TOWAMENCIN – Meeting a three-time best-selling author who is also a former WWE referee, a US Air Force veteran, a motivational podcaster, and a former middle school football coach is rare. However, North Penn High School students were fortunate to hear his inspiring story on Tuesday.

Current motivational podcaster and author Marc Hayford visited North Penn High School on Tuesday to spark student motivation. He started his wide-ranging speech by discussing the beginning of his career as a WWE referee.

“Here we are in a packed area. I’m backstage and we are the second match. While I’m backstage I’m watching the first match, a tag-team match. I’m looking out at all those people. Kind of like when you go to a Flyers game or a Sixer’s game. It was that packed. I have never been out to that level before. First time,” Hayford said to the students in the assembly.

Opening his speech with a scary moment in his career was Hayford’s way of relating his life to the lives of students just starting school again after the seemingly short summer break. Some students can feel anxiety about kicking off a new school year, but Hayford opened up about having weaknesses and validated the students’ worries.

Hayford also talked about one of his struggles when stepping into the professional world of wrestling: the job experience of the people around him.

“I felt mortified. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but you just have to know at that level. They operate at such a high level. I felt so stupid, but that’s where you put in the work and get better,” Hayford detailed.

The high-stress situation of stepping into unknown territory led Hayford to a valuable lesson he shared at North Penn. 

“The lesson is that when you get an opportunity, you have to go. Many times you have to create your own success. Look at me. To create your own success,” Hayford explained, “I work with Fortune 500 companies, sports teams, and professional athletes. I do life coaching and all kinds of stuff. My job is to help people level up and get to their optimal level of going hard and winning.”

After Hayford spoke about his current career choices and his supportive family along the way, he recited a page from his newest self-help/personal growth book, “Get Up.”

“This part is called ‘Stop Stopping.’ Stop it. Stop it already. Why do you play so small? Why do we get in our own way? Why do we let the joke that comes inside our head to stay there? Do you know when you are ninety years old reflecting back on life, you really won’t care about what you remember from school. You won’t care about that kid, what’s her name, from school that gave you a hard time. You won’t have any anxiety about those people who judged you and couldn’t get their own lives straight. You’re going to have to live with some regret. You’ll have to live with regret if you keep holding back of your everyday uncertainty. Live now, walk only, set trends, be yourself, and don’t judge. Allow yourself to fly. Quit quitting. Stop stopping. Stop stopping yourself so you can starting doing you and live the life that you deserve,” Hayford read.