President Daniels Introductory Speech: Mr.

Daymond John
Devon Thomas
Purdue University
Future Innovators and Entrepreneurs,

As we continue our year-long celebration of 150 years of Giant Leaps Purdue student

innovation and contribution to change society, I want to give you a few words of encouragement.

Boilermakers come from all walks of life. Many of you are undergraduate students; some of you

are still working on your professional degrees. And some of you transferred to Purdue because

you wanted to continue the Purdue legacy of excellence. You want to attain your degree and

contribute to society through grit and determination.

Some days in the library, the lab, or in the dorm room, you may want to throw in the

towel. Today, we have a remarkable man who made the leap like many of our Boilermaker

innovators. Today, we have a gentleman whose rags to riches story is not a fairy tale. His story

did not occur overnight. He achieved his dreams not only through his talent but also sweat.

He learned to sew and started a business making hats and clothing in his mother’s house

in Queens. He worked at Red Lobster to pay the bills while continuing to work on his business.

His mother mortgaged her home twice to assist her son in his dream (Wikipedia, 2019). He never

gave up. He persevered. The son is Mr. Daymond John, the founder, and C-E-O of FU-BU.

Daymond John symbolizes what a Purdue student can accomplish through hard work,

determination, and ingenuity. Today, he is a successful investor with a net worth of two hundred

and fifty-million-dollars. You can watch him on the TV show Shark Tank. He is also a New

York Times bestseller and has been requested to speak at many events, including this one.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome another wonderful speaker in our 150 years of Giant

Leaps series, Mr. Daymond John.

 References

Purdue University. (2019, March 18). Daymond John from TV’s ‘Shark Tank’ to speak March 25

at Purdue. Retrieved March 2019, 2019, from Purdue University:

https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2019/Q1/daymond-john-from-tvs-shark-

tank-to-speak-march-25-at-purdue.html

Wikipedia. (2019, March 20). Daymond John. Retrieved March 24, 2019, from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daymond_John