FROM THE GROUND AND UP

Khalil Dorival’s world was upside down, until he found his purpose in motivational speaking.

            Throughout his teenage years, Dorival, aka FLY Guy Riches, lived in Parkdale, Toronto. He made bad choices and ended up in jail for a week. There, he spent time rethinking his choices and figuring out what to do with his life.

            “I came from the hood and I didn’t have any privileges,” Dorival said, reminiscing. “I came from a background where I made a lot of mistakes in life. I used to smoke, drink, got into a lot of fights, and I spent time in jail.”

            Today, Dorival, 22, runs his own youth merchandise business called FLY Merchandise and is a motivational speaker for troubled youth. He hopes to help these youth turn their lives around and make better choices than he did. His motivational speaking intends to help create a better future for youth who are trying to turn their lives around.

            People who have attended Dorival’s motivational speeches have felt the passion he puts out there. Odessa Jackson, an attendee and a future business owner, listened to one of his speeches and was immediately inspired by his heart and honesty.

            “When he goes up there, you feel connected, because you know he’s up there speaking from his heart,” Jackson said. He’s not making this up when he’s trying to connect to his audience; he’s speaking through what he’s gone through his whole life.”

            After she attended his speech, Jackson was more motivated to pursue her business and potentially do some motivational speaking of her own.

            “I want to do my own business starting in January (2017),” Jackson said. “I want to do motivational speaking as well. Everything he said rubbed off on me and it helps me a lot.”

            Jackson has also seen the preparation Dorival has put into his motivational speeches. Jackson believes that in order to connect with people, you must have experience in what they’re going through.

            Dorival changed his life around when he read up on many books such as “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz. He never liked reading books, but with the help of his mentor, Khalil continued to change his life around.

            Sharlene Vanessa is a network marketing professional for over eight years with Amway Corporations, a corporation that provides an opportunity to start up your own business. Vanessa took the mentorship program, which allowed her to teach future business owners to start their own.

            Vanessa mentored Dorival when he was beginning to turn his life around. Vanessa saw there was a determination to be more successful and improve himself.

            “With Khalil, he had a lot of potential when he was under the mentorship,” Vanessa said. “Not only that, he wanted to improve himself. What we found is to start a business and to create a better life is to improve yourself. And that’s what Khalil was passionate about.”

            Vanessa found that Dorival was the kind of person who wanted to change his life. She said many people come into the mentorship to “make money.” She, however, saw that Dorival was genuine and was trying to change his life.

            “Being around him, you get that genuine feeling (that) he was a true joy and he exceeded all my expectations. He had a determination to improve himself and work better,” Vanessa said.

            So far, Dorival has spoken in four presentations. One of them was the Dynamo Show that aired on Rogers TV. There, he spoke about his business on youth merchandise clothing and his motivational speaking on improving the lives of troubled youth. He also presented at local churches and schools; there, he inspired youth to work hard and move down the right path in life.

            Dorival speaks to the youth to inspire them to do well, instead of speaking for money or publicity.

            “When I go out there to speak to the youth, knowing that I can say something that can probably change their life forever, it’s so fulfilling,” Dorival said.

            Dorival continues to motivate youth to improve their lives. Although he had a rough upbringing, he’s proud of where he came from. Without it, he wouldn’t have learned who he really was.

            “I never have regrets. Everything that happened to me in the past, happened for a reason. Not everyone is able to learn from their mistakes,” Dorival said.  

“But by the grace of God, I learned from my mistakes and became a better person.”