Ep. 13 | David Magee

It’s here! Season TWO of Speak Life and I’m so excited to be back and sharing some really incredible conversations with you over these next twelve weeks!

We are kicking off season two with a really incredible story, one that I actually learned about through an Instagram post and immediately knew I wanted to share it with you. Today’s guest is David Magee.

David is the author of a dozen books, including How Toyota Became #1 and The John Deere Way. David is a columnist for Newsweek and former managing director for U.S. news at Newsweek. He has served as publisher of The Oxford Eagle and as a vice president of Alabama Media Group and AL.com.

As publisher of The Oxford Eagle, David wrote a viral column read by more than 1 million people about his late son William who died of an accidental alcohol and drug overdose. That column helped inspire a movement to start the William Magee Center at the University of Mississippi, dedicated to holistic education and support related to alcohol and other drugs.

As an author, David has had a business bestseller in France and top-sellers in Japan and the United States. He’s been a keynote speaker from Quebec to Japan to the headquarters of Ford Motor Company; he has hosted a daily national cable television and radio program — The David Magee Show; and he’s been a regular guest on CNBC and Fox Business.

There is so much to David’s life, but it was the story of him finding his birth family that first caught my eye and what stole my heart was hearing David’s profound journey of finding himself along the way. His story is dynamic and full of unexpected twists and turns, and his heart an engaging and powerful example of what it looks like when you allow challenges and adversities to shape you into a compassionate, understanding and truly extraordinary soul. Our conversation is deep, meaningful, and full of hope. It’s truly astonishing to hear all of the details that led him to locate his birth father’s family, almost thirty years after he made the decision to start looking for them. There are so many incredible moments, including a courthouse clerk that shared his birth mother’s name over the telephone and a camp doctor who was actually his brother! You truly have to hear it to believe it! 

Although we only talk briefly about the loss of his beloved son William and the ways his life is still impacting the world for good, we end the show with a commitment to continue the conversation in an upcoming episode soon to hear more about William’s life and the journey David and his entire family have been on in grieving him and in making his legacy impact the world for generations to come. I’m so very thankful for the work they are doing and thankful for the opportunity of hearing just a little about it in today’s episode.