Bill Courtney, who was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Undefeated, is launching a podcast.
In An Army of Normal Folks, the businessman, speaker and coach has heart-breaking and inspiring conversations with people who are catalysts for change in their communities.
Stories shared in episodes include Therapy Under the Hood of a Car with Bob Zachheo, who was frustrated with how traditional therapy was failing kids with substance abuse and mental health challenges, so he decided to do something wildly different.
Advocate for Abandoned Kids with Erin Smith, who after a childhood of physical and sexual abuse, is the first adult advocate that a foster care child named Thomas has ever had.
Hope for Prisoners with Jon Ponder, who after 26 years of crime, ironically found hope in prison and committed the rest of his life to help other returning citizens live at levels that they never dreamed about.
Host Bill Courtney grew up without a father in inner-city Memphis. He founded Classic American Hardwoods in 2001. Today, it employs 120 people with a 45-acre manufacturing facility and domestic sales offices in Memphis and international sales offices in Shanghai, China and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. They have $100 million in annual revenue.
In 2003, Bill began volunteering at Memphis’ inner city Manassas High School in an effort to turn its underperforming football team around. At the time, the team had 19 players with a dismal 4-95, 10-year record.
In the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the team’s record improved to 18-2, with 75 players. The story inspired a Hollywood film—Undefeated—which won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Feature Length Documentary.
Bill speaks at events, for organisations such as Nike, PepsiCo, and FedEx, to churches, schools, and hospitals. His first book, Against the Grain, was published by Weinstein Books in May 2014, and the foreword was written by Phil Jackson.
An Army of Normal Folks hosted by Bill Courtney launches tomorrow, Tuesday 6 June wherever you get your podcasts.
