Dean Sikes has a youthful smile and beaming, aquamarine eyes. For decades now, the Chattanooga man has brought this warm visage to stages big and small, from which he speaks about his life and the meaning of life and invites youth to sign the “I Matter Pledge.” In so doing, they affirm they were made as an original and with a particular purpose. And they commit to take responsibility for their lives.
“I do about 150 to 180 events a year,” Sikes said, nursing a glass of water a recent day at a Chattanooga cafe. “I’m all over the country. It’s about a 30- to 40-minute assembly in public, private and Christian schools. Its mission is to help eradicate hopelessness and end teenage suicide. It’s an audacious goal, but I like to swing for the bleachers.”
Sikes said he never does interviews. He just doesn’t need or yearn for that. Anyway, he’s busy. He’s published dozens of books and runs a television program atop his regular traveling and speaking duties.
Sikes, 59, describes himself as an inspirational speaker. For a cynic, the title might evoke a roving, slick fellow. Yet Sikes said, if he wanted, he could be speaking to corporate America, to adults who, unlike a teenager, have more to offer him than a listening ear.
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