John Parker

John Parker

John Parker was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from McCluer Senior High School in the suburb of Florissant, where he was an all-state performer in football, basketball, and track. He was inducted into the schools' Hall of Fame in 2003. He was awarded a college football scholarship, and played Defensive Back at BallState University, in Muncie, Indiana. 

He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education/Public Relations, and Masters of Science Degrees in Sports Medicine and Sports Marketing respectively. 

He got his calling to become a Coach, and he very quickly answered the call. In over twenty-five years, he has coached (15) 15 NFL draft choices, seven (7) of which have played in the Super Bowl. 

In 2004, Parker began operating as the President of Evolution Communications Group, a public relations and executive communications firm in St. Louis, MO.  

John Parker has been a professional television talk show host of the show “Prime Time Sports” in St. Louis, Missouri (11 years). The award-winning sports show was recognized throughout the Midwest. He also developed a national sports radio talk show titled “The Sports Mayhem USA”, which was heard on the Sports Byline USA Radio Network (130 stations) for over six years. 

John finally hung up his coaching whistle permanently in 2009, and built a successful public relations and reputation management firm.  "The Coach" John is currently the Director of Corporate Communications and Media for the St. Louis Development Corporation.  He is also the Owner and Publisher of Evolution Magazine. 

John became an activist, honed his public speaking talents and expertise, and began speaking to both small and large companies and organizations all over the United States.  

He is a member of the Board of Directors of ARCHS, the Adoption Exchange, the St. Louis Ambassadors, the 1904 World’s Fair Charitable Foundation, the Viral Cancer Research Foundation, the Small Business Institute and AHA Unlimited.  He has done events for The Leukemia Lymphoma Society Gateway Chapter, The St. Louis Crisis Nursery, The Jack and J.T. Snow Foundation and the National Liver Foundation. He is a member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the United Way. He has received numerous awards in his career including being recognized by the “I’m a Survivor” Foundation because of his two successful battles with cancer.    

In December of 2018, John Parker was named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential African American in the City of St. Louis. 

John Parker is a professional motivational speaker, who has connected with people of all ages and backgrounds. From the corporate boardrooms to college campuses, to civic and charitable events, John Parker has influenced, instructed and inspired people nationwide. He states, "I feel that my life’s calling is to the motivation of people to be better and to be an activist for social change. Money, fame, status, and personal achievement are great, but mean very little, if the people around you continue to suffer from the perceived realities of the world. I am here to be helpful to those who feel helpless.” He added, "when we were kids, we were fearless, happy, unstoppable, even when we were doing everything for the first time in life, but that never stopped us. We tried and failed, we tried again and again until we learned how to walk, speak, play, eat and so on. As we grew up, we started learning from everything we heard around us and everything we experienced. We developed habits, beliefs, fears and grew our own good and bad experiences. That is all we know; our experience and our life. We don't know, live, speak, play or work using somebody else's experience, but our own. And, all that defines our future. I try and help people realize more about themselves."

“Our story is who we are. All that will remain of us after we are gone is our story. Stories connect us to our roots. Our stories contain our common heritage. They are also my legacy for my children. All we are is the story we leave behind. Our legacy is who we are at our core. What becomes more and more important as I get older is the desire to be known, but known for who I really was during my brief stay here. What might be one of the saddest things for me to do is to leave this earth, without those I love the most ever really knowing who I truly was as a person.” 

He has written four books and his latest (self-published) titled, Wake up White America, reached over 15,000 copies sold in less than two months of it being released. John is currently the Director of Corporate Communications and Media for the St. Louis Development Corporation. He holds seats on several charitable boards such as ARCHS, the St. Louis Ambassadors, the Viral Cancer Research Foundation, the St. Louis Small Business Institute, and many others. He is a staunch advocate for the Crisis Nursery and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. In the summer of 2017, he decided that he wanted to add to his communications arsenal, so with no background in the business, he started Evolution Magazine. He will be the first to say that he knew nothing about the magazine business, but he wanted a magazine that would address issues that "guys should be talking about but because of our egos, we fail to do." John believes most people are more interesting than they give themselves credit for. Their life story, their interests, and their past experiences are interesting. The biggest issue, though, is that many people are always hiding part of themselves to avoid turning people off. People love it when someone likes them but the thought of someone not liking them is often, at the very least, uncomfortable.  

John Parker could be labeled as an over-achiever, but he doesn’t see it that way. John looks at life as an opportunity to do whatever you truly want to do. You just must have the courage to risk it all sometimes and keep moving forward in the face of adversity. He says, “Our story is who we are. All that will remain of us after we are gone is our story. Stories connect us to our roots. Our stories contain our common heritage. They are also my legacy for my children. All we are is the story we leave behind. Our legacy is who we are at our core. What becomes more and more important as I get older is the desire to be known, but known for who I really was during my brief stay here. What might be one of the saddest things for me to do is to leave this earth, without those I love the most ever really knowing who I truly was as a person.” Surprisingly, we all know that there are people who wait for someone like a John Parker to step up and say what needs to be said, unabashedly and always with conviction, so that they can be motivated to gain the same courage to raise their hands and shout out, without any restraint, and say, “Damn, I’m just like you!”

John Parker is a rare blend of a brilliant talent to repeatedly reinvent himself and over-achieve, unwavering perseverance and dedication, whether it is for a cause or just for the motivational factor of people. He is the definition of relentless hard work, passionate preparation and yes, a cold-blooded and often polarizing persona that forces people to get comfortable being just a bit uncomfortable, because John Parker believes in "real" conversation, in order to effect "real" change and "real" motivation.

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314.421.9400  

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6642 Clayton Rd.
#396
St. Louis, MO 63117