In the late 1990s at the age of 17, The State of Pennsylvania sentenced Wallace Peeples aka @wallo267 to 20 years in jail for armed robbery. While incarcerated he refused to have his mind captured. He became an avid reader and learner in jail. In a place where time stands still, he was curious to know how life was outside the prison walls.
Every time a new inmate came in he would question them about what was going on in the world. All of the information that he received, he wrote down in a notebook that he called “The Book of Life”. The interviews with inmates is how he found out about Google, YouTube, and Social Media.
Once he realized the power of Social Media and the Internet at large, he started to put together a plan for his release to spread hope to the masses. After being incarcerated for two decades he was finally released 34 months ago. Upon his release he hit the ground running. He used a few hundred dollars to buy t-shirts, which he sold hand to hand on the streets of North Philadelphia all while building his social media following with daily videos of motivation.
In 34 months, he has managed to leverage his social media brand into partnerships with the NFL Network, Global Citizen, Foot Locker, Puma, and Philly Union. He has also established himself as a top-flight lecturer, speaking at Penn State University, The University of Maryland, St. John’s University and Yale University. He also was a guest speaker at the prestigious Ted Talk.
He now has one of the top podcasts in the world as well called @mworthofgame with his cousin @gillie_da_king. Their show spent more than 16 weeks at #1 on Apple’s music podcast charts. Last week he and Gillie signed a lucrative multi-year deal with @barstoolsports to host their show on Bar Stool’s prestigious podcast network.
In episode 57 of @earnyourleisure, Wallo reflected on his journey and gave the insight on what kept him going after being down for so long. This interview had to happen. @wallo267has not only inspired millions of people online but he’s also one of the reasons why EYL exists (we tell the story on the show).
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EYL 57 will be out today at 5 pm est.
ARTICLE BY @RASHADBILAL