Your Story Can Change Laws, Mine Did | Ep 1

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How does a traumatic experience transform into a catalyst for national change? That's the powerful journey I share in this inaugural episode of The Story Lab.

After surviving a brutal hate crime in Boston where an attacker stomped on my head shouting "die, faggot, die," I faced a second blow when the perpetrator received only anger management as punishment. Walking out of that courthouse devastated, a reporter called me - and something unexpected happened. A fire ignited within me that I didn't know existed. I found my voice.

The transformation from apathy to advocacy happened almost instantly. I began sharing my story everywhere - at rallies, in newspapers, with anyone who would listen. I asked people to imagine if it was their son or daughter lying on that pavement, targeted simply for who they were. The message resonated, spreading further than I could have imagined, eventually reaching Senator Ted Kennedy's office. My personal trauma became part of his floor speech advocating for hate crimes legislation that ultimately passed, changing laws across the United States.

This experience taught me the extraordinary power of storytelling. One person's authentic narrative can literally change the world. Throughout this podcast series, I'll share techniques and insights to help you harness your own stories - for personal growth, business success, or societal change. You have everything you need to be successful and to be the story people remember. Your voice matters. Your experiences matter. And somebody needs to hear what only you can share.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to episode one of the Story Lab.
Now, the Story Lab is abouthelping you understand how you
can better tell stories.
But what kind of person would Ibe if I didn't introduce myself
and share some stories aboutwho I am?
So that's what this firstepisode is about I'm going to
just share a little bit aboutwho I am.
Some of you may have heard thisstory, some of you might not.

(00:23):
This may be brand new to manyof you, but I want to share a
little bit of my story and howit led me to what I'm doing now.
I'm going to lean in for thisone.

(00:46):
My story is not one that manypeople experience.
My story is definitely unique,but so my story?
So many people would hear thisstory and say, oh my God, I'm so

(01:06):
sorry that happened to you.
But the thing about this storyis I'm not.
I'm not, and there's a fewreasons.
One, I believe that nothing isever put in front of you that
you can't handle.
And two, if it hadn't been me,it would have been somebody else
, and I wouldn't want this tohappen to anybody else.

(01:28):
So I'm going to start from thebeginning.
I'm going to start from thefact that I was with my friends
out in Boston because I wasabout to move down to DC and we
were walking home when all of asudden a car pulls up.
And I don't remember any ofthis, but a car pulls up and

(01:52):
somebody runs out of it andscreams at us and hits one of
the people I'm with and then,before I know it, I guess I'm
hit.
I'm hit and I am down on thepavement with somebody jumping
on my head saying die, faggotdie.

(02:20):
And the next thing I knew I waswaking up in the hospital.
But I knew something hadchanged.
I didn't remember any down theroad, but what I was dealing

(02:52):
with at that moment wasuncertainty and darkness and an
unwillingness to really facewhat had happened.
As I recovered, I moved to DC.
It was a new place.
It was a new place, it was anew time.
It felt better, but somethingwas still dragging me back to

(03:13):
Boston.
And when it was time for me togo back for the trial, I don't
know that I was ready, and I wascertainly not ready for what
ended up happening, because Icame back from the trial, I
heard everything that happenedto me and then I witnessed the

(03:34):
man who had done this to me andmy friends get off on anger
management and to me, stompingon somebody's head saying die,
faggot, die, is more than ananger issue, it's a hate issue.
And I walked out of thatcourtroom overwhelmed,

(03:55):
devastated, confused, and Istarted walking, because that's
what I do when I get overwhelmedI walk.
And I started walking andwalking and my phone rang and it
was somebody from the localnews asking me how I felt about
the case.
Wrong time to ask that?

(04:16):
No.
But it unlocked something in meI've never experienced before.
It unlocked a passion forsharing something that I knew
was going to make a difference.
It unlocked a connection toother people I didn't know
existed, because before this Iwas apathetic, I did not care

(04:37):
about what was going on.
Somebody else will do the work.
I don't have to.
But in that moment I realized Ihad to do it or nobody else was
going to do it.
But in that moment I realized Ihad to do it or nobody else was
going to do it.
I had to be the person thatstood up and shared my story,
because that is what was neededin that moment.
And I started to tell thatreporter what it would feel like
if she got that call.

(04:57):
If she was the one whose sonwas down on the pavement because
somebody didn't like him, notbecause they knew him, not
because of anything he did, justbecause of who he was.
It was your son laying on thatpavement.
What would you feel like it wasyour son that was laying on

(05:19):
that pavement and then the manthat attacked him got off on
anger management.
What would you feel like?
And things started to change inthat moment.
That's when I learned that myvoice would make a difference
and I needed to share it andshare it.

(05:40):
I did over and over and overagain until people started to
listen and they started tolisten and people started to
write about it and share aboutit and connect with the anger
that I was feeling, because theman got off on anger management

(06:00):
and I kept talking about it atrallies, in newspapers, to
anybody that wanted to talk tome about it.
I spoke about it and I sharedthe story and I asked them what
it would feel like if it weretheir son or daughter or they
were the ones face down in thepavement.
What would that feel like?
And then, what would it feellike when the man that did that

(06:23):
to him got off on angermanagement, walked out of the
courthouse free because hedidn't want you to live, simply
because of who you were.
And I shared and I shared and Ishared.
Until one day my phone rang andit was Senator Kennedy's office

(06:46):
calling me and asking me if theycould use my story in the
senator's floor speech to getthe hate crimes bill passed.
My story, this apathetic personwho just happened to be in the
wrong place when somebody wasangry about how I lived my life,

(07:07):
was used in the hate crimesbill that passed and changed
laws in the United States,changed laws in the United
States.
My story played a role in that,because I decided it was time
for me to speak up and make adifference, and I never thought

(07:27):
I could make a difference before.
Who am I?
But I did, and my little storyabout what happened to me and my
friends changed laws in theUnited States.
And in that experience Ilearned that stories, when told

(07:52):
properly, have incredible impactand they can change the world
One person at a time.
That's all you need.
I needed to get the ear of TedKennedy's office and I changed
the world, and you can do thesame.
You have every single thing youneed to do the same.

(08:14):
You just need to get out thereand start sharing your story.
You just need to get out thereand start sharing your story,
connecting with people, and itworks across the board.
I'll share stories on thispodcast about how it worked for
my plant store that I first usefor myself for other clients.
I'll share ways that you canshare your story so that it

(08:35):
connects with people.
All of those things are part ofthis podcast because I want you
to be able to have thosestories that people remember.
I want to be able to say that Iknew this person when they
changed this.
I want to say that theylistened to my podcast and were
able to change the world becauseof something that I said or did
, something I inspired them todo.
Because I never thought I couldand I know you're probably

(08:59):
thinking I can't either, but Iknow you can.
You have everything you need tobe successful.
You have everything you need tobe the story that people
remember.
So get out there, share yourstory.
Somebody needs to hear it and Ican't wait to hear it.
And with that, that's the firstepisode.

(09:19):
Take care and remember yourstory is the one they remember.
The truth that ignites thereason they stay.
This is your time.
You're brighter than ever.
You've got something to say.