Eric D. Thomas (born September 3, 1970) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

, author, consultant, and minister. Speeches by Thomas are popular on

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Early life

Thomas was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and raised in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He was born to a single, teenage mother. After various arguments with his parents and aunts, he dropped out of high school and lived

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

on the streets of Detroit for two years. While he was homeless, a friend took him to his church, where he met a pastor and evangelist team who encouraged him to get his G.E.D. and pursue a college degree. He was invited to move in with one of the church members' families and secured employment at the local McDonalds. He also took a job at an

Olive Garden Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a unit of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2022, Olive Garden restaurants accounted for ...

on the

westside of Detroit Neighborhoods in Detroit, the United States, provide a general overview of neighborhoods and historic districts within the city. Neighborhood names and boundaries vary in their formality; some are well defined and long established, while others a ...

. Around this time, Thomas met his wife, De-De Mosley, at the Detroit Center

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

. They then moved to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, attended

Oakwood University Oakwood University is a private, historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the only HBCU owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Assoc ...

, and they were married as college students. Thomas spent twelve years working toward an undergraduate degree at Oakwood and graduated in 2001. While in Huntsville, Thomas preached and set up a program to help underprivileged youth.

Career

Michigan State University

In 2003, Thomas took a job with

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

(MSU) along with a fellowship to attend MSU to complete his master's degree in K-12 Administration with an emphasis in Educational Leadership. He worked as an academic advisor to disadvantaged students at MSU. At MSU, he helped develop an undergraduate retention program called The Advantage with fellow academic advisor and motivational speaker DeAndre Carter which targeted academically high-risk Black and Latino students. He also served as senior pastor at A Place of Change Ministries (APOC Ministries) in Lansing, Michigan. Thomas attained a master's degree from MSU in 2005, and a PhD in Education Administration in 2015.

Motivational speaker

Thomas has given motivational talks to collegiate and professional athletes. Thomas has appeared on

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to discuss his work, and portions of his sermons can be heard on the track "Intro" of deep house producers Disclosure's 2013 debut album,

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...

and on the intro track "Wins and Losses" to rapper

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

's 2017 album of the same name. In 2020, he reunited with Disclosure to speak on the song "Energy", which was released as the lead track from their third album ''

Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

''.

References

External links

Eric Thomas's Inspires Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Eric Writers from Detroit American motivational writers American motivational speakers Oakwood University alumni Michigan State University alumni 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American writers African-American Christians 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Living people 1970 births 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics