Author Statement:
Play to Play has become a part of my DNA over the past 17 years. Early in my prison sentence, I met Chas Allen who influenced me to write this story. This book represents my life work and creation. After my company was raided in 2002, the public narrative was shaped by prosecutors and competitors. I felt like I lost my voice when I was found guilty. My side of the story was never made public, and I never came forward with it because I feared retribution from powerful political figures at the time who told me to, “Do the time and keep my mouth shut.” I did my time, but I refuse to remain silent forever.
While incarcerated, I learned to write. I wrote for years and years with pen and ink under a tiny book light in my bunk. This manuscript has evolved over the years and been refined with the help of literary professionals. I hope I’ve evolved and grown as a person in step with this manuscript too. Writing this memoir has caused me to dig deep to better understand the events that created what is now a $30 billion per year industry, my own mistakes, and the war-like business tactics that my competitors and I engaged in. Along the way, I won more than a few battles, but I lost the war.
After years of developing Pay to Play, the themes and the message that I have to share with readers has never been more important than they are today. Pay to Play is for all the entrepreneurs, hoping to disrupt industries and create the companies of the future. It is for the dreamers, to encourage them that with persistence, their dreams can become reality too. My story shows the ugly underbelly of what happens behind closed doors where business and politics collide. Living my dreams turned into a living nightmare, and now, by sharing my experiences, Pay to Play advocates for a transparent playing field in business, and fair political policies that don’t require healthy corporate competition to turn into all-out war.
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