Kankakee motivational speaker Kent Wade speaks to "Man Up"

 If you’ve been to the Kankakee Public Library sometime during the past 15 years, it’s likely you know Kent Wade. After dropping out of high school and becoming homeless, Wade found solace at his local library and credits the staff and services to being his “therapy” and motivation for earning his GED. From 2005-17, Wade worked in every job imaginable at the library but enjoyed working the front desk and meeting patrons.

“When you sit at the front desk, you’re like the greeter,” Wade said. “You’re meeting everybody; you’re talking to everybody; you’re answering the first set of questions as people walk in. And that’s how I got to meet people.”

In 2018, Wade became a board member at KPL and is now vice president of the board. Since 2009, he has been working the motivational speaking circuit — sharing his story of being a shy, angry young man and how he found a community of people to motivate and inspire him. He credits KPL for being part of this community, as well as United Way of Kankakee & Iroquois Counties.

Wade is in the process of developing an LLC and has hosted in-person and virtual events helping people “Shake the Fear” and unravel their goals. His next “Shake the Fear” virtual event is slated for Jan. 30, with a big conference happening in October.

Wade is working with Jovan Marshall, of the Kankakee City Life Center, and Rhonda Currie, of Kankakee Community College, to be a guest speaker as part of their “Man Up” series. The series is designed for young men in high school who might be in need of advice and teachings from adults in the community who were once in their shoes.

“We [the motivational speaker panel] were asked to talk about what it meant to be a man and how in our community, there are a lot of young men who are not blessed to have fathers, let alone father figures in their lives,” explained Wade of the series.

For three consecutive Tuesdays (which began Jan. 12), the series will break down a piece of manhood. Wade said topics will include everything from what manhood means to etiquette to being a gentleman to table manners and beyond. They also will explore polishing their skills and, on the last day, they will be talking about relationships.

The next two sessions will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Jan. 19 and from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 26. According to the event’s Facebook page, this in-person event series will have interactive and fun activities that will make participants remember how great it is to be in-person again. A virtual option also will be available for those who can’t attend in person. The in-person event is limited to 20 students and will be held in the back gym of Kankakee High School.