A kid who didn’t believe in himself became a speaker a million people saw.

Growing up in North Carolina.

Kevin grew up in North Carolina. At 12 he was diagnosed with depression and an eating disorder, and believing in himself did not come easily.

Recovery started a question he has been asking ever since: how does a person come to believe in himself?

In college it nearly ended there. Kevin went to the Dean of Students to withdraw, and the dean refused to sign the form. Someone else believed in him first. His own belief followed.

A game show, a stage, and a question about belief.

Then Kevin won on The Price is Right and met Bob Barker. The win became his signature story, the one meeting planners still ask him to include, and his proof that believing what’s possible changes what happens next.

He built a career in Student Affairs and became a Dean of Students at High Point University. His curiosity about belief became doctoral research on belief and self-efficacy: how confidence is built, and how it turns into action.

Then a student told him that his speech had saved her life. Kevin realized speaking was a calling, and in 2012 he left the dean’s office to speak full time.

The ShiftThinker™ framework.

Out of that research and more than 25 years on stage, Kevin built the ShiftThinker™ Framework, the thinking behind his keynotes for corporate, college and youth audiences.

A ShiftThinker™ believes boldly, thinks differently and takes meaningful action, and isn’t defined by fear, failure or self-doubt.

Why he coaches.

Kevin is the first to say he isn’t a natural speaker. After years of hiring speakers for his own campus events, he wanted to share his story too. He presented conference breakouts and spoke on campuses for free, and the invitations grew. Getting paid was another matter, and his biggest mistake, he says, was trying to figure it out on his own.

So he hired a speaker coach to learn the business of speaking. With that guidance, structure and accountability, he was booking paid keynotes within six months. A year later, speaking had replaced his university salary.

Today he has spoken to more than a million people across 1,500+ audiences, in all 50 states and several countries, and on multiple TEDx stages. He is an NSA Certified Speaking Professional and a Toastmasters Accredited Speaker, one of only nine people worldwide to hold both. It’s why he wrote PAID to $PEAK, and why he coaches.