Meet Bo Hairston! Bo is a longtime Hall County resident, father to three, husband to Kelly and has bee a motivational speaker for the last six years. Bo moved to the area from Alabama in college, where he met his wife.
“I like having the chance to be a role model for my kids, so hopefully when they get older and get married and go to college, that when they begin to start thinking about a family they’ll think about moments that we spent together and how I would lead by example,” Bo said about being a father. “Instead of having your kids look up to someone else, I want to be that model for them.”
We want to thank Bo for recently sitting down with us and telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: What led you to your current career?
A: “I worked in law enforcement for a total of 19 years…I saw the need that people need some encouragement. People will go through a bad divorce or lose a loved one, you become depressed, you feel overwhelmed because something that you had that was tangible, is no longer there and then you begin to spiral out of control. The loss might contribute to you feeling sorry for yourself and you might start drinking or taking pills. You might be a high performer at your job and then all the sudden you begin to tank and no one knows what is going on because you lose connections…if you’re not performing, the first thing people may say is ‘get rid of them’ instead, whatever happened to building those connections. So, I try to rebuild that and get back to the basics…when I get a chance to get in front of people, whether it’s 5 or 5,000, I want them to feel like they have known me their whole life. I say it all the time, good people make poor choices…but just because someone made a poor choice, doesn’t make them a bad individual. The second part of that is, good people make poor choices but our value never changes.”
Q: Can you pick a favorite memory from a speaking engagement that you would want to share?
A: “Yes, I will never forget it. I was at a Christian school in Gwinnett County. I was talking about good people making poor choices and I said if there was anyone there having a hard time or felt like giving up that might cause harm to themselves. I encouraged them to keep fighting and holding on and just believe that things are going to get better. Sure enough there was a girl in the class that…afterwards she walked up to me and told me she wasn’t going to come today because she felt like hurting herself.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?
A: “Texas Roadhouse and I get the country fried steak. I like Poor Richard’s, too.”
Q: What is the first movie that you remember seeing in the theater?
A: “It probably would have been ‘Ghostbusters.’
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I would love to take a cruise to Alaska, with my family.”
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: “Never give up and when you face adversity, try to find a way to tell yourself to keep moving.”
Q: What are your three favorite bands or musicians?
A: “I love Matt Powell, I love Christian music, Hillsong, Third Day.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “I hope to be at a place where I can be retired and give myself and wife the opportunity to travel with my daughter and son with their sports or whatever they may do.”
Q: Choosing someone dead or alive, who would you want to have lunch with and where would you go?
A: “My dad, he’s passed away, but I would love to sit down and have a conversation with him and catch up on a lot of things that he missed. We would probably go to Texas Roadhouse.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “The people. I’ve met a lot of amazing people here. The opportunity and the diversity is awesome. I do a lot of volunteering…I haven’t met a stranger yet.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person that you’ve met in Hall County?
A: “Probably I would say is my friend Steve Heinen. He’s an insurance guy and we are kind of a like and he hasn’t met a stranger and I haven’t either. He motivated me to get into doing what I’m doing now.”
Q: What three words mean HOME to you?
A: “Faith, family and love.”

 
The Faces of Hall County is a project to showcase the amazing people that live or work in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured please email babernathy@gonorton.com.