Gary Highfield is a natural salesman.
It's how he made his living. It's how he was able to pull out of a spiral of despair.
It's his gift, and Gary is a big believer in gifts.
Now, after raising his family - three kids, a handful of grandkids - Gary is selling an idea that at its core is about mentorship. With the right steps, he could help reach a large group of youths who too often fall through the educational system.
Gary became successful in spite of his upbringing. He never knew his father, and never really knew trust from his five stepfathers - "I knew about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and sex all at the same time," he said before pausing. "I was 8."
He was homeless for a summer before going to Tyner Junior High and was forced to learn way more about the ways of the world than a boy twice his age.
His tattered home life became the backdrop for his book, "When 'Want To' Becomes 'Have To.'" And if finding success rather than becoming a statistic was a surprise, writing a book was a miracle in Highfield's mind.
"I'm a fifth-degree black belt bad speller," he said. "I had to write it three times, and I was the only one who could read my handwriting because the spelling was so bad."
From its humble start, the story of his success through struggles offers some timely and applicable lessons from setting goals to finding your purpose and following through.
Highfield believed this message was being lost on a growing number of youngsters. He approached Dr. Lamar Brown, who was in charge of the Performance Learning Center school in North Georgia, about a mentoring program. Highfield asked for 14 kids - seven boys, seven girls - all with a certain amount of "want to."
His back story gave him an immediate connection. He knew what some of these troubled kids were going through and he made sure they knew it. He asked them to read his book and then asked them what they wanted to do and they told him. None of them said they wanted to be drug dealers or pimps or criminals or on welfare. Those are options more times than not for those with no options.
They told him they wanted to be welders and nurses and cooks and salespeople. So Gary, realizing the power of mentorship and the value of those kids hearing from the people they hoped to be one day, brought in 14 professionals to talk to them.
And from there, the Want To Foundation was born. Its mission is to help as many as possible with what they call the Destiny Program.
"I've quit my job. This is my calling," Gary said before citing stat after mind-numbing stat about the cost on our society from high school dropouts. "I'm either going to help fix this or I'm going to die trying."
Highfield and his right-hand man Joe Wheless are looking for every avenue to help as many kids as they can.
Jay GreesonThey hosted several area business leaders - and some political heavyweights including Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith - last month at the Walden Club. It was impressive as several of the students at PLC and also from Tyner Academy offered testimonials about the effects of the mentoring program.
The event was punctuated with 100 students from Ridgeland High School - one of the schools Gary and Co. are working with this year - parading around the Walden Club with signs about what they wanted to be.
"I want to be an astronaut," one said. "I want to be a teacher," read another.
It was an impressive display, and one that Gary recalls often.
"Everyone has a God-given talent; I truly believe that," he said. "I want to help these kids find that."
The Want To Foundation is working with five schools right now - Ridgeland, Tyner, Ivy Academy, East Ridge High and Dalewood Middle. Highfield estimates that he's had more than 10,000 conversations with students in the last year.
And he wants to find a way to have more.
The Want To Foundation is having a private fundraiser this week, and the natural-born salesman is looking to keep pitching his product.
That product this time may be a way to help a generation of young people.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. His "Right to the Point" column runs on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.