Willie Jolley
Turn Your Setbacks Into Comebacks
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Fee Range: Contact Speaker Exchange Agency
- Joseph R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
- The Cavett Recipient
- Hall of Fame Speaker
- Best-Selling Author
- Award Winning Singer
- Media Personality
*Fee ranges are presented as a guideline only. Speaker fees are subject to change without notice. For an exact quote, please contact your Speaker Exchange Agency representative.
Dr. Willie Joley is a man on a mission! He is a Hall of Fame speaker, singer, best-selling author, and popular social media personality.
In January 2023, he received the Joseph R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.
In July 2023, he was the recipient of The National Speakers Association’s highest and most cherished award, The Cavett, named after the association’s founder, Cavett Robert.
Dr. Willie Jolley has achieved remarkable heights in life, after coming from humble beginnings. His father died when he was a teenager and he put himself through college by singing in nightclubs and recording jingles for radio and television commercials. He went on to become a multi WAMMIE (Washington Area Music Association) award-winning nightclub performer. Yet, at the top of his nightclub career, he was fired and replaced by a karaoke machine, during the karaoke craze that swept America! Dr. Jolley decided that he was not going to give up, so he took that setback and turned it into an amazing “Comeback!”
Dr. Jolley started his speaking career as a drug prevention coordinator for the DC Public School System and went on to speak to millions of young people around the world. He produced and starred in the first PBS Special for teens, “Dare To Dream, Dare To Win,” which has become the #1 selling youth video in America. He was named “One of America’s Top Youth Speakers” by Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).
He has gone on to be named “One of the Outstanding Five Speakers in the World” and “Motivational & Inspirational Speaker of The Year” by the 175,000 members of
Toastmasters International. In 2005, he was inducted into the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame and received the CPAE Award (Council of Peers Award of Excellence).
Dr. Jolley soon started receiving speaking requests from other industry sectors and went on to great success speaking to colleges, associations, and corporations. He was the expert Ford Motors called on in 2006, when they were on the brink of bankruptcy. He worked with Ford from 2006 to 2009, and they were able to reject a government bailout and go on to billion-dollar profits.
He has achieved the distinction of Certified Speaker Professional (CSP) by the National Speakers Association. He is a recipient of the Ron Brown Distinguished Leadership Award and was named “One of the Top 5 Leadership Speakers” by Speaking.com and “Legend of The Speaking Industry” by the Veterans Speakers Association.
Dr. Willie Jolley became the featured speaker for The Moneywise National Tour in 2012 and in 2014 he was chosen to replace the legendary Zig Ziglar on the National Get Motivated Tour. On that tour he joined a who’s who of world-renowned speakers such as Les Brown, Shark Tank star Daymond John and sales guru, Tom Hopkins. Dr. Jolley was recently invited to be an “Personal Development Expert Artist in Residence” at High Point University, where Dr. Nido Qubein is president. He joins a list of high-profile individuals including Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc., and best-selling author and leadership guru, Dr. John Maxwell.
Dr. Jolley was the first African American President of the Washington, DC Chapter of The National Speakers Association (NSA) and was able to double membership and revenues in one year. As a result, he went on to become the first African American elected to the National Board of NSA. He is a former Chairman of The Speaker Hall of Fame Leadership Committee and is the first African American to hold that position.
Dr. Willie Jolley uses his public platform to pursue his mission of empowering and encouraging people to rise above their circumstances and maximize their God-given potential! No matter the venue, from his exciting global television appearances to his Sirius XM radio show to corporate audiences like Walmart, General Motors, Comcast, Verizon, Marriott, Johnson, and Johnson Dubai, Coca-Cola US, Coca-Cola South Africa,
Prudential Australia, and Prudential Malaysia or The Million Dollar Round Table. Dr. Willie Jolley keeps it moving with high energy and enthusiasm. He delivers powerful nuggets on how every person can live a better life and win more, every day!
Dr. Willie Jolley is the author of several international best-selling books including, It Only Takes A Minute To Change Your Life, A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback, Turn Setbacks Into Greenbacks and An Attitude of Excellence (which was endorsed by former Ford Motors CEO, Alan Mulally and Dr. Stephen Covey, author of the landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). And contributing author of Chicken Soup for The Christian Soul, where he is featured on the front cover with Joyce Meyer, Dr. Tony Campolo and Naomi Rhode.
Dr. Jolley is co-author, with his wife of 37 years, Dee Taylor-Jolley, of the popular marriage book, Make Love, Make Money, Make It Last! – 10 Secrets To Shape A Great Marriage. Their TED Talk from the book entitled, “How To Never Argue Again in Marriage” is a big hit for relationships globally.
Dr. Jolley is a popular media personality and can be heard and weekly on his #1-rated The Willie Jolley Wealthy Ways Show on Sirius XM Channel 141 and heard daily on the syndicated “Get Up! Mornings with Erica Campbell” show on the Radio One Network. Plus, his popular podcast, The Willie Jolley Wealthy Ways Podcast, can be heard on iHeart Radio, C-Suite Radio, Spotify, TuneIn, and Apple Podcasts. All his radio and podcast programs are sponsored by Truist Financial.
Additionally, his “Dr. Willie Jolley Motivational Minute” daily TV program was a popular staple on many television stations across America and now is available globally on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, where Walmart has been a sponsoring partner. Dr. Jolley and his wife host a weekly marriage advice show called “The Jolley Marriage Show” airs Monday nights at 9 pm ET on Facebook Live,
Instagram Live, Twitter Live, and LinkedIn Live. All episodes can also be found on his YouTube channel at JolleyMarriageShow.com.
Dr. Jolley’s philanthropic interests are expressed through his non-profit organization, Jolley Good News, which focuses on helping reduce prison recidivism and encourages youth, particularly urban youth, to pursue leadership and academic excellence.
He holds an earned Doctorate (D. Min) Degree in Faith-Driven Achievement from the California Graduate School of Theology, a master’s degree in theology from Wesley Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from American University. Dr. Willie Jolley resides in Washington, DC and shares his life with his wife, Dee, his two adult children and two grandchildren.
“The best way to build your future is to build yourself. And the best way to build your organization is to build your people.” –Willie Jolley
In this program, the audience is sold on the positive perspective of change! Change is essential to any growth process. Everyone wants progress, but nobody wants to change!
Willie Jolley shares his patented “VDAD” (vision, decision, action, desire) Formula for successfully embracing change. You will leave this program viewing change as an ally – not an enemy. You will leave ready to implement the formula to drive change. You will leave believing that change “truly” is good when your attitude is great!
Participants will learn:
- The attitude necessary to positively adapt and embrace the inevitability of change
- The four step process for “winning with change!”
- How a change in perspective can positively change results
- The success strategies that outstanding leaders have used to turn problems into possibilities, and setbacks into comebacks
- How to successfully navigate the winds of change by working as a team
- How to create an all-star team where everybody is an MVP!
Willie Jolley is the inspirational thought leader Ford Motor Company used to go from the brink of bankruptcy to billion dollar profits.
Tough times create new opportunities, that either make you or break you! When you implement Willie Jolley’s 7 steps for turning setbacks into greenbacks, you will be ready to make those new opportunities work for you!
Willie Jolley helps you discover how to:
- Create your own “PHD” – Persistence, Hunger and Determination
- Break through negativity
- Focus on your pursuit of success
- Maintain calm in situations of panic
- Find an attitude of gratitude to fortify your growth
Willie Jolley draws on inspiring real-life success stories and business insights to show you how to:
- Create a positive outlook
- How to become adaptable to every circumstancex
- How to seize opportunities that will lead to greater success!
Developing “An Attitude of Excellence” is Willie Jolley’s answer to the age-old question of what secrets, principles and strategies help “5 star” organizations create consistent success.
This highly entertaining and comprehensive program is based on his work with these leading edge companies.
This program is designed to help participants:
- Develop a workplace culture of excellence
- Develop leadership skills – no matter the position in the organization
- Embrace change as positive factor
- See building the team as necessary for the success of the entire operation
- Identify and serve the internal and external “customer”
Willie Jolley believes leadership is an action not a position! He reminds us that great leaders always focus on the possibilities rather than the challenges! Great leaders are willing to do whatever is necessary rather than doing what is comfortable! And leaders look to develop more leaders rather than more followers!
Willie Jolley takes you on a memorable roller coaster ride of why you must develop the leader within you and then gives you the steps for getting it done! It requires sweat equity, but so does anything that produces great achievement! Whether you are an association executive, sales professional, entrepreneur, business owner, or manage … you will experience growth and renewed enthusiasm for reaching and exceeding your goals!
*This program will develop more leaders and set them on a course for becoming unstoppable!
Participants will learn:
- The Attitude Of Excellence mindset for creating unstoppable leaders
- How ordinary people can become “extraordinary” leaders
- The critical “Vision-Decision-Action-Desire (VDAD Formula)” for excellence in leadership
- Strategies for implementing the V-D-A-D formula
- The power of “Better” for creating leaders at every level of the organization!
While others may speak of turning setbacks into comebacks, Dr. Jolley wrote the international best-selling book…A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback!
Dr. Willie Jolley is right on time with this message of how to turn your setbacks into comebacks! He has interviewed people of all walks of life on how they came back from great adversity.
Those who win also understand that failure is part of the success process–and the ability to embrace it and grow from it is a sign of greatness–and is critical to your future successes. Using real life stories from his own life, Dr. Willie Jolley shares success principles that can make the difference between just surviving this crisis time and thriving.
He also shares proven success techniques, ideas, principles and strategies and explains how to apply them to your life’s trials and tribulations to achieve your success.
Audience will learn how to:
- Develop the mindset that winners use to overcome tough times
- Implement step-by-step strategies to immediately use to turn setbacks into comebacks
- Prepare an action plan to bulletproof their future!
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