Memoir of A Man Who Served 12 Years in Prison on Track to Become a Film
Financial Entrepreneur and Author Terrence Gallman Is Crowdfunding to Bring His Story to the Big Screen
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Devin: What do you see as your superpower?
Terrence: My superpower is the ability to connect with people from any aspect, any walk of life.
The Federal Government sentenced Terrence Gallman to 27 years in prison for being a drug dealer when he was just 20 years old. While incarcerated, he made the profound decision to take full responsibility for his life, never blaming others for the unfavorable outcomes in his life.
As he served his time, he began to educate himself about the financial markets, seeing their power to help disadvantaged communities to gain a foothold and create financial success. He saw that this could be a powerful tool for creating alternatives to crime for urban youth. He created the Gallman Investment Group, or GIG Group, to connect communities to financial markets.
Terrence wrote a memoir that he’s working to turn into a movie. Proven screenwriter Clay Ayers wrote the script. A growing list of Hollywood pros is now connected to the project. He’s raising money for the effort via crowdfunding on Wefunder.
AI Summary
Devin Thorpe interviews Terrence Gallman, founder of GIG Group.
Terrence aims to provide high-exposure jobs and financial market participation for underprivileged communities.
Terrence, an author and playwright, talks about his journey from being a drug dealer to becoming a solution to the community.
Terrence believes his superpower is the ability to empathize with people.
He encourages others to take leadership roles and become an example for others.
Terrence’s movie highlights issues around the criminal justice system.
Terrence stresses the importance of creating diverse investment options for people
He emphasizes the importance of not taking rejection or failure personally
GIG Group provides opportunities for individuals to invest in local businesses and projects that benefit their communities
Terrence encourages people to learn more about the GIG Group and connect with him on social media.
Terrence’s memoir, Finding Me, tells a story of deep introspection, in which he discovers the person inside who he loves and believes others can love, too. “It's a journal that’s more of a path of rediscovery where I learned through reading, facing my fears with civil rights, and just understanding exactly how society work.”
Motivated by a desire “to help young urban males understand what it's like to go through the criminal justice,” he began shopping idea for a film during the aftermath of Michael Brown’s shooting in Furgeson. He wanted to help them avoid being seen as suspects.
He first connected with Stuart Yee, who has a long list of Hollywood credits, including a role in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Yee connected him with Scott McCullough, with a similar pedigree. Scott then connected him with Clay Ayers, who wrote the script for several Quentin Tarantino films.
Ayers recently completed the script for the film version of Terrence’s memoir, now with the title No Right Way.
Throughout Terrence’s journey, he’s developed and deployed the superpower that enables him to connect meaningfully with virtually anyone.
How to Develop the Ability to Connect With People As a Superpower
Since his release, Terrence has worked to connect disadvantaged communities to financial markets, giving them an opportunity to participate in the economy on a more equal footing. His current crowdfunding campaign is just one of the ways he’s using.
He has leveraged his superpower to do this work, connecting with prestigious people on Wall Street while working closely with people in disadvantaged communities.
Terrence says the key to developing an ability to connect with virtually anyone is humility.
He points out that when someone fails to help you in a way that you think “will solve all your problems, it’s okay. It’s an opportunity for you to find more creative ways to address that.”
“You’re going to miss some shots,” he says, “But that blame game is probably the least effective way to get somebody to be a part of what you’re trying to accomplish.”
It takes a lot of humility to look at failures and see your own role in creating them. I would argue that it takes a dose of optimism added to humility to then internalize the lesson and move forward to overcome the challenge. That is exactly what Terrence has done.
By following Terrence’s example and advice, you can develop the ability to connect with almost anyone and potentially make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.
Terrence will speak at SuperCrowd23, joining a panel discussion about social justice and the economic implications for health.
Superpowers for Good readers may register for half price. Early-bird pricing ends soon. Register today.
Guest-Provided Profile
Terrence Gallman (he/him)
CEO/Managing Director, Gallman Investment Group Inc. (GIG Group)
About Gallman Investment Group Inc. (GIG Group):
GIG, a South Carolina corporation, uses SEC exemptions, Crowd Funding, Reg D offerings, and Private Placement Memorandums to build assets from which communities across the socioeconomic spectrum can benefit and attract institutional investments.
Led by Wall Street’s renowned start-up attorney John Benemerito of Benemerito Law, GIG is positioned to market and redirect trillions of dollars from institutional investors and billions in revenue benefiting underprivileged communities.
Since GIG’s inception, Gallman has been able to build influential relations at the United Nations, Bloomberg, GPEC and colleges and universities working in tandem with communities, financial institutions, film commissions, state departments, and The Urban League.
Website: www.giggroupinc.com
Twitter Handle: @giginvestment @urbanren1
Company Facebook Page: fb.com/theurbanren?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Biographical Information: Terrence L. Gallman - Ceo/Managing Director
Gallman currently leads GIG Group, whose mission, shared by its benefactors and sponsors, is deeply rooted in the spirit of inclusion and seeks to provide a wide range of “high-exposure/resume-building” jobs for underprivileged communities and provides an opportunity for those communities to participate and integrate in the Global and Domestic Financial Markets, starting with local Financial Institutions in community partnership with GIG.
Gallman is also the AUTHOR of Love’s Journey: The Road Less Traveled, Wall Street Bonds: The Urban Renaissance, JUSTUS screenplay, and the autobiography Finding Me, the subject of the upcoming feature film "No Right Way,” written by Clay Ayers - longtime writer for Quentin Tarantino’s A Band Apart.
Twitter Handle: @terrencegallman
Personal Facebook Profile: fb.com/terrence.gallman.3?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/terrence-gallman-9b08101a
Instagram Handle: @terrencelgallman
Other URL: wefunder.com/gallmaninvestmentgroup2