Otis Williams of Otis Williams Limitless, Inc. will give the keynote address at the 2007 Minority Enterprise Development Week awards luncheon. He plans to talk about "Staying Motivated in Challenging Times."
Williams was adopted and raised in a low-income single parent home. His mother was his inspiration, he said. "If she can do it, I can do it!"
Williams spent four and a half years in the U.S. Army serving as an airborne paratrooper and rose to the rank of sergeant. After leaving the Army, Williams decided to go into banking. Despite having no previous banking or finance experience, in less than 18 months, he was promoted from loan collector to assistant branch manager.
In 1993, Williams started his personal development firm—Otis Williams Limitless. That August he competed with more than 10,000 speakers worldwide to capture the title of "World Champion of Public Speaking" for Toastmasters International.
Since then he has been named as one of the Business Courier and Morton's of Chicago's "Forty Under 40" young business leaders, honored as a YMCA Black Achiever and selected by Applause! Magazine as an emerging leader.
Williams earned a master's degree in human resource development from Xavier University, a bachelor's degree in business administration from Thomas More College, and an associate's degree in Liberal Arts from City Colleges of Chicago. As an educator, he has published numerous articles, books, audio and video programs, multimedia programs, and self-directed learning systems.
