Encouraging, Enhancing and Empowering Our Youth

“Encourage, Enhance, Empower are the three words that encompassed the vision that I had when developing the Priest Holmes Foundation in 2005. I chose these words as the motto for my foundation because I too, use them as the building blocks to my successes in life.

Encourage – Many people have encouraged me over the years. When someone sees potential in you, believes in you or speaks encouraging words to you it can make all the difference in the decisions you make from an early age to adulthood. Now that I am in a position to give back, I want to encourage youth to make decisions that will help them reach their academic, athletic and social goals.

Enhance – Work ethic is key. My grandfather taught me the importance of a strong work ethic at an early age. When I was 13 years old I spent an entire summer with him in Detroit, Michigan mowing lawns. During this summer I learned the value of a strong work ethic. Before I could begin mowing lawns I had to learn the scope of the business. For an entire month my job consisted of watching the older men mow the lawn, carrying and cleaning the equipment and cleaning up grass before I could operate a lawn mower. The interesting part of this summer job is that my grandfather required me to work the entire summer before I was given a paycheck. The key lesson here is “work before reward”. Oftentimes, you have to put in the work first in order to experience the reward. This valuable lesson truly enhanced my life in every capacity and has stayed with me over the years. I apply the “work before reward” concept to many of the things that I do every day.

Empower – Once I realized my ability to make people miss, it became my Ace of Spades. From the moment I knew that I had this ability, I used it as something to lean on. Something to use as a tool to push myself forward to the next chapter of my life.”

-Priest Holmes