Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Stafford.
Hi Anthony, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Miami, Florida where I was raised. I spent my entire youth in the performing arts, with a primary focus on Theater and Acting. I spent many of those years performing on stage, tv, and commercials. During this time, I developed a love for the behind the scenes work of film and television, which inspired a new passion for writing and filmmaking.
At 18 years old, after graduating from New World School of Arts, I moved to Los Angeles, CA to attend USC Film School, where I was a Film & Television Production student. I graduated top of my class in 1997 and immediately launched into a 25+ year career in the entertainment business. During that time, I’ve worked with or for huge talent including Halle Berry, Will Smith, Jaime Foxx, Don Cornelius and so many others. I’ve also been fortunate to have worked for almost every major studio in various capacities ranging from Story Development, Television Development, Artists Management, Television Production and more. Also, during this time, I started counseling and mentoring young people who were interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment business. At first, it started off as a way for me to help anyone by offering free guidance
and support to anyone seeking it; and then it quickly grew and transformed into me doing National paid leadership conferences, seminars, workshops and speaking engagements on life & career improvement topics beyond the scope of the entertainment business.
Having traveled the world over the years speaking to thousands of young people and participating in over 265 conferences and workshops, I’ve been able to help transform lives, careers and possibilities for so many dream chasers – ultimately helping them learn how to be a dream catcher!
Sometime during these many wonderful experiences, and having interacted with so many disenfranchised and discouraged young people, I developed an interest in being a conduit of change in the area of law enforcement. My belief was that I could infuse my passion for others’ success, along with my sense of compassion and empathy for humanity into the systems of community-oriented policing and law enforcement. It was a wild idea at the time, and of course my plate was already so full with the work I was already doing. But I was committed to the challenge of taking on more. I knew that I would have to put the entertainment business in the back seat while I pursued this new venture, but to me, it was worth the positive impact I so desperately wanted to make in this field.
Subsequently, I transitioned more into writing and consulting for TV and Film, and moved away from production, and started my new career as a police officer. I quickly promoted to Detective after several years where I have been ever since. I spend the majority of my law enforcement career mentoring young people, focusing less on punitive measures and more on diversionary options in order to encourage, inspire and empower better life choices by our young people. I’m especially proud of the positive and lasting impact I’ve had on our young black and brown folks, who otherwise were heading down the wrong paths.
As a dynamic and highly energized Global Speaker and Life Strategist, I have been empowering people across the globe for over 27 years to be bold and ferocious in reaching beyond the imaginary limitations of their fear, doubt, and disbelief. I encourage people of all ages to overcome the challenges of distraction and procrastination and to move away from mediocrity. My mission is to inspire people around the world to stop chasing their dreams and start CREATING and CATCHING them.
My ultimate goal is to motivate every single dreamer to reach their highest potential with absolute passion and purpose.
I also challenge current community, cultural and business leaders, as well as the future leaders, to rise beyond the threshold of their imagination, and achieve greater impact and success. Through my conferences, life-coaching and mentorship, I try to provide practical, effective, and life-changing tools, wisdom and valuable resources that can greatly impact your financial growth, stability and comfort.
Having worked in the entertainment business for over 25 years and within the law enforcement community for 13 years, I have amassed a varied and wide spectrum of business, career & life expertise that has earned great respect from my peers, colleagues, and many others.
As a premier and highly-sought after empowerment coach and mentor, I offer a direct-from-the-heart and passionate approach that I hope will influence people from all spectrums of life to soar above and beyond the obstacles and challenges they face and grab hold of their greatest possibility!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life is not designed to be smooth or easy. We are always faced with challenges that we must learn to overcome and persevere through. I always say, “Success is hard. You know what’s easy, Failure. But success, that takes a lot of work!”
For me, transitioning from one primary career to a completely opposite type of career – giving up some of the financial benefits of the entertainment business – presented some obvious obstacles. But the mission that I had to change lives for the better outweighed the temporary financial setbacks.
I also had quite a few “nay-sayers” along the way. These are people who are always there to tell you what you can’t or shouldn’t do, especially as it relates to your dreams. But this challenge was the easiest to overcome because for me when someone tells me “No,” I hear “Not Yet!” And then, I work even harder to achieve my goals, dreams and passions.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My primary goal is to create an empowering forum enriched with resources and inspiration that encourages people to create and live their best life with passion and purpose.
I work to build a central hub of thought-provoking wisdom, heart-felt perspective, and valuable information for individuals seeking guidance, advice, direction, encouragement, and support on their journey of success.
My mission is to empower people across the globe to reach beyond the imaginary limitations of their fear, doubt, and disbelief – and to make a bold movement away from mediocrity. Dynamic leaders are not built to be broken, nor are they born to be basic. I seek to inspire people around the world to be Dream CREATORS and Dream CATCHERS who will persistently pursue their passion with a purpose.
Some of my services include expert curriculum development and instructional design in areas of Leadership Training, Communications Skills, Team Building, Project Mgmt., Business Writing, Diversity & all related topics associated with achieving desired personal, college & career success.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Compassion, humility, inspiration & truth are the four primary characteristics that are essential core values of AntStaffSpeaks. These values represent the driving mechanism of everything we do in the pursuit of our mission to Empower, Encourage, and Enhance the lives and dreams of all people.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Antstaffspeaks.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/antstaffspeaks
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/AntStaffSpeaksAnthonyStafford
- Other: https://withkoji.com/@AntStaffSpeaks
