Meet Youth Speaker Laymon Hicks
All teens are troubled. It goes with the territory. A part of the “passage.” There is the typical “torment” of wanting to belong, to be the same, to be liked and accepted. Is my nose too big? My height too short? My hair too long?
But not everyone belonged to the Brady Brunch.
Drugs. Alcohol. Violence. Stress. Depression. Add the words bullying, peer pressure and self-doubt and you’ve entered the real world drama of too many of our young people today.
The passage for Youth Speaker Laymon Hicks was not typical. He was not a part of “all things Brady.”
Sharing his troubled teen years, surrounded by drama, battled with feelings of abandonment, lured by peer pressure into becoming a bully to his ultimate expulsion from the National Honor Society and descent into depression, Laymon puts it all on the table.
What he calls his “frustrations, flops and faults” are hungrily devoured by his audience. And then digested. For whatever the details, from one degree to another, the pain is universal. They all know it. Now they are hungry for the outcome. The resolution. The road to redemption. And Laymon delivers.
He tells them that the real motivation comes from within. From wanting more. From needing to do better. From believing you deserve better. From “Get up! Get out! Go get it!” From knowing “You Can!” From knowing “You’re the BOMB!”
His own path, from troubled youth to graduating high school with a 4.0 grade point average, is the perfect ending his young audiences are waiting for. But, in fact, it’s only the beginning.
Laymon attended Florida State University, attaining both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, was Student Body President, has authored four inspirational books for students, has appeared as an on-air motivational expert for the #1 Nationally Syndicated Talk Show, Maury, offered keynote addresses and workshops at more than 100 schools and student conferences for over 50,000 young people.
But he doesn’t soft soap the struggle. It’s hard, with lots of setbacks along the way. But his message remains clear. Compelling. “Failure is not fatal!” Laymon promises, his energy and passion pulsing through the room, “If you had the power to try – you have the power to try again! And again! You’ve got to be positive. Because…” But they already know it, “Because I am the BOMB!” His message has become their reality.
He’d be honored to bring it to your students as your next Youth Motivational Speaker.
In the seventeen years as an SGA advisor, I have had the pleasure of hearing keynote speakers from across the country, and I can assure you that Laymon is a jewel! 
