Meet Darryl

There’s a quote by Benjamin Franklin that says “Most people die at age 25, and aren’t buried until their 75”. Our mission at Start Smart Life is to save college students and young adults from the death of settling for less and inspire them to dream more, become more and achieve more.

My name is Darryl Woods. I am the founder of Start Smart Life. I was born and raised in inner city Detroit, MI. I was raised by my mother, a single parent. My father has been imprisoned since I was one year old. Based on statistics, the chances of me going to prison were much higher than my chances of graduating from college, yet alone working for a Fortune 500 company, winning many top sales awards, including a highly sought after Legacy Award, and now living out my passion to empower others to succeed. What made the difference for me and what I feel makes the difference for any person who escapes statistics and averages is the realization and pursuit of ones dreams. You may not be faced with the statistics that I faced, but I guarantee that there is some average or majority fighting to keep you everyday

As a youngster I witnessed some of the great lows of human existence; up close gun encounters, illegal drug activity, fights, prostitution, and illegal gambling to name a few. Yet, through all of this I maintained my dream of being and becoming more. This dream led me to be featured in several local News Papers, and media outlets, be accepted to Michigan State University and earn close to $40,000 in scholarship money.

College is where my dreams began…

College is where my dreams really began to take shape and also where I met and married my dream wife, Jameika Woods, my lifetime Dream Partner. While in college, my wife and I realized something amazing; every dream that we can imagine and believe is within our reach. With this realization, we knew that in order to live the Big Dreams that we had, we would need to become more.

As full time students and full time employees, my wife and I managed to spend upwards of $15,000 on Business, Personal Development, and Real Estate Investing training. Once we discovered our dreams, we reached to be better and become more. We learned a tremendous amount in the process, a lot of which came through trial and error. We also began to take college and life a lot more serious.

We created Start Smart Life with one great mission in mind, to inform, inspire, and empower college students and young adults to live their dreams. I’ve spoke to audiences with young adults from around the world; from South Africa and China to South Georgia and New York, one thing that I’ve learned is that they want more! They want to dream more, become more, and achieve more. It’s my mission to ensure that this happens!

Follow me on Instagram to see our Start Smart Daily show, @DarrylWoodsJr. I look forward to connecting!