Dear Permission to be Powerful reader,
To celebrate this year’s Fourth of July, I wanted to do something special.
I’m releasing the first 5 chapters of my new monthly memoir serial, Hell & Paradise, for paid members today.
You can become a paid member for just $1 for the first month.
You can get all the details by clicking the button below.
This is my Coming to America story.
There are so many twists and turns that you’re going to wonder how I still have all my limbs by the end.
This is more than a journey.
It captures one of the most important periods of my life.
I talk a lot about being the Chauffeur on this Substack.
It was one of the biggest breakthroughs I’ve ever had.
The Chauffeur was the version of me shaped by violence growing up.
Being assertive was dangerous in my household.
So I learned coping strategies that helped me survive as a child...
But nearly destroyed me as an adult.
People-pleasing was one of them.
I never learned how to set boundaries.
And that mistake got me into a lot of trouble.
Eventually...
I found a way to leave that identity behind.
It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
The person who emerged felt like the exact opposite of the Chauffeur.
Kind of like Bruce Banner and the Hulk.
Bruce created the Hulk.
The Hulk could do everything Bruce couldn’t.
That’s why I nicknamed this version of myself Mike Tyson.
It’s just a metaphor.
But after years of therapy...
Reading...
Zen practice...
Writing copy for Tony fucking Robbins himself...
And building my own publication…
I became someone I barely recognize.
Someone with firm boundaries.
Someone whose voice gets heard.
Someone you do not want to mess with.
The eight years this memoir covers were brutal.
I was broke.
Depressed.
Exhausted.
Trapped.
Isolated.
Always struggling as a freelance copywriter.
Two steps forward.
One step back.
Indignity after indignity.
Then my mom died suddenly from cancer.
After that...
I disappeared from my family’s life for five years.
That’s one of the central threads of this story.
I don’t usually advertise it with a foghorn.
But it’s wild.
I was living something that felt eerily similar to witness protection.
I moved.
I cut ties with everyone.
And I worked my ass off.
Slowly...
Everything began to change.
I found incredible therapists.
I lost 50 pounds.
I tripled my income.
I wrote for Tony Robbins.
And yet...
Life still had plenty of surprises waiting for me.
I grew up in St. Lucia.
When you’re raised on a tiny Caribbean island where almost everyone is poor...
You learn very early that average isn’t going to cut it.
I decided I had to become twice as good.
That mindset has never left me.
I was born into unhappy circumstances.
But I became obsessed with learning how to build a happy life.
That obsession took me down some unbelievable rabbit holes.
Eventually...
It led me to the Rochester Zen Center, where I live and work like a monk.
I came out a completely different person.
This story isn’t really about teaching.
There won’t be many lectures.
You’ll be too busy following the adventure.
That’s why I call it An American Odyssey.
By the end you’ll probably wonder,
“How the hell did one person fit all of that into a single lifetime?”
You’ll laugh a lot.
Several chapters are downright ridiculous.
Especially the Gate series.
Dolphingate.
Cockygate.
DMVgate.
Sociopathgate.
They’re some of my favorite chapters in the entire book.
I often say,
“I don’t recommend my lifestyle.”
I mean it.
I’m a recovering workaholic.
A loner.
A glutton for punishment.
But if my mistakes can save you years of pain...
They’ll have been worth something.
The early readers have surprised me.
One of the things they mention most often is how vividly the island comes alive.
You’ll be swept away to a place most people never get to experience.
And once you start...
You’re going to have a hard time putting it down.
Become a paid member today for just $1.
After that it’s only $5.99 per month.
Worth every penny.
You already know my writing hits different.
That’s why you keep coming back.
I’ve probably snatched your wig a few times.
Sorry.
One day, thousands of people will discover this story.
Today...
You get to say you were here from the beginning.
Listen...
I started Permission to be Powerful after Tony Robbins fired me in 2024.
I was unemployed.
AI was changing everything.
I knew I couldn’t build my future by depending on clients forever.
So I started over.
One post at a time.
Today...
More than 134,000 people read my work.
But this publication is still the beating heart of everything I do.
And your support helps keep it growing.
The fireworks can wait.
Click below and start reading Hell & Paradise today.
Tony V.
Editor-in-Chief
Permission to be Powerful
