June 27, 2024 • 32 mins
Would you believe that a 144-year prison sentence could be the catalyst for monumental personal transformation? Join us as we uncover the extraordinary story of Christopher Life Willars, who was once a troubled youth from Chicago faced with immense challenges. Growing up in the rougher corners of the city after his parents' divorce, Christopher found himself without a strong male role model. The streets became his mentor, leading him into a life of turmoil and conflict.
As a mental health advocate, we delve into the critical issues facing today's youth navigating the turbulent waters of high school to adulthood. With Christopher's firsthand experiences, we discuss the overwhelming pressures that come from societal expectations, peer influence, and the omnipresent impact of social media. We highlight the importance of supportive environments, empathetic listening, and the need for safe spaces where young people can explore their emotions and mental health without judgment.
Christopher's path took a pivotal turn when he was incarcerated for his involvement in a robbery, receiving a shockingly harsh sentence for a first-time offender. Within the confines of prison, he encountered respected inmates who inspired him to reshape his destiny. Through their guidance, Christopher transformed from an angry young man into a leader and advocate for change. Christopher's tale of resilience and redemption is a powerful testament to the human spirit's ability to overcome and inspire.
As a mental health advocate, we delve into the critical issues facing today's youth navigating the turbulent waters of high school to adulthood. With Christopher's firsthand experiences, we discuss the overwhelming pressures that come from societal expectations, peer influence, and the omnipresent impact of social media. We highlight the importance of supportive environments, empathetic listening, and the need for safe spaces where young people can explore their emotions and mental health without judgment.
Christopher's path took a pivotal turn when he was incarcerated for his involvement in a robbery, receiving a shockingly harsh sentence for a first-time offender. Within the confines of prison, he encountered respected inmates who inspired him to reshape his destiny. Through their guidance, Christopher transformed from an angry young man into a leader and advocate for change. Christopher's tale of resilience and redemption is a powerful testament to the human spirit's ability to overcome and inspire.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chuck (00:10):
Welcome back to another episode of Lets Just Talk About
it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayon this episode, I have
Christopher Life" Willars onwith me, where he shares how it
was growing up in the windy cityof Chicago, Illinois, and also
(00:33):
what led to a 144-year prisonsentence in the state of
Virginia.
So, hey, you definitely don'twant to miss this amazing and
motivating conversation today.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor, go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Christopher "
Life Willars on Lets Just TalkAbout it podcast.
(00:53):
Hey, let's jump right in.
Welcome back to another episodeof Lets Just Talk About it
podcast.
Today.
I have Christopher " LifeWillars on with me today.
How's it going, man?
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:08):
Man, it's going good.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, I appreciate you.
Chuck (01:12):
Yeah, A friend of mine shared your TikTok video where
you were sharing your journeyabout.
You know your sentence, and soI decided to reach out to you.
Man, you responded.
So again, I appreciate that.
Yeah, man, you responded.
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:24):
So again, I appreciate that.
Yeah, no problem, man, I'malways grateful for the
opportunity to, kind of you know, let my voice tell my story and
hopefully educate others forsure.
So you know.
Thanks for extending the invite.
Chuck (01:34):
Absolutely man, I love to jump right into my interviews
to have those genuineconversations with genuine
people just like yourself, justto share a portion of your
life's journey.
And, chris, I love to start offwith this question when are you
from?
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:47):
Oh man, I'm a Chicago native, born
and raised.
Yeah, windy City kid, justclassic blue collar up bringing
it for real Midwestern.
Yeah, you say it's cold outthere.
Yeah, a little bit, a littlebit, especially when the wind
blowing It'll get cold out there.
It's cold in a few ways too,not just the temperature.
Chuck (02:07):
I heard about it.
Yeah, yeah you know, so how wasit for you growing up in
Chicago?
Christopher "Life" Willars (02:14):
You know, growing up I always tell
people started off cool.
You know both parents in thehouse.
We grew up or I grew upinitially, you know, in a
household that was ranch style,single family home, cul-de-sac.
But you know, things change,things happen, you know, and for
my parents they were growingapart for a couple of different
(02:37):
reasons and then put in somefinancial hardships and, you
know, eventually that led tothem splitting apart and then,
you know, eventually leading toa divorce.
So growing up I had two parentsthat were on the outs and my
living conditions because, youknow, with one parent out the
household started to drop.
So I went from this house to atownhouse, to an apartment.
(02:59):
You know where I started to seethe graffiti and you know that.
And then we were on.
You know we were on GunnisonAve and the project at one point
, yeah wow.
Chuck (03:08):
So being a young guy and seeing your parents separate did
that have a major effect on you?
Like you know, in your decisionmaking, yeah, most definitely
man I'm.
Christopher "Life" Willars (03:20):
I was one of those kids.
I would excel, excel,scholastically when it came to
grades.
I was always somebody thatexcelled there.
But I was hyper, you know.
I needed a certain type ofattention, you know, like a lot
of kids.
You know that's deep, yeah.
And then I'm a young man, soI'm growing, my mother's having
(03:42):
to work two jobs, you know, tomake sure we got food and
shelter.
She's not able to be hands onwith me and I definitely needed
that strong male figure at thetime to kind of rear me in
Because with him being out inthe household, my mama working
two jobs, me getting older,that's what led me to get up in
them streets and you knowthere's a lot of us do and
that's why I speak to the thingsthat I do so this to do, and
(04:05):
that's why I speak to the thingsthat I do to this day.
Chuck (04:06):
I started to inadvertently look for what I
was missing in the household,out there in the streets, from a
male figure looking for that,oh yeah for sure yeah yeah, and
I always say, man, you neverknow who's listening, man, some
you know a mother who'slistening and not really
understanding what her son isgoing through and they may be
missing that father.
You know, just to hear you saythat it puts some, um, some
understanding to that that theseyoung men need a male figure in
(04:28):
their lives.
You know, positive, oh, yeah,yeah, for sure, yeah, to direct
them.
Yeah, so growing up by the timeyou left home, how was that
like for you?
You know how old were you, yeah.
Christopher "Life" Willars (04:39):
So, um, coming up through high
school, I was one of those kidsthat used to get in fights, and
so much so that eventually I gotkicked out of school and ended
up getting sent to a basicallylike a military ran program we
call it like a shock treatmentprogram, ok, and it was ran by
the Army National Guard and itwas six months long.
(05:02):
So when you were only home fortwo weekends out that whole
period, right, and it was eithergo there or I can go to court
because I had hurt a kid prettybad in school, right, and my
mother see it as an opportunity,because the whole time I was I
was battling.
You know, I didn't necessarilywant to be this bad kid getting
in fights, but I was angry, mypops was gone.
(05:23):
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't have the new clothes,everybody.
So you know that's what led meto the shock treatment program
and really that was the point ofme being on my own because, uh,
I was able to graduate andexcel in that shock treatment
program.
Um, so much so that I graduated, in their terms, valedictorian
(05:43):
student team leader, um,victorian student team leader
and walked into yeah, and walkedinto a military career at 17.
A lot of people sometimes whenI put that in my post they'd be
like you can't enlist at 17.
You can, you just got to getpermission, you got to have your
guardian sign and say that youcan, you can wow.
Chuck (06:01):
Yeah, and.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:01):
I went from there and I walked
into the military.
I was going to be into the youknow Marine but an Air Force
recruiter said hey, man, youscored high enough on the ASVAB
to go Air Force.
So you know, I went straightfrom that shock treatment
program being home for a fewweeks, right into the Air Force.
You know military.
So you know, at 16, I waspretty much on my own and by 17,
(06:23):
I was out of state, you know,on a military base.
You know, with my own vehicle,my own place to live, doing
things.
That you know kids my ageweren't necessarily doing.
Chuck (06:33):
Got you, yeah, yeah, so you had some freedom and some
money, yeah.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:38):
Some that I weren't ready for.
Chuck (06:39):
Right.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:39):
Some freedom and some money.
Chuck (06:41):
Yeah, yeah, that I wasn't ready for, but yeah, I had that
wow got you, so you're in themilitary, so how long you
staying there?
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:50):
I was only in the military.
I was in there for less thantwo years.
I was in there, yeah, I was inthere.
I enlisted at 17.
Uh, I was in there during 9 11.
I'll never forget the morningof it and know I was in there
for a little bit longer beforegetting in trouble again and at
19, I was given a generaldischarge under honorable
(07:10):
conditions.
Because here I go once again.
I had a problem with my handsgetting in the fights.
I was good on base I was an E3,you know, at a young age and it
was excelling in my career.
But off base I was at thoseclubs where I wasn't supposed to
be fighting over girls and itwas like, look man, you're good
(07:30):
here but you're not out there.
We got to let you go and thatyeah.
So that was kind of like theactual conversation, yeah.
Chuck (07:37):
Wow.
So where do you go from there,man, when, when he you know, put
you out?
Christopher "Life" Willars (07:41):
how does that?
Yes, right.
So uh, uncle Sam, put me out,right.
Some people say I put myselfout.
You know however you perceive,but, um, I went, ended up not
being able to stay in Chicago,but I went to Chicago briefly,
um, but what had happened was mymother had moved from Chicago
to Virginia, where her familywas from what part of Virginia
(08:04):
oh, uh, staff.
We was out there, staffordCounty, fredericksburg yeah,
city of Fredericksburg, um, wewas out there between DC and
Richmond on 95, that's the bestway I can put it.
Yeah, we was out there.
When I went out there, Iremember because I was stalling
in Chicago for a little bit tillI ran out of money, living in
hotels.
Finally, I had to come outthere to Virginia and I was
(08:26):
miserable, you know, I went.
I was this kid that had made hisway into the military, was
traveling, had a vehicle, allthat, yeah, to losing it all,
having to restart and, eventhough I was only 19, feeling
like it was the end of the world.
Wow.
So, yeah, looking back, I wasdealing with depression, anger,
anxiety, all those thingsthrough childhood years, and now
it was just, yeah, it was justincreasing.
(08:46):
So when I went to Virginia, itwas just a miserable situation
for me because my mother hadmoved in with my grandmother, my
uncle also lived there, mycousin and I had to share a room
with my cousin.
I was just, I was just over it,like I didn't want to be there?
Chuck (09:03):
wow, let me ask you this.
So now that you can look backand think about you were
depressed back then.
How did that look back then toyou?
How did that feel, if you couldremember?
Christopher "Life" Willars (09:14):
Yeah , excuse me, that's a great
question.
I'm glad you asked that.
I'm a mental health advocateand I'm a youth mental health
advocate and I love explainingto parents things that they may
not see or may overlook or maynot be paying attention to.
But, in short, there's so many,there's a wide range of
symptoms, but for me what itlooked like was somebody that
(09:38):
was outwardly when the light wason them would shine, but
inwardly felt dark.
I felt them inside.
You know, I would try to makemy mother happy, but inside I
was hurt because my fatherwasn't around.
So it was.
There was a constantly tugging,but overall, on top of that,
there was an anxiety that wasstarting to be driven.
I grew up in Chicago.
You hit gunshots, you losefriends, so yeah.
(10:01):
So now we've got anxietyworking in there, all right.
I grew up in an environmentwhere there's gangs, there's
different, you know, there'sdrug use, there's all these
things going on.
This, this feeds, it impactsyour mental in a negative way
and as a young person thatdoesn't know how to convey that
(10:21):
they, this is impacting them,this is messing them up, that's
good man, right.
And then you look into the factthat sometimes we don't know
how things impact us until yearslater, which is the tricky part
.
That is tight.
But yeah, I was that classiccase from what I see because I
deal with so many young peoplenowadays.
I was that classic clinicalcase of you know, teenager, you
(10:42):
know, uh, teenager, you know,young people, depression, as I
call it, ypd right, you know,you in that range, uh,
especially the 18 to 22 window.
Okay, when you start, when youstart to transition out of those
high school or those teenageyears where people are starting,
if you haven't found your wayyet, it gets a little bit worse.
But it starts in high school,it starts in elementary, you
(11:02):
know, it starts back there.
So, yeah, what?
Chuck (11:04):
yeah, what is that look?
I know I keep pushing it, butwhat is that look like man, Like
a young kid is 20 and so theystay at home with mom and dad oh
man.
But how, how do you, how do youget depressed when you don't
have to take care of anything?
Christopher "Life" Willars (11:21):
you know what I'm saying if I'm
saying yeah yeah, no, it's yeah,no, it's great, because it's
one of those questions I love toanswer for the youth because,
for whatever reason, there's aconsensus there's a percentage
of adults that think kids havenothing to worry about, they
shouldn't be depressed.
But we don't know the type ofpressure that they feel in in in
this period of time versus whatwe felt.
When you just fact, when youjust factor in social media
(11:43):
alone, the average person, adultor young, you get up in the
morning, you get on your phone,you see all types of things you
start inadvertently comparingyourself to.
Now.
You put that in a youngerenvironment, you would do with
them.
Teenagers, oh man, there's abigger pressure there.
Not every kid, not every kid,is going to focus on their
(12:03):
parents in the future.
Some kids they focusing on thatpeer pressure in the school,
they focusing on why the girlsdon't like them or the guys
don't like they, focusing onthey ain't got that gear.
So everybody, you know they'renot getting that motion, as they
say that it's differentpressures.
So for me I can't speak foranybody else, but as a 40 year
old man, who am I to say thatwhat stresses them out isn't
(12:24):
stress.
They entitled to feel what theyfeel, towards what they feel.
So, yeah, man, their pressuresis different.
We may not understand.
Yeah, I think our job as adultsor older, you know, whatever
mentor is just to be there forthem, not to always answer the
(12:45):
questions that they may have,but just be support, just listen
.
I spend a lot of time justsitting there with them, that's
it, I sit and let them talk.
I let them talk.
Sometimes I don't even provideno answers, but they know they
can come back and talk some more.
It'll come.
It'll be a moment where it'stime for me to speak, but first
I just want to hear you.
I ain't even got to understandwhat you're saying.
(13:05):
I might not even speak thelanguage, but I just want to
show you that I care enough andI believe in you enough and I'm
concerned enough to at leastjust sit with you.
It'd be no difference if it wassomebody that spoke another
language, from a different partof the earth, and I seen them in
trouble.
I'd sit with them too.
Chuck (13:27):
Wow, wow.
So it's a different day, so wecan't deal with kids, the way
our parents dealt with us.
Christopher "Life" Willars (13:29):
You know what I'm saying.
We gotta no.
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you an examplereal quick.
Our parents used to say goahead, ride bikes, be back 12
hours later, just be back beforethe lights come on.
No phone, no, no, none nowwould you do that with and this
ain't a question you gotta ask.
But I know one thing I'm notsending my kids out absolutely
and saying yeah it's a differentworld, it's a different world.
(13:50):
So we're going to acknowledgethat in one place.
We need to acknowledge that inall places in regards to our
youth wow, that's deep man.
Chuck (13:57):
I appreciate you sharing that man.
You gave you know some um, someeducation on how we are to
approach the youth today.
Sometimes we just got to listen.
We don't have to have all theanswers, just listen to them,
you know, share their emotion.
Christopher "Life" Willars (14:10):
Yeah , yeah, they're bright, they're
intelligent, at the end of theday, that the answers are within
them.
We just got to sit there andhelp them, guide them till they
find it out.
The best answers are foundwithin them they'll find it
there, wow we just got them.
That's it.
Wow, they know what's right andwhat's wrong.
They feel it yeah man switchinggears.
Chuck (14:29):
Man, I appreciate that switching gears.
Um, you spoke about beingsentenced to 144 years, right?
Yeah, how did you get to thatplace?
Christopher "Life" Willars (14:43):
man like we just touching on.
I was somebody that was angry,depressed teenager, didn't have
outlets, didn't have, didn'thave any.
You know positive people aroundme outside of my mama, you know
, my grandma, anybody.
You know I didn't have anybodyconnect to communicate with
outside of my older cousin, hisfriends.
They became my social circle.
(15:03):
I was new out there in Virginia,got you, you know he was
closest to my age, though 10years older.
He had partners.
They liked to drink I didn'tmind drinking.
They liked to smoke I smoked.
You know they like girls, Ilike girls, you know.
So they let me hang around andbasically being around and being
in an environment, it, butbasically being around and being
(15:24):
in an environment, it was justreally negative man.
They would lead me astray and Ican say that in a way that I
hold myself accountable toeverything that's ever happened
in my life.
But at the same time, peerpressure is real, manipulation
is real and man, young people,are easily moved you know, left
or right, so yeah, so I was just, was just, you know, dealing
(15:46):
with my cousins.
They were into the streets, orat least acting like, or my
cousin was acting like he was inthe streets with his home boy,
you know, portraying a life,portraying an image.
And then one day I found myselfin the midst of a conversation
where they were talking aboutgoing to commit a crime and, you
know, I kind of just fed intoit.
You know, we were arguing aboutit.
I said y'all ain't really aboutthat life, y'all sitting here
talking.
You know, I'm tired of it, I'mangry.
(16:08):
And they say, oh, you want tosee?
And I said, yeah, and that was.
You know, that was the minutethings started to go downhill
for real, on the moment, wow man, I brought that up because kids
need to hear what thoseemotions can lead to.
Chuck (16:25):
You know what I mean.
Oh yeah, a life ofincarceration where nobody can
help you.
Christopher "Life" Willars (16:29):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, no question, I'mtrying to appease to my cousin,
you know, show off for them, orshow them that I'm hard, or you
know whatever it is in themoment.
And at the same time, like Ialways tell young people today,
who are you trying to impressBecause?
And at the same time, like Ialways tell young people today
who you trying to impress?
Because, at the end of the day,we all trying to impress
somebody.
People be like I ain't tryingto impress.
(16:49):
Listen, if the right personcome in that room, you gonna
stick your chest out and chin up.
You know what I'm saying.
So who are you trying toimpress?
You know, for me, back then, Iwas trying to impress people
that didn't care about their ownlife, didn't know my value,
didn't you know?
So don't them the wrong peopleto impress right yeah wow, so
(17:09):
you're incarcerated.
Chuck (17:10):
How did that environment go for you being the first time
being in there?
How did you, you know, maneuverthrough?
Christopher "Life" Willars (17:18):
well , first time incarceration,
incarcerated right first I gotto let people know I was
sentenced to 144 years forrobbery.
I was the driver.
No weapon was used, that wasreal.
It was a BB gun.
Wow, nobody was physicallyharmed and that was it.
(17:39):
I was still given 140.
I never left the car, neverwent into the establishment.
So me going into prison.
I was all anger at first,mm-hmm.
I'm a first time offender whorefused to testify, got
testified on and ended upgetting all this time.
You know it was initial shockbut I rolled into prison the
(18:02):
same way.
I rolled into jail extremelyangry, got you.
So each state is different, youknow each system is different.
Where I was at, you know I'mnot going to say I use, I use it
as leverage, you know.
But I was known in Chicago.
So when you, when you're knownin Chicago in Virginia, right,
you automatically people aregonna look at you a certain way
(18:23):
yeah, yeah.
So not only that.
Early on, you know, I was oneof them.
I was zero tolerance win, loseor draw, because I didn't win
every time.
But I was just again.
I was that angry kid that grewup into a young man that never
had that part of him dealt with,no therapy, and now he's in an
environment where it's theperfect setting for it.
(18:44):
This is where violence reigns.
So you know, my early on in mypenitentiary bit was a lot of
fights, a lot of confusion,trying to figure it out.
It was just.
I was fortunate enough I hadsome brothers just like them.
Old school penitentiary movies,right, you know they pulled up.
Yeah, yeah, because I wasstarting to build a little
(19:07):
reputation in the prisons anddudes are starting to fall up
under me, as they say, and I wasleading a lot of dudes the
wrong way.
And I had a brother by the nameof Jefferson Ellie, who was aka
Poet at Life of Law, brotherWillie Brown, and some brothers
that was with the Nation ofIslam and five percenters, and
they say, hey brother, we needyou to know who you are Right.
(19:29):
And I remember the first timeI'm looking at it I got respect
for the OGs and the block, right.
And I remember the first timeI'm looking at it I got respect
for the OGs and the block, butI'm like man, what is y'all
talking about?
And one brother, brother Willie, he about 60 some years old now
, but I remember he was man, thebiggest dude in the
penitentiary.
I felt like you know what I'msaying.
Lift every weight, six foot,whatever Right and well
(19:55):
respected.
He said man.
He said you lead them toslaughter when you're gonna
start leading to the blessings.
Wow, and you know it.
Just messed with me.
You know what I'm saying.
And, of course, when people saythat I want to say this, I'm
not trying to add value to who Iam.
I'm just a man.
But what he was saying to me ispeople are listening to your
voice, right, right, they'refollowing you.
Yeah, they're following you,you know, we, we got to do
better as people, you know.
(20:16):
And that conversation it justsparked things, sparked
something in me, and then Istarted building with certain
brothers like him, um, otherbrothers, like freddie williams,
just brothers that had beendown but changed their lives you
know what I'm saying.
And some of these brothers,some of them are free, like I
mentioned, but some of thesebrothers have never come home.
And what I had the whole timeafter that moment, I had people
(20:40):
that were telling me look, I'mnever going home, but you got a
chance to Wow, and they startedto resonate.
Right, I didn't just grow upovernight.
I still have.
You know, it's a process, Right, you know, I had to leave some
things behind for good.
It took a couple years, butonce I got into that mold, oh,
(21:02):
it was on there.
I started, I was in that lawlibrary, I was, uh, researching
policies, I was leaning back onmy intelligence that I had,
right, right, you know, wow.
And I was, you know, continuingto see, you know, results, but
this time for the good.
Chuck (21:11):
Even in there, wow what was so powerful to me about your
story is that you took upbarber school right yeah, yeah,
barber, for sure, yeah, yeahyeah, so when you came home, you
utilized that.
You know what you learned inthere, right?
Christopher "Life" Willars (21:26):
yeah , boy, I mean yeah, but nah, nah
, not okay.
So yeah, so I got my barberinglicense to uh, basically I'll be
telling a joke but to trick my,my now wife.
We getting ready to celebratefive years, okay.
But um, I met my wife while Iwas incarcerated.
I was running a non-profit.
(21:47):
We was introduced to mutualfriends, wow yeah, she's a very
intelligent, um, you know,business owner in her own right.
You know somebody that wasintelligent in that field.
So, you know, conversation meand her conversation on business
how to get this brand frombehind the wall out here led to
other things.
Yeah, and she was already inthe cosmetology field she had.
(22:09):
That's how she grew up, fromseven mile detroit, you know,
grew up doing here, you know I'msaying at her grandma's house.
So we were always two people.
I think we were both.
I'm a hustler from chicago,she's from detroit, so when we
came together, we was both aboutbusiness anyways.
And, um, she said she wanted togo into that field for
education.
And I was like, shoot, I'mgonna get this trade because I
(22:31):
don't really know what I'm gonnado.
And, um, I also got the tradeto show that I was serious.
You know that I wasn't wastingthe time, so got the trade, came
home and, like you said, fastforward one of the questions I
had asked before I came home.
I was like, if, if you marry me, what's, what's your dream?
Like, what do you want to do?
And she said she wanted to havea school.
So I came home january 13th2020, right before the pandemic,
(22:57):
wow, um.
When the pandemic hit, I wasstill working.
I was a garbage man.
I tell people all the time Iwas making over a thousand
dollars a week.
I didn't have nothing to spendno money on because everything
was closed down it's closed yeah, you know, my wife started to
collect unemployment.
They was giving people $900 aweek unemployment one time.
(23:17):
I couldn't understand it.
So you know.
Yeah, I'm out here on the backof the truck trying not to catch
COVID.
But, you know, we made reallysmart decisions and that's why I
always tell the brothers man,when you come home, make sure
you with a good woman, a womanthat's already with the right
(23:39):
type of mindset.
It ain't a knock on the ladies,but sometimes they looking for
saviors.
I keep it real.
You know what I'm saying.
So, um, we just had a plan.
We've been even to this day,for, as successful as people see
us and may see us, I'm stillthe same guy to shop at goodwill
and get two pairs of shoes ayear will be because I don't see
the need, you know.
So we just invested what we had, you know, as first generation
entrepreneurs, hustlers,whatever into the school.
(24:01):
We took a leap in.
2022-22 is when we openedofficially, and I always tell
people about a week out prior tous opening, we had ran out all
the money we had because weain't know nothing about, you
know, building no school.
Yeah, not just a brand, but aschool.
(24:22):
I think when I talk to people,I don't think people, there's
levels to this and I always sayit respectfully.
I I've had a t-shirt brand,yeah, and I've had a t-shirt
brand.
That's what's up.
Get your money.
You know what I'm saying.
There's a million dollart-shirt brand yeah, and I've had
a t-shirt brand that's what'sup, get your money.
You know what I'm saying.
There's a million dollart-shirt brand there's.
You know, I've had a hot dogstand hey, get your money.
There's a million dollars.
(24:42):
But man, building a school isdifferent.
It's different.
I can't show you a diploma andsay it's yours, wow, got to try
to convince you to walk intothis building.
You ain't never heard beforeand say spend thousands of
dollars and you graduate.
It's a different beast.
So, but it taught me a lot andme and my wife, we're grateful
for it, for sure how long havey'all?
been doing it uh, 222, 22 andwe've had four graduations.
(25:07):
We got a hundred percentgraduation rate.
Um, the school's name is lastand layer Um, and I was just
honored for principal of theyear, which is yeah, we, yeah,
man.
The school's been um on thenews twice, including the story
from prison to principal, causethey're trying to figure out how
, um, you know a guy that had,you know, these felonies and 144
(25:30):
years, came home and he'srunning the school, you know,
and and for anybody here'sprincipal.
I got to say this becausethey're always like vocational
schools don't have principals.
I'm the executive director, butI don't like, I don't like the.
It's so formal.
I don't run my school like that, I just Mr Chris, principal,
whatever, but all that ED, allthat stuff, but yeah, yeah,
(25:51):
we've been rolling so.
Chuck (25:54):
Amazing.
Say that name one more time inthe location.
Christopher "Life" Willars (25:58):
Yeah , so our school's name is
Lasting Layers of BeautyInstitute.
Our email or, excuse me, ourwebsite is
wwwlastinglayersofbeautycom andwe're located 2260 North Lake
Parkway, suite 100, tucker,georgia, 30094.
And I always tell people we'reright across the street from
Atlanta, like if people want toknow where we at, I just walk
(26:20):
across the street and we inAtlanta.
So yeah, and we're proud toalso announce we've given over
each year we've been open, we'vegiven over $75,000 in
scholarships Wow yeah to peoplein need.
So we're doing work.
Chuck (26:34):
Wow.
What would you say to theyounger generation today of men
and women?
To encourage them?
Because you, you're an exampleof a person who's been
incarcerated, but now you have asuccessful business.
What would you tell them today?
Christopher "Life" Willars (26:51):
Oh, man, don't, don't let the blind
hit your vision.
Um, there's people that loveyou That'll be scared and try to
speak doubt into your dreams.
There's people that act likethey love you and try to lead
you to nightmares.
You know, within each and everyone of us, whether we young or
old because I talk to youngpeople all the time man, we all
(27:12):
got that little voice that I'mgonna say holy spirit for me.
But I ain't here to telleverybody what they feel, but I
like that.
We feel it.
You feel it in your gut.
You know which way to go.
You know what I'm saying.
You follow that.
You find what moves you in thisworld and you work on that.
You do it well and you don'tgive up.
You don't let nobody else blockyou from that.
Chuck (27:41):
And you'll have promise you.
Wow, yeah, you just gotta startnow, no matter how deep the
hole got you.
Got you, chris, if you could goback man to talk to your
younger self, what would youshare?
Share with him if you could nowyou know what I don't.
Christopher "Life" Willars (27:48):
It's so crazy, right, and this is I
don't regret my journey becauseof what I'm able to do now.
Yeah, and I don't know, I don'tknow that I would be here, nor
would I have the impact and beable to help people the way that
I am today.
And I tell my mother, you know,and I told her one time,
through her tears and probably alittle bit of mine, I said,
just, maybe I had to suffer, youknow, in order for people to
(28:11):
get this message.
That's yeah.
And I got to keep saying thisbecause I don't like when people
be like man.
I was sent here by God and I ama believer.
I don't think I just I'm just.
I'm just a man that seen thepower in taking something that
was sent to destroy him and turnit into something that that's
(28:31):
helping save others.
Talk about it, you know.
So.
So, as far as like with myyounger self.
That being said, and notaltering the path, because I
don't know, you know, I wish Ididn't end up in that situation,
but I think I would just goback to a place where I could
just sit there with him.
I think, above all else, I justneeded somebody to be patient
(28:53):
enough with me.
You know somebody, somebodythat didn't even have to offer
what I had so much anger in me.
You know, somebody that didn'teven have to offer.
I had so much anger in me.
Man, it's almost.
When I speak about it I canalmost feel it.
Not in a way like I feel it now, but I know who I was back then
.
I was hurting.
I just needed somebody to bethere, you know, and I would
just be there for myself.
I'd just go sit, just sit withhim and see what he got to say.
Chuck (29:16):
That's powerful man, that's powerful.
Christopher "Life" Willa (29:18):
That's it, man.
Chuck (29:20):
Man as we close.
Man, if somebody was to askabout you, how would you
describe yourself today?
Christopher "Life" Willars (29:28):
Oh man, I'm a visionary, I'm a
leader, I'm a disruptor throughand through.
You know, to my family andfriends, I'm a husband.
You know, son brother, you know, uh, to my family and friends,
I'm I'm husband, you know, sonbrother, you know all that.
You know, um, but I'm that guythat fights to sit at the head
of the table with with rightcalls.
(29:50):
Yeah, you know I.
I don't take um the opportunityto lead light and you know I'm
grateful for the ability to doso.
So you know, I'm just somebody.
When you see me, I'm the sameperson, whether you hear me on
the phone or hear me on theinterview, see me on the phone,
whatever it is, I'm camera on,camera off.
I am the same person throughand through and I I'm so glad I
(30:10):
was able to establish that outthe gate in a world where a lot
of people aren't able to bethemselves in order to get
impact.
So, yeah, I'm grateful.
Chuck (30:19):
Authenticity is important , man, oh man yeah for sure.
Christopher "Life" Willar (30:30):
Chris , I know this was a short time,
but what can they find?
The rest of your story?
Yeah, man.
So if you want to check out therest of my story, content,
social messaging and, moreespecially, the advocacy work,
you can check me out on TikTok,ig or Facebook and YouTube at
Christopher Life Willers my nameit's same thing everywhere.
And also if you want to checkout my 501c3, my nonprofit, the
Life Unit Inc.
(30:50):
Which is dedicated to pre-entry, re-entry and direct
intervention, you can check outour website at wwwthelifeunitorg
.
Intervention you can check outour website at wwwthelifeunitorg
and it's a really quick way toconnect.
And if you got questions or youknow young people that may need
mentoring, etc.
You definitely want to checkout my content and potentially
connect with us for services.
So, yeah, we hope to see youthere.
Chuck (31:12):
Thanks again, man.
I really appreciate yourinformation and taking your time
out of your busy schedule to beon let's Just Talk About it
podcast, man.
Thanks again.
Yes, sir, thank you All right.
Wow, what an amazingconversation today.
Shout out to you Life forhaving this dialogue with me and
for sharing your wisdom, and Iwant to thank everyone for
always tuning in to let's JustTalk About it podcast and so, as
(31:35):
always, until next time, don'thold it in in, but let's just
talk about it.
Talk to you soon, thank you.
Welcome back to another episode of Lets Just Talk About
it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayon this episode, I have
Christopher Life" Willars onwith me, where he shares how it
was growing up in the windy cityof Chicago, Illinois, and also
(00:33):
what led to a 144-year prisonsentence in the state of
Virginia.
So, hey, you definitely don'twant to miss this amazing and
motivating conversation today.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor, go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Christopher "
Life Willars on Lets Just TalkAbout it podcast.
(00:53):
Hey, let's jump right in.
Welcome back to another episodeof Lets Just Talk About it
podcast.
Today.
I have Christopher " LifeWillars on with me today.
How's it going, man?
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:08):
Man, it's going good.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, I appreciate you.
Chuck (01:12):
Yeah, A friend of mine shared your TikTok video where
you were sharing your journeyabout.
You know your sentence, and soI decided to reach out to you.
Man, you responded.
So again, I appreciate that.
Yeah, man, you responded.
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:24):
So again, I appreciate that.
Yeah, no problem, man, I'malways grateful for the
opportunity to, kind of you know, let my voice tell my story and
hopefully educate others forsure.
So you know.
Thanks for extending the invite.
Chuck (01:34):
Absolutely man, I love to jump right into my interviews
to have those genuineconversations with genuine
people just like yourself, justto share a portion of your
life's journey.
And, chris, I love to start offwith this question when are you
from?
Christopher "Life" Willars (01:47):
Oh man, I'm a Chicago native, born
and raised.
Yeah, windy City kid, justclassic blue collar up bringing
it for real Midwestern.
Yeah, you say it's cold outthere.
Yeah, a little bit, a littlebit, especially when the wind
blowing It'll get cold out there.
It's cold in a few ways too,not just the temperature.
Chuck (02:07):
I heard about it.
Yeah, yeah you know, so how wasit for you growing up in
Chicago?
Christopher "Life" Willars (02:14):
You know, growing up I always tell
people started off cool.
You know both parents in thehouse.
We grew up or I grew upinitially, you know, in a
household that was ranch style,single family home, cul-de-sac.
But you know, things change,things happen, you know, and for
my parents they were growingapart for a couple of different
(02:37):
reasons and then put in somefinancial hardships and, you
know, eventually that led tothem splitting apart and then,
you know, eventually leading toa divorce.
So growing up I had two parentsthat were on the outs and my
living conditions because, youknow, with one parent out the
household started to drop.
So I went from this house to atownhouse, to an apartment.
(02:59):
You know where I started to seethe graffiti and you know that.
And then we were on.
You know we were on GunnisonAve and the project at one point
, yeah wow.
Chuck (03:08):
So being a young guy and seeing your parents separate did
that have a major effect on you?
Like you know, in your decisionmaking, yeah, most definitely
man I'm.
Christopher "Life" Willars (03:20):
I was one of those kids.
I would excel, excel,scholastically when it came to
grades.
I was always somebody thatexcelled there.
But I was hyper, you know.
I needed a certain type ofattention, you know, like a lot
of kids.
You know that's deep, yeah.
And then I'm a young man, soI'm growing, my mother's having
(03:42):
to work two jobs, you know, tomake sure we got food and
shelter.
She's not able to be hands onwith me and I definitely needed
that strong male figure at thetime to kind of rear me in
Because with him being out inthe household, my mama working
two jobs, me getting older,that's what led me to get up in
them streets and you knowthere's a lot of us do and
that's why I speak to the thingsthat I do so this to do, and
(04:05):
that's why I speak to the thingsthat I do to this day.
Chuck (04:06):
I started to inadvertently look for what I
was missing in the household,out there in the streets, from a
male figure looking for that,oh yeah for sure yeah yeah, and
I always say, man, you neverknow who's listening, man, some
you know a mother who'slistening and not really
understanding what her son isgoing through and they may be
missing that father.
You know, just to hear you saythat it puts some, um, some
understanding to that that theseyoung men need a male figure in
(04:28):
their lives.
You know, positive, oh, yeah,yeah, for sure, yeah, to direct
them.
Yeah, so growing up by the timeyou left home, how was that
like for you?
You know how old were you, yeah.
Christopher "Life" Willars (04:39):
So, um, coming up through high
school, I was one of those kidsthat used to get in fights, and
so much so that eventually I gotkicked out of school and ended
up getting sent to a basicallylike a military ran program we
call it like a shock treatmentprogram, ok, and it was ran by
the Army National Guard and itwas six months long.
(05:02):
So when you were only home fortwo weekends out that whole
period, right, and it was eithergo there or I can go to court
because I had hurt a kid prettybad in school, right, and my
mother see it as an opportunity,because the whole time I was I
was battling.
You know, I didn't necessarilywant to be this bad kid getting
in fights, but I was angry, mypops was gone.
(05:23):
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't have the new clothes,everybody.
So you know that's what led meto the shock treatment program
and really that was the point ofme being on my own because, uh,
I was able to graduate andexcel in that shock treatment
program.
Um, so much so that I graduated, in their terms, valedictorian
(05:43):
student team leader, um,victorian student team leader
and walked into yeah, and walkedinto a military career at 17.
A lot of people sometimes whenI put that in my post they'd be
like you can't enlist at 17.
You can, you just got to getpermission, you got to have your
guardian sign and say that youcan, you can wow.
Chuck (06:01):
Yeah, and.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:01):
I went from there and I walked
into the military.
I was going to be into the youknow Marine but an Air Force
recruiter said hey, man, youscored high enough on the ASVAB
to go Air Force.
So you know, I went straightfrom that shock treatment
program being home for a fewweeks, right into the Air Force.
You know military.
So you know, at 16, I waspretty much on my own and by 17,
(06:23):
I was out of state, you know,on a military base.
You know, with my own vehicle,my own place to live, doing
things.
That you know kids my ageweren't necessarily doing.
Chuck (06:33):
Got you, yeah, yeah, so you had some freedom and some
money, yeah.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:38):
Some that I weren't ready for.
Chuck (06:39):
Right.
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:39):
Some freedom and some money.
Chuck (06:41):
Yeah, yeah, that I wasn't ready for, but yeah, I had that
wow got you, so you're in themilitary, so how long you
staying there?
Christopher "Life" Willars (06:50):
I was only in the military.
I was in there for less thantwo years.
I was in there, yeah, I was inthere.
I enlisted at 17.
Uh, I was in there during 9 11.
I'll never forget the morningof it and know I was in there
for a little bit longer beforegetting in trouble again and at
19, I was given a generaldischarge under honorable
(07:10):
conditions.
Because here I go once again.
I had a problem with my handsgetting in the fights.
I was good on base I was an E3,you know, at a young age and it
was excelling in my career.
But off base I was at thoseclubs where I wasn't supposed to
be fighting over girls and itwas like, look man, you're good
(07:30):
here but you're not out there.
We got to let you go and thatyeah.
So that was kind of like theactual conversation, yeah.
Chuck (07:37):
Wow.
So where do you go from there,man, when, when he you know, put
you out?
Christopher "Life" Willars (07:41):
how does that?
Yes, right.
So uh, uncle Sam, put me out,right.
Some people say I put myselfout.
You know however you perceive,but, um, I went, ended up not
being able to stay in Chicago,but I went to Chicago briefly,
um, but what had happened was mymother had moved from Chicago
to Virginia, where her familywas from what part of Virginia
(08:04):
oh, uh, staff.
We was out there, staffordCounty, fredericksburg yeah,
city of Fredericksburg, um, wewas out there between DC and
Richmond on 95, that's the bestway I can put it.
Yeah, we was out there.
When I went out there, Iremember because I was stalling
in Chicago for a little bit tillI ran out of money, living in
hotels.
Finally, I had to come outthere to Virginia and I was
(08:26):
miserable, you know, I went.
I was this kid that had made hisway into the military, was
traveling, had a vehicle, allthat, yeah, to losing it all,
having to restart and, eventhough I was only 19, feeling
like it was the end of the world.
Wow.
So, yeah, looking back, I wasdealing with depression, anger,
anxiety, all those thingsthrough childhood years, and now
it was just, yeah, it was justincreasing.
(08:46):
So when I went to Virginia, itwas just a miserable situation
for me because my mother hadmoved in with my grandmother, my
uncle also lived there, mycousin and I had to share a room
with my cousin.
I was just, I was just over it,like I didn't want to be there?
Chuck (09:03):
wow, let me ask you this.
So now that you can look backand think about you were
depressed back then.
How did that look back then toyou?
How did that feel, if you couldremember?
Christopher "Life" Willars (09:14):
Yeah , excuse me, that's a great
question.
I'm glad you asked that.
I'm a mental health advocateand I'm a youth mental health
advocate and I love explainingto parents things that they may
not see or may overlook or maynot be paying attention to.
But, in short, there's so many,there's a wide range of
symptoms, but for me what itlooked like was somebody that
(09:38):
was outwardly when the light wason them would shine, but
inwardly felt dark.
I felt them inside.
You know, I would try to makemy mother happy, but inside I
was hurt because my fatherwasn't around.
So it was.
There was a constantly tugging,but overall, on top of that,
there was an anxiety that wasstarting to be driven.
I grew up in Chicago.
You hit gunshots, you losefriends, so yeah.
(10:01):
So now we've got anxietyworking in there, all right.
I grew up in an environmentwhere there's gangs, there's
different, you know, there'sdrug use, there's all these
things going on.
This, this feeds, it impactsyour mental in a negative way
and as a young person thatdoesn't know how to convey that
(10:21):
they, this is impacting them,this is messing them up, that's
good man, right.
And then you look into the factthat sometimes we don't know
how things impact us until yearslater, which is the tricky part
.
That is tight.
But yeah, I was that classiccase from what I see because I
deal with so many young peoplenowadays.
I was that classic clinicalcase of you know, teenager, you
(10:42):
know, uh, teenager, you know,young people, depression, as I
call it, ypd right, you know,you in that range, uh,
especially the 18 to 22 window.
Okay, when you start, when youstart to transition out of those
high school or those teenageyears where people are starting,
if you haven't found your wayyet, it gets a little bit worse.
But it starts in high school,it starts in elementary, you
(11:02):
know, it starts back there.
So, yeah, what?
Chuck (11:04):
yeah, what is that look?
I know I keep pushing it, butwhat is that look like man, Like
a young kid is 20 and so theystay at home with mom and dad oh
man.
But how, how do you, how do youget depressed when you don't
have to take care of anything?
Christopher "Life" Willars (11:21):
you know what I'm saying if I'm
saying yeah yeah, no, it's yeah,no, it's great, because it's
one of those questions I love toanswer for the youth because,
for whatever reason, there's aconsensus there's a percentage
of adults that think kids havenothing to worry about, they
shouldn't be depressed.
But we don't know the type ofpressure that they feel in in in
this period of time versus whatwe felt.
When you just fact, when youjust factor in social media
(11:43):
alone, the average person, adultor young, you get up in the
morning, you get on your phone,you see all types of things you
start inadvertently comparingyourself to.
Now.
You put that in a youngerenvironment, you would do with
them.
Teenagers, oh man, there's abigger pressure there.
Not every kid, not every kid,is going to focus on their
(12:03):
parents in the future.
Some kids they focusing on thatpeer pressure in the school,
they focusing on why the girlsdon't like them or the guys
don't like they, focusing onthey ain't got that gear.
So everybody, you know they'renot getting that motion, as they
say that it's differentpressures.
So for me I can't speak foranybody else, but as a 40 year
old man, who am I to say thatwhat stresses them out isn't
(12:24):
stress.
They entitled to feel what theyfeel, towards what they feel.
So, yeah, man, their pressuresis different.
We may not understand.
Yeah, I think our job as adultsor older, you know, whatever
mentor is just to be there forthem, not to always answer the
(12:45):
questions that they may have,but just be support, just listen
.
I spend a lot of time justsitting there with them, that's
it, I sit and let them talk.
I let them talk.
Sometimes I don't even provideno answers, but they know they
can come back and talk some more.
It'll come.
It'll be a moment where it'stime for me to speak, but first
I just want to hear you.
I ain't even got to understandwhat you're saying.
(13:05):
I might not even speak thelanguage, but I just want to
show you that I care enough andI believe in you enough and I'm
concerned enough to at leastjust sit with you.
It'd be no difference if it wassomebody that spoke another
language, from a different partof the earth, and I seen them in
trouble.
I'd sit with them too.
Chuck (13:27):
Wow, wow.
So it's a different day, so wecan't deal with kids, the way
our parents dealt with us.
Christopher "Life" Willars (13:29):
You know what I'm saying.
We gotta no.
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you an examplereal quick.
Our parents used to say goahead, ride bikes, be back 12
hours later, just be back beforethe lights come on.
No phone, no, no, none nowwould you do that with and this
ain't a question you gotta ask.
But I know one thing I'm notsending my kids out absolutely
and saying yeah it's a differentworld, it's a different world.
(13:50):
So we're going to acknowledgethat in one place.
We need to acknowledge that inall places in regards to our
youth wow, that's deep man.
Chuck (13:57):
I appreciate you sharing that man.
You gave you know some um, someeducation on how we are to
approach the youth today.
Sometimes we just got to listen.
We don't have to have all theanswers, just listen to them,
you know, share their emotion.
Christopher "Life" Willars (14:10):
Yeah , yeah, they're bright, they're
intelligent, at the end of theday, that the answers are within
them.
We just got to sit there andhelp them, guide them till they
find it out.
The best answers are foundwithin them they'll find it
there, wow we just got them.
That's it.
Wow, they know what's right andwhat's wrong.
They feel it yeah man switchinggears.
Chuck (14:29):
Man, I appreciate that switching gears.
Um, you spoke about beingsentenced to 144 years, right?
Yeah, how did you get to thatplace?
Christopher "Life" Willars (14:43):
man like we just touching on.
I was somebody that was angry,depressed teenager, didn't have
outlets, didn't have, didn'thave any.
You know positive people aroundme outside of my mama, you know
, my grandma, anybody.
You know I didn't have anybodyconnect to communicate with
outside of my older cousin, hisfriends.
They became my social circle.
(15:03):
I was new out there in Virginia,got you, you know he was
closest to my age, though 10years older.
He had partners.
They liked to drink I didn'tmind drinking.
They liked to smoke I smoked.
You know they like girls, Ilike girls, you know.
So they let me hang around andbasically being around and being
in an environment, it, butbasically being around and being
(15:24):
in an environment, it was justreally negative man.
They would lead me astray and Ican say that in a way that I
hold myself accountable toeverything that's ever happened
in my life.
But at the same time, peerpressure is real, manipulation
is real and man, young people,are easily moved you know, left
or right, so yeah, so I was just, was just, you know, dealing
(15:46):
with my cousins.
They were into the streets, orat least acting like, or my
cousin was acting like he was inthe streets with his home boy,
you know, portraying a life,portraying an image.
And then one day I found myselfin the midst of a conversation
where they were talking aboutgoing to commit a crime and, you
know, I kind of just fed intoit.
You know, we were arguing aboutit.
I said y'all ain't really aboutthat life, y'all sitting here
talking.
You know, I'm tired of it, I'mangry.
(16:08):
And they say, oh, you want tosee?
And I said, yeah, and that was.
You know, that was the minutethings started to go downhill
for real, on the moment, wow man, I brought that up because kids
need to hear what thoseemotions can lead to.
Chuck (16:25):
You know what I mean.
Oh yeah, a life ofincarceration where nobody can
help you.
Christopher "Life" Willars (16:29):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, no question, I'mtrying to appease to my cousin,
you know, show off for them, orshow them that I'm hard, or you
know whatever it is in themoment.
And at the same time, like Ialways tell young people today,
who are you trying to impressBecause?
And at the same time, like Ialways tell young people today
who you trying to impress?
Because, at the end of the day,we all trying to impress
somebody.
People be like I ain't tryingto impress.
(16:49):
Listen, if the right personcome in that room, you gonna
stick your chest out and chin up.
You know what I'm saying.
So who are you trying toimpress?
You know, for me, back then, Iwas trying to impress people
that didn't care about their ownlife, didn't know my value,
didn't you know?
So don't them the wrong peopleto impress right yeah wow, so
(17:09):
you're incarcerated.
Chuck (17:10):
How did that environment go for you being the first time
being in there?
How did you, you know, maneuverthrough?
Christopher "Life" Willars (17:18):
well , first time incarceration,
incarcerated right first I gotto let people know I was
sentenced to 144 years forrobbery.
I was the driver.
No weapon was used, that wasreal.
It was a BB gun.
Wow, nobody was physicallyharmed and that was it.
(17:39):
I was still given 140.
I never left the car, neverwent into the establishment.
So me going into prison.
I was all anger at first,mm-hmm.
I'm a first time offender whorefused to testify, got
testified on and ended upgetting all this time.
You know it was initial shockbut I rolled into prison the
(18:02):
same way.
I rolled into jail extremelyangry, got you.
So each state is different, youknow each system is different.
Where I was at, you know I'mnot going to say I use, I use it
as leverage, you know.
But I was known in Chicago.
So when you, when you're knownin Chicago in Virginia, right,
you automatically people aregonna look at you a certain way
(18:23):
yeah, yeah.
So not only that.
Early on, you know, I was oneof them.
I was zero tolerance win, loseor draw, because I didn't win
every time.
But I was just again.
I was that angry kid that grewup into a young man that never
had that part of him dealt with,no therapy, and now he's in an
environment where it's theperfect setting for it.
(18:44):
This is where violence reigns.
So you know, my early on in mypenitentiary bit was a lot of
fights, a lot of confusion,trying to figure it out.
It was just.
I was fortunate enough I hadsome brothers just like them.
Old school penitentiary movies,right, you know they pulled up.
Yeah, yeah, because I wasstarting to build a little
(19:07):
reputation in the prisons anddudes are starting to fall up
under me, as they say, and I wasleading a lot of dudes the
wrong way.
And I had a brother by the nameof Jefferson Ellie, who was aka
Poet at Life of Law, brotherWillie Brown, and some brothers
that was with the Nation ofIslam and five percenters, and
they say, hey brother, we needyou to know who you are Right.
(19:29):
And I remember the first timeI'm looking at it I got respect
for the OGs and the block, right.
And I remember the first timeI'm looking at it I got respect
for the OGs and the block, butI'm like man, what is y'all
talking about?
And one brother, brother Willie, he about 60 some years old now
, but I remember he was man, thebiggest dude in the
penitentiary.
I felt like you know what I'msaying.
Lift every weight, six foot,whatever Right and well
(19:55):
respected.
He said man.
He said you lead them toslaughter when you're gonna
start leading to the blessings.
Wow, and you know it.
Just messed with me.
You know what I'm saying.
And, of course, when people saythat I want to say this, I'm
not trying to add value to who Iam.
I'm just a man.
But what he was saying to me ispeople are listening to your
voice, right, right, they'refollowing you.
Yeah, they're following you,you know, we, we got to do
better as people, you know.
(20:16):
And that conversation it justsparked things, sparked
something in me, and then Istarted building with certain
brothers like him, um, otherbrothers, like freddie williams,
just brothers that had beendown but changed their lives you
know what I'm saying.
And some of these brothers,some of them are free, like I
mentioned, but some of thesebrothers have never come home.
And what I had the whole timeafter that moment, I had people
(20:40):
that were telling me look, I'mnever going home, but you got a
chance to Wow, and they startedto resonate.
Right, I didn't just grow upovernight.
I still have.
You know, it's a process, Right, you know, I had to leave some
things behind for good.
It took a couple years, butonce I got into that mold, oh,
(21:02):
it was on there.
I started, I was in that lawlibrary, I was, uh, researching
policies, I was leaning back onmy intelligence that I had,
right, right, you know, wow.
And I was, you know, continuingto see, you know, results, but
this time for the good.
Chuck (21:11):
Even in there, wow what was so powerful to me about your
story is that you took upbarber school right yeah, yeah,
barber, for sure, yeah, yeahyeah, so when you came home, you
utilized that.
You know what you learned inthere, right?
Christopher "Life" Willars (21:26):
yeah , boy, I mean yeah, but nah, nah
, not okay.
So yeah, so I got my barberinglicense to uh, basically I'll be
telling a joke but to trick my,my now wife.
We getting ready to celebratefive years, okay.
But um, I met my wife while Iwas incarcerated.
I was running a non-profit.
(21:47):
We was introduced to mutualfriends, wow yeah, she's a very
intelligent, um, you know,business owner in her own right.
You know somebody that wasintelligent in that field.
So, you know, conversation meand her conversation on business
how to get this brand frombehind the wall out here led to
other things.
Yeah, and she was already inthe cosmetology field she had.
(22:09):
That's how she grew up, fromseven mile detroit, you know,
grew up doing here, you know I'msaying at her grandma's house.
So we were always two people.
I think we were both.
I'm a hustler from chicago,she's from detroit, so when we
came together, we was both aboutbusiness anyways.
And, um, she said she wanted togo into that field for
education.
And I was like, shoot, I'mgonna get this trade because I
(22:31):
don't really know what I'm gonnado.
And, um, I also got the tradeto show that I was serious.
You know that I wasn't wastingthe time, so got the trade, came
home and, like you said, fastforward one of the questions I
had asked before I came home.
I was like, if, if you marry me, what's, what's your dream?
Like, what do you want to do?
And she said she wanted to havea school.
So I came home january 13th2020, right before the pandemic,
(22:57):
wow, um.
When the pandemic hit, I wasstill working.
I was a garbage man.
I tell people all the time Iwas making over a thousand
dollars a week.
I didn't have nothing to spendno money on because everything
was closed down it's closed yeah, you know, my wife started to
collect unemployment.
They was giving people $900 aweek unemployment one time.
(23:17):
I couldn't understand it.
So you know.
Yeah, I'm out here on the backof the truck trying not to catch
COVID.
But, you know, we made reallysmart decisions and that's why I
always tell the brothers man,when you come home, make sure
you with a good woman, a womanthat's already with the right
(23:39):
type of mindset.
It ain't a knock on the ladies,but sometimes they looking for
saviors.
I keep it real.
You know what I'm saying.
So, um, we just had a plan.
We've been even to this day,for, as successful as people see
us and may see us, I'm stillthe same guy to shop at goodwill
and get two pairs of shoes ayear will be because I don't see
the need, you know.
So we just invested what we had, you know, as first generation
entrepreneurs, hustlers,whatever into the school.
(24:01):
We took a leap in.
2022-22 is when we openedofficially, and I always tell
people about a week out prior tous opening, we had ran out all
the money we had because weain't know nothing about, you
know, building no school.
Yeah, not just a brand, but aschool.
(24:22):
I think when I talk to people,I don't think people, there's
levels to this and I always sayit respectfully.
I I've had a t-shirt brand,yeah, and I've had a t-shirt
brand.
That's what's up.
Get your money.
You know what I'm saying.
There's a million dollart-shirt brand yeah, and I've had
a t-shirt brand that's what'sup, get your money.
You know what I'm saying.
There's a million dollart-shirt brand there's.
You know, I've had a hot dogstand hey, get your money.
There's a million dollars.
(24:42):
But man, building a school isdifferent.
It's different.
I can't show you a diploma andsay it's yours, wow, got to try
to convince you to walk intothis building.
You ain't never heard beforeand say spend thousands of
dollars and you graduate.
It's a different beast.
So, but it taught me a lot andme and my wife, we're grateful
for it, for sure how long havey'all?
been doing it uh, 222, 22 andwe've had four graduations.
(25:07):
We got a hundred percentgraduation rate.
Um, the school's name is lastand layer Um, and I was just
honored for principal of theyear, which is yeah, we, yeah,
man.
The school's been um on thenews twice, including the story
from prison to principal, causethey're trying to figure out how
, um, you know a guy that had,you know, these felonies and 144
(25:30):
years, came home and he'srunning the school, you know,
and and for anybody here'sprincipal.
I got to say this becausethey're always like vocational
schools don't have principals.
I'm the executive director, butI don't like, I don't like the.
It's so formal.
I don't run my school like that, I just Mr Chris, principal,
whatever, but all that ED, allthat stuff, but yeah, yeah,
(25:51):
we've been rolling so.
Chuck (25:54):
Amazing.
Say that name one more time inthe location.
Christopher "Life" Willars (25:58):
Yeah , so our school's name is
Lasting Layers of BeautyInstitute.
Our email or, excuse me, ourwebsite is
wwwlastinglayersofbeautycom andwe're located 2260 North Lake
Parkway, suite 100, tucker,georgia, 30094.
And I always tell people we'reright across the street from
Atlanta, like if people want toknow where we at, I just walk
(26:20):
across the street and we inAtlanta.
So yeah, and we're proud toalso announce we've given over
each year we've been open, we'vegiven over $75,000 in
scholarships Wow yeah to peoplein need.
So we're doing work.
Chuck (26:34):
Wow.
What would you say to theyounger generation today of men
and women?
To encourage them?
Because you, you're an exampleof a person who's been
incarcerated, but now you have asuccessful business.
What would you tell them today?
Christopher "Life" Willars (26:51):
Oh, man, don't, don't let the blind
hit your vision.
Um, there's people that loveyou That'll be scared and try to
speak doubt into your dreams.
There's people that act likethey love you and try to lead
you to nightmares.
You know, within each and everyone of us, whether we young or
old because I talk to youngpeople all the time man, we all
(27:12):
got that little voice that I'mgonna say holy spirit for me.
But I ain't here to telleverybody what they feel, but I
like that.
We feel it.
You feel it in your gut.
You know which way to go.
You know what I'm saying.
You follow that.
You find what moves you in thisworld and you work on that.
You do it well and you don'tgive up.
You don't let nobody else blockyou from that.
Chuck (27:41):
And you'll have promise you.
Wow, yeah, you just gotta startnow, no matter how deep the
hole got you.
Got you, chris, if you could goback man to talk to your
younger self, what would youshare?
Share with him if you could nowyou know what I don't.
Christopher "Life" Willars (27:48):
It's so crazy, right, and this is I
don't regret my journey becauseof what I'm able to do now.
Yeah, and I don't know, I don'tknow that I would be here, nor
would I have the impact and beable to help people the way that
I am today.
And I tell my mother, you know,and I told her one time,
through her tears and probably alittle bit of mine, I said,
just, maybe I had to suffer, youknow, in order for people to
(28:11):
get this message.
That's yeah.
And I got to keep saying thisbecause I don't like when people
be like man.
I was sent here by God and I ama believer.
I don't think I just I'm just.
I'm just a man that seen thepower in taking something that
was sent to destroy him and turnit into something that that's
(28:31):
helping save others.
Talk about it, you know.
So.
So, as far as like with myyounger self.
That being said, and notaltering the path, because I
don't know, you know, I wish Ididn't end up in that situation,
but I think I would just goback to a place where I could
just sit there with him.
I think, above all else, I justneeded somebody to be patient
(28:53):
enough with me.
You know somebody, somebodythat didn't even have to offer
what I had so much anger in me.
You know, somebody that didn'teven have to offer.
I had so much anger in me.
Man, it's almost.
When I speak about it I canalmost feel it.
Not in a way like I feel it now, but I know who I was back then
.
I was hurting.
I just needed somebody to bethere, you know, and I would
just be there for myself.
I'd just go sit, just sit withhim and see what he got to say.
Chuck (29:16):
That's powerful man, that's powerful.
Christopher "Life" Willa (29:18):
That's it, man.
Chuck (29:20):
Man as we close.
Man, if somebody was to askabout you, how would you
describe yourself today?
Christopher "Life" Willars (29:28):
Oh man, I'm a visionary, I'm a
leader, I'm a disruptor throughand through.
You know, to my family andfriends, I'm a husband.
You know, son brother, you know, uh, to my family and friends,
I'm I'm husband, you know, sonbrother, you know all that.
You know, um, but I'm that guythat fights to sit at the head
of the table with with rightcalls.
(29:50):
Yeah, you know I.
I don't take um the opportunityto lead light and you know I'm
grateful for the ability to doso.
So you know, I'm just somebody.
When you see me, I'm the sameperson, whether you hear me on
the phone or hear me on theinterview, see me on the phone,
whatever it is, I'm camera on,camera off.
I am the same person throughand through and I I'm so glad I
(30:10):
was able to establish that outthe gate in a world where a lot
of people aren't able to bethemselves in order to get
impact.
So, yeah, I'm grateful.
Chuck (30:19):
Authenticity is important , man, oh man yeah for sure.
Christopher "Life" Willar (30:30):
Chris , I know this was a short time,
but what can they find?
The rest of your story?
Yeah, man.
So if you want to check out therest of my story, content,
social messaging and, moreespecially, the advocacy work,
you can check me out on TikTok,ig or Facebook and YouTube at
Christopher Life Willers my nameit's same thing everywhere.
And also if you want to checkout my 501c3, my nonprofit, the
Life Unit Inc.
(30:50):
Which is dedicated to pre-entry, re-entry and direct
intervention, you can check outour website at wwwthelifeunitorg
.
Intervention you can check outour website at wwwthelifeunitorg
and it's a really quick way toconnect.
And if you got questions or youknow young people that may need
mentoring, etc.
You definitely want to checkout my content and potentially
connect with us for services.
So, yeah, we hope to see youthere.
Chuck (31:12):
Thanks again, man.
I really appreciate yourinformation and taking your time
out of your busy schedule to beon let's Just Talk About it
podcast, man.
Thanks again.
Yes, sir, thank you All right.
Wow, what an amazingconversation today.
Shout out to you Life forhaving this dialogue with me and
for sharing your wisdom, and Iwant to thank everyone for
always tuning in to let's JustTalk About it podcast and so, as
(31:35):
always, until next time, don'thold it in in, but let's just
talk about it.
Talk to you soon, thank you.
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