correct?

Lawrence C. Harris (10:38):
Yes.

Fatima Bey (10:39):
There's an audio.

Lawrence C. Harris (10:39):
I have it in audio and physical.

Fatima Bey (10:42):
Okay, and are they in the same link?

Lawrence C. Harris (10:45):
Yes, so the audio book.
I have that set up on mywebsite because I wasn't able to
figure out how to get Amazon topost my audio book.
It got too confusing.
Okay, the thing with the audiobook, too, is that the book was
written when I was 18 years old.
The audio book I recorded thatearlier this year.

(11:07):
Okay, so a lot of things that Isay in the audio book aren't in
the physical book because Ididn't know it at the time of
writing the audio.
Oh, okay, so they really.
So they really need each audiobook.
Yeah, the audio book is wherethe.
If you really want to go deepon it, the audio book, okay.

(11:29):
If you're just opening the door, like you're, you don't need
the super advanced stuff.
Yet.
The audio book is for thereally advanced.
The physical book.
That's the stuff you canimplement right here, right now.

Fatima Bey (11:44):
Okay, how can people find your book?
You said for the audiobook it'sjust on your website, which
will be linked in the show notes.
It's laurencecharriscom.

Lawrence C. Harris (11:55):
Yes, it is my name.

Fatima Bey (11:58):
Going off memory right now.
I do have it in my other notes,but that will definitely be in
the show notes.
And how can they contact youthrough your website?
How can they find you?

Lawrence C. Harris (12:08):
Well, if you want to email me, you can just.
My email is Lawrence atLawrenceCHarriscom.
That is for podcast interviewsand event hosts.
So if you have like a church ora school or an event in America
, because traveling abroad ispretty expensive, but I have

(12:31):
done it in a few times Now, ifyou want to contact me easier,
such as you just want to say hey, I love the content, or I have
a simple question to ask you.
My Instagram, tiktok yeah,instagram and TikTok are
Lawrence C Empowers.
My DMs are open.
Feel free to message me.

Fatima Bey (12:51):
And those will be in the show notes as well, so that
you guys can go ahead.
So, lawrence, let me ask youthis For everyone listening
right now let's specificallytalk about your peers, people of
your generation, between theages of 13 and 24.
We'll just say that.
What do you have to say to them?

(13:13):
What advice do you have to thelisteners right now?

Lawrence C. Harris (13:16):
I would say think more about who and what
you are, rather than what theworld tells you that you have to
be, because you'll go onInstagram and you'll see like,
oh my God, this person has aBugatti and this person has this
and they have all this coolstuff.
But you need to look at yourown life and realize how cool
your life is and that a lot ofwhat you see online is fake.

(13:40):
A lot of what you see online isfake it's.
There's a lot of people whoI've personally known them.
They will rent a lamborghiniand then sell you a 900 course
and you'll buy it because, well,they have a Lamborghini that
they rented for an hour.
So the best thing I can tellyou I'm sorry, I shouldn't-

(14:05):
laugh at that, but it is so true.
Yes, this is what they do.
This is what they do.
And then you start thinking,well, like no, he has a.
He has five differentLamborghinis.
You can rent five differentLamborghinis for $600 each.
I've seen them do it.
Oh, but he has a mansion.

(14:25):
You can rent a mansion for $200.
Oh no, but he has a beautifulwoman.
You can pay an Instagram model$200 to take a photo with you.
I've seen them do it.
So I'm not saying thateverything with you online is
fake, but if somebody's tryingto sell you a $900 course, go

(14:50):
the other way.
Pick up a Bible.

Fatima Bey (14:55):
On that note, I freaking love you and we're
going to end this episode.
Oh, I can't even that's thebest quote ever.
So thank you so much for comingon.
There is so, so, so much moreto this young man and more to be
said, and I thank you forcoming on.

(15:19):
I think you're an inspirationto those your age.
I think you're an inspirationto some adults who realize that
at 19, you're doing what theyshould have been doing.
Um, but it's never too late tostart, and I say that because
there's a lot of people whomight look at you like he's only
19, he's doing all this stuffalready.
He's already has speakingengagements and making a living

(15:39):
from it.
I think that's impressive, um,yeah, I think it's impressive at
any age, but especially whenyou you're 19.

Lawrence C. Harris (15:46):
Yeah, google Enchanted GT has leveled the
playing field for everybody itreally has, if you know how to
use it right.

Fatima Bey (15:52):
If you know how to use it right.
It can't replace your brain,because it's so obvious when
that happens, but it candefinitely help.
It can be something to beleveraged Absolutely, because I
do it a lot and a lot of what Ido.

Lawrence C. Harris (16:07):
So thank you once again for coming on.
Of course, I appreciate it.
Feel free to follow me onInstagram and TikTok at Lawrence
C Empowers.
As well as my book, you can getthe physical one on Amazon, as
well as the audio book on mywebsite, lawrencecharriscom.

Fatima Bey (16:22):
And now for a mind shifting moment.
This young man is an example ofwhat all of us can do.
If you are between the ages of13 and 24, I want you to take a
look at him and know that youcan do that too.
And when I say that, I mean bea leader and an example amongst

(16:46):
your peers, because right nowyou guys need it more than ever.
A lot of what he has said issaid by adults all the time, but
it's different coming fromsomeone who's 19.
He's living proof that yourdisability doesn't have to be
anything that stops you.
It's just a part of you.

(17:06):
Some of you are listening rightnow.
You don't have to be anythingthat stops you.
It's just a part of you.
Some of you are listening rightnow.
You don't have labeleddisabilities.
The disabilities you have arehow you see yourself.
Some of you are leaders waitingto be discovered.
The first person who needs todiscover your leadership is you.
Discover who you are.

(17:28):
One of the biggest things hesaid is discovering who you are.
That is the answer to 99% ofyour problems.
The answer to 99% of yourproblems is knowing who you are.
Embark on that journey today.
Make a decision that you aregoing to figure out who you are,
everything else in life willstart falling in place and

(17:52):
coming together and sifting out.
Once you do, if you don't takeaway anything else from a lot of
the great things that he said,take away that, and I don't care
how old you are, teenagers orthe teenagers who are now living

(18:18):
in adult bodies.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to follow and subscribeto MindShift Power Podcast on
any of our worldwide platformsand be a part of the
conversations shaping tomorrow'sworld.
This podcast is just one branchof the MindShift universe.
Explore more at FatimaBaycomand always remember there's
power in shifting your thinking.

(18:39):
See you next week.