Kevin W. Baker

About Kevin W. Baker

A truly unique Inspirational and Motivational Speaker. A truly unique journey. Kevin is a former veteran of the Financial Services Industry. After leaving the corporate side as a top wholesaler in Retirement Income Planning, he then had a brief stint as a Financial Advisor. Through several spinal reconstructive surgeries on his lower back, Kevin became addicted to opioid pain medications. Finally, in losing the long battle with addiction, now facing foreclosure and bankruptcy and with his moral/ethical compass damaged beyond comprehension, Kevin lost control. In January 2016 and again just two weeks later, he committed armed robberies at a local bank. Arrested on February 14, 2016, Kevin was sent prison. He ultimately plead guilty to two felony convictions of Robbery with a Dangerous Instrument: each conviction carrying a seven-year sentence. Kevin began his incarceration with the Connecticut Department of Corrections as Inmate #413541. In his 6-year stay (with time off for good behavior) and trying to move beyond castigating himself for what was already written, Kevin dedicated himself to a life yet to live. In his journey through prison, he realized there is a choice - count the days behind the bars or MAKE THE DAYS COUNT. With rigorous study, research, and self-inspection, along with significant support from family, close friends, counselors, the prison priest, and others; Kevin began to see a future still possible. He learned to harness the power of perspective and look at February 14, 2016 as a watershed date for him. Keeping a “glass half-full” mentality, that date became not the worst day of his life but a new birth, a life-saving event and a second chance. The Connecticut State Police had saved his life that February 14th. Certainly, he would be dead and buried by springtime had they not.\"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it\"- Winston Churchill. This became a mantra for Kevin and with the days turning to months and into years - Kevin began to write his story yet to come. He adopted the family motto of Sir Earnest Shackleton, one of Kevin’s longtime heroes “Fortitude Vincimus”, Latin for “By Endurance We Conquer.” Kevin now delivers his unique experience going from the top of the Financial Services Industry to a prison cell; and sharing the lessons he has learned to audiences all over the country. Now reunited with his family, he lives in West Hartford, CT and is making the best of every day he has been gifted.

Experience

1. Manufacturing Shop Manager

   Freedom Reads

   Apr 2023 — Present · Hamden, CT, US

   Shop Manager for the manufacturing of our Freedom Reads micro-libraries that are built by formerly incarcerated men and women and placed in housing blocks at prison facilities coast to coast. Freedom Reads is an amazing concept and organization that is dedicated to helping incarcerated men and women find solace, knowledge and lessons in hundreds of books that these libraries place into their housing blocks.

Education

• University of Connecticut

  Bachelor's degree

• University of Connecticut

  Bachelor of Arts

  1990 — 1993