Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to C. Eric Collier. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi C. Eric, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I’m on a mission to empower individuals (personally/professionally) to unlock their potential and breakthrough barriers so they can create momentum shifts that lead to turning the impossible into a new reality.
I was about to lose everything I loved. My wife of 10 years was ready to leave me and I was facing the possibility of my children going with her. I wasn’t the man, husband or father I should of been. The result was I was feeling stuck and unhappy in a life I didn’t want but because I didn’t believe I had the skill and ability to do better, I never committed to changing things. So I stayed stuck, living in the bad habits and behaviors that made life miserable for me.
But one night I met a man who woke me up to the fact that my perspective on life was the reason I was in the situation I was in. I wasn’t dreaming because I didn’t believe it was possible. I had no goals because I thought I was as good as I would ever get. Suprisingly that night I did the best thing I could have ever done and that was to ask the question, “How do I change this?”
The next day I begin learning about selfdelopment and since then I’ve spent over two decades working on myself, to include overcoming my inner demons calling me back to that life and mindset. Saying no to dialing back my dreams to please other peoples feelings. Fighting to defeat procrastination and foolishly wasting time. Now I’m a better husband, father, and poppop with major goals to accomplish and a focus on creating a movement of individuals who are taking action and tapping into their true potential to create the life they want to live while inspiring others along the way.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m C. Eric Collier also known as “The Mayor of Motivation”. I’am a Motivational Keynote Speaker, Coach, and Veteran who empowers individuals to unleash their potential, shatter barriers, and create profound shifts that turn the impossible into a new reality.
I was once asked the question, “what have you done the last five years of your life that has either gotten you closer to accomplishing your goals or has significantly increased your income?” After realizing the answer was nothing to not only that question but the two follow on questions, I knew I needed to make a change. Thankfully as I was standing their in a room full of friends, family, and my wife standing next to me, I asked for help. Its taken me on a journey of self-mastery where I now find myself living in and doing things I once believed to be impossible for me. I’ve shared stages with industry leaders like the great Les Brown, Corey Poirier, and Dr. Drew. I am a 3x Amazon International Bestselling co-author, coached people from different parts of the world, and I mentor high school students to overcome the mental barriers to success.
My company, C E Collier Ventures Corp is a company focusing on empowerment and life transformation. My passion for speaking and coaching was inspired by Les Brown’s book, “Live Your Dreams.” Which led to meeting him in person and attending a couple of events to include his house in the DC area at the time. Just seeing him interact and listening to him speak is what made me think, “hey you could do that.” But because I was so stuck in my head or what I call, “stuck in mental quicksand,” it would take me years before even taking my shot. I would eventually end up spending a year training with him and it has significantly changed the game for me.
I provide motivational speaking, life coaching sessions, workshops, and host a podcast with a purpose of reaching and empowering millions around the world. What sets me apart is the fact that I love seeing people happy and winning. I earned the nickname “The Mayor of Motivation” simply because of my love for helping and wanting people to come out on top. I’m someone who is going to be there for you, wants to see you win, and will consistently be there to challenge you to challenge yourself to be uncomfortable and become the best version of yourself.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
November 2013 while working as a government contractor I was laid off just a few days before Thanksgiving. Although I had been working as a contractor for about 14yrs and during that time I heard many of the horror stories about people being laid off, but this was a first for me. On top of that it happened just a few years after my wife had gone through a difficult and emotionally draining lay off and she was just getting back to working in a full-time role.
So I didn’t know what to expect, but in my mind I told myself that I’d be one of those who would be back in a week or two, a month at the worst. In fact I was so positive I looked at it as though I would be laid off, receive my severance and vacation pay and then be hired back with the new company at a higher salary. It would be, in my mind, a mini vacation and holiday bonus. But that wasn’t what happened.
My thinking I would be hired back by the new company was because at the time I was the only one doing the job under the old contract. But no one was really doing any hiring during the holidays. I would finally get interviewed in December by the new company, but never heard back from the hiring manager because he left the company. A month or two went by before being introduced to the new manger. I would interview with him and then he informed me that the client denied my resume due to changing requirements and restructuring my position.
A couple of months of applying to other jobs went by before getting on the “Yes, I got a job” and “Now I don’t have a job” rollercoaster. I started getting contacted by companies who wanted to interview me because I was a fit for their contract. I’d interview and “Mr. Collier we want to hire you.” I’d accept get a start date and a week before my start date they’d call to tell me that they couldn’t bring me on board. It would happen several times and it came down to they couldn’t hire me because my financial situation was not in good standing. I remember spending hours trying to explain to the recruiter and requesting to speak with the decision makers to explain that my financial situation was out of wack because I was laid off and if they just hire me that would all change. But no luck.
Meanwhile, although I was working a part time job as full-time, behind the scenes of looking for a full-time job with the salary I just lost, inside I’m feeling like I’m letting my wife down because I wasn’t making enough and I’ve got nothing to show her in callbacks, interviews, job offers, nothing. But I knew that I couldn’t let that show because my wife was dealing with her own traumas from her layoff, so my losing it would really make things difficult.
I remember how money was tight and bills continued getting behind. The water would get turned off and then the electric was cutoff. Eventually foreclosure notices started coming in the mail and there was that guy who would show up outside of my house and stand there taking pictures. And the continuous calls from bill collectors wanting their money.
Through it all I found myself trying to control what everything. Deep discussions with recruiters and attempts to convince the powers to be to hire me. Long talks with utility guys at my door demanding their money or they cutoff their service.
But here’s where the “Aha moment” happened. There was a day when I caught the ear of a bill collector and I spent at least 30 minutes in discussion and explaining why the bill wasn’t paid and how I would pay once I was back to work. When the call ended I was thinking cool I got one off of my back. The next day the phone rings and guess who, the same caller I had just spoken to. I went off. I said, didn’t i tell you that I wasn’t working and I didn’t have the money to pay you. he asks, Mr. collier when are you going to pay us?” I said, I don’t have the money when I get a job and get paid I’ll call you. And I hung up the phone.
I turned to my wife and I told her, look from here on out I’m not worrying about these people or these bills. All I’m worrying about is what i can control. At the time she looked at me like I was crazy. I was, but I was serious. And every time she’d bring a bill to my attention, I’d remind her of what I said and keep moving. I even through away one of the foreclosure notices she gave me and told her not to worry because it wasn’t going to happen. And thats how I rolled until finally getting back to full time status in November of 2014. And we never lost the house.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My life has been a series of momentum shifts. Adapting, adjusting, and finding may way was ingrained at a young age.
At the time my son was born I was stocking groceries at night and working at, depending on the day Toys R Us or doing landscaping work. With him to and my wife to take care of something had to change. I remember when my brother who was living with us came home and said he was joining the Navy and started explaining what he learned about it. At that time I looked at my current situation and thought about how things could possibly change and end up after 20 years of service and decided to talk to the recruiter. I joined that day.
I wanted to go in as an Air Traffic Controller because I believed that it would set me up for a great future after retiring, but because I didn’t score high enough I went in as an “Undesignated Airman” which meant I could end up anywhere doing who knows what. Fortunately I would end up as an Aviations Boatswainsmate Yellow Shirt Aircraft Director. It was fun, I met some good people, and made some friends that I still have. But I felt like that wasn’t going to be the answer. I just kept seeing myself working and freezing in the cold at some airport one day. And I knew that wasn’t what I wanted for me.
I decided to work on changing my rate or job. So after working 12 hours on the hangar deck directing aircraft I would go upstairs to do ojt on a job I felt would set me up really nice after the Navy. The process took a while, but I kept showing up not even knowing if it would pan out. Part of the process was running it by my chain of command and I remember one Chief Petty Officer approaching me and trying to get me to change my mind. Attempting to make me feel ashamed of myself for wanting to leave such a great job that he was so grateful to have had. Even telling me that he was going to deny my request. What he didn’t realize was that I wasn’t going to let him stop me. So after he told me that he was going to deny my request and I told him I still would like it routed up, he was surprised.
I laugh about it to this day because I remember getting my paperwork back and finding out that I was approved to crossrate into the Intelligence Specialist field the first thing I did was to go to my request chit to see who approved and who denied. Everyone one approved but that one Chief and I was cool with that. In fact smiled everytime I saw him from that day on because I knew I had one. I would go on to have a great career and be a part of some awesome experiences and missions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cericcollier.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cericcollier/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1MomentumShift
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/cericcollier
- Twitter: @cericcollier
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgzF3SXgLgioG5yACdZpJcg
- Other: Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0blqGH6l7eWqBdlsJoMSYM?si=e5a059860a8c48e1
Image Credits
Dr. Pam Perry, Pam Perry PR/Speak Sell Shine Jaresha Moore, Envisioned Broadcasting Network