Life is a journey with no clear road to success and personal happiness.  Often we find ourselves at a dead-end, crossroads, or speeding down the fast lane of life with no clear direction and purpose.  Life coach Burrel Lee Wilks understands the journey of life better than most due to his experiences on both the wrong and right side of the tracks.

As a teenager, he became known as the "Emperor of Chicago," as a gang chief of the Cicero Insane Vice Lords.  At the age of sixteen Burrel found a higher calling and decided to use his leadership skills for positive causes.  After a successful career as an entrepreneur he decided to directly influence the masses by becoming a life coach and motivator. 

Burrel’s honest and sincere approach, zest for life, and streetwise sensibilities has won him many clients (NBA LA Clippers Corey Maggette, actor Ryan Phillippe) and supporters (Rohan Marley, Mack 10, and more).  His new book Success for Life: Seven Streetwise Strategies Guaranteed to Transform You from Wannabe to Winner offers advice on how to find success in life using Burrel’s streetwise pointers.

Sixshot spoke to Burrel about his time as a gang chief, why he’s the only life coach with street cred, the real definition of success, why eve ryone needs streetwise knowledge, how he survived the death of his son, his mission as the voice of the inner-city, and more. 

I want to start from the beginning because you have such an interesting life journey.  At the age of eight you were a gang chief for the Cicero Insane Vice Lords.  How did you get involved at eight years old in that lifestyle?

Well, my dad he’s an ex-super crook and I was born into that lifestyle.  There’s a picture of me three years old with a suit and tie on like I own a corporation.  I would dress myself and tie my own tie at the time.  So it was basically in my nature.

At 16 you walked away from that lifestyle.  What inspired that move?

I had powerful men in my life who talked against me being in the gang for so long.  I had been in it all of my life.  I got tired of seeing all the killing down in the neighborhood, and I knew that there was something deep inside of me.  If I could be a gang chief for 5,000 members all the way from 8 to the age of 16, I knew I could take at least 200 to a thousand of those guys, turn their life around, and do something positive with the connections that we had.

You’ve now entered a growing filed of motivational speakers, life coaches, and such.  Many of these people have a similar tell-it-like-it-is approach.  What makes you stand out?

A lot of these guys that you speak on don’t have the credibility of coming from where I come from, so I couldn’t put myself in their class.  They are who they are and I am who I am.  I came from the school of hard knocks.  I have my streetwise MBA.  That means I am a master of being alive.  Places that I can go to a lot of those guys can barely step foot in, and that’s what makes me different from them.  I’m sure a lot of those guys say the same thing, but that street cred takes me to another level and a whole other different audience that I can appeal to and reach.

Your new book is all about success.  What is your definition of success and how do you think others should define it?

I think others should define success by getting a hold of their life and changing it to do some positive things.  Start loving more and start smiling more.  So my definition of success is life, love, and live.

You also discuss in your book and blog the need for people to dress for success.  What are the biggest mistakes you see men and women making in that area?

A lot of people in the world don’t know how to change.  They want to stay one way.  If you can’t do it your way and be successful then do it another person’s way and be successful.  That means that you have to play a lot of different parts.  Sometimes it’s required to put a suit on and not have your pants hanging down to your knees.  Sometimes you have to have your pants down to your knees if it’s required, and there’s a place for that.

So when you go for a job interview learn that you can’t have your hair braided, you can’t have your pants hanging down, and learn that you cannot expose your chest area if you’re a woman.  You have to fully cover up, and put something real nice on to go sell yourself.  A lot of people try to go in there the wrong type of way.  So you have to go in there the right way in order to achieve success.

You work with some successful celebrities such as Ryan Phillippe, Corey Maggette from the LA Clippers, and others.  What do you think it is about your approach that appeals to these celebrities?

First of all these guys are like my brother from another mother.  What I do with them is simple—it’s life coaching with no sugar coating.  I see something that I feel they need to change and the great thing about me is that I never try to tell a person what they need to do.  I just tell them my suggestions.  If they take my suggestions and apply it to their everyday life they start to see change.  That’s the great thing about it.  I’m not the yes man.  I’m the guy that’s gonna keep it real with them—no artificial flavor when I talk to them.

What are the main areas of help that these celebrities need you to assist them with?

They become inebriated with the exuberance of their own verbosity and they start to feel themselves too much.  So they have to change their attitude and put a lot of hustle with heart into their work.  I find that a lot of people don’t do what got them successful to remain successful.  Their attitudes start to change the bigger their name becomes.  You have to stay the same way.  If 50 people out there want an autograph stop for a second, sign some autographs, shake some hands, and I guarantee you’ll get a bigger fan base because you did something for that person.

Your book also focuses on streetwise skills.  How do you define streetwise?

It’s actually several solutions in life that will help take you to that other level.  I tell people that to become a success magnet you need to put yourself around the giants and not the minions. You always have to flock with the eagles and never with the sparrows, and that’s how you will become successful.  I tell people to separate the emotional from the financial.

A lot of people let others irritate them.  A situation is always in need of a solution.  Once you figure out your solution the situation is taken care of.  So I said that to say if someone gives you lemons today, add a little sugar, turn it into lemonade, and drink it up.  Take the negative out of your life and put all positive in there.

What’s one of the major streetwise skills that have helped you succeed?

Always play fair—that’s my number seven streetwise strategy.  Always play fair.  No matter how someone else plays with you—two wrongs s don’t make a right.  Play fair in life and I guarantee that you will overcome any obstacles you could ever dream of. 

One of main themes of your work is the soul tattoo which refers to the tough love lessons you learned when you were younger.  What was the toughest lesson for you to learn in life?

The toughest lesson for me to learn was when I had to bury my son in 2002.  That was the toughest lesson that I would ever learn.  I think that any male or female would find that the hardest thing to do is to bury their son or daughter, because we always feel that they should bury us. 

How did you overcome that experience?

I have to be honest—I told my son what was gonna happen, how it was gonna happen, and who was gonna do it to him.  Unfortunately he didn’t listen to me and it happened just the way that I told him.  It didn’t happen as soon as I told him and all I can say is that’s what’s helped me overcome that.

My grandson just turned five years old and now I have a new life to bring up in him.  I see so much in my grandson that I seen in my son so it helps me be able to go day by day and reach back to the youth.  Let’s face it I never aspired to be a writer, but after I lost my son and the police pulled me over five seconds after putting him in the ground that’s when I thought my story should be told.

What are you looking to improve upon in your own life?

I live it day by day.  I’m blessed just being here.  There’s little I haven’t seen or had done to me.

You’ve been called the voice of the inner-city.  What issues do you want to bring awareness to?

I would like to help the people that have fallen in between the cracks.  I want to bring back role models in their house.  So many kids have to turn on the TV set to see a role model.  But if I can help parents reinvent themselves then they can become the role models in the house, and they don’t have to go to the television all the time.

Are there any issues that you would say are more rewarding for you to help people solve?

Whatever they’re going through I’m sure I’ve seen it and heard it before.  So I couldn’t pick one topic.  I would have to say that whenever someone comes to me I tailor make our session so that it can best fit them and their life.

For more information please visit:
http://www.burrelstreetwise.com