A Young Man’s Passion for Helping Others Has Driven Him to Success

After growing up impoverished and forced to support himself while pursuing a high school diploma, Brad Walston has always had a passion for helping others. He currently serves as a Phoenix police officer and sets a precedent for being involved in his community and making relationships with people, children especially. His job is to protect and serve his people, and he makes sure that people are aware of this.

Growing up, Walston would watch the show “Cops” and often disagree with how the police on the show would handle situations. As law enforcement, cops have the power to dictate someone’s life in a situation where a citizen is in the wrong. Seeing this, Brad decided as a kid that when he became an officer he would respect those he came in contact with, and give opportunities to those that have good intentions but are caught in a bad situation. 

Walston also took special interest in helping children, and he looked forward to showing the youth a path to success that doesn’t involve drugs, alcohol, and gang violence. In February 2019, he saw all of these thoughts come to fruition. As he was walking in a parade by a local school, he was cheered on by hundreds of students chanting his name as he passed by.  They all yelled, “Walston! Walston! Walston!” At this moment, Brad knew exactly what motivates him each and every day to put on his uniform and dedicate his time to his community. 

Through his work, he has even been able to change the narrative of law enforcement amongst middle schoolers that had bad thoughts on police officers. Through his inviting personality and dedication to establishing relationships with his people, Walston is in contact with juniors in high school who were once middle schoolers that had hatred for the police. With all of the controversy surrounding police in America, Brad is certainly setting a precedent for a more inviting and personable law enforcement presence in communities. 

Brad’s passion for helping others stems from a tough childhood, where he was forced to live on his own at 16 years old and work just to keep his electricity on. Despite all of his hardships, which included not having a father figure in his life, Brad kept a positive mindset. His mental toughness and grit led him to become the very first person in his family to obtain a college degree. 

After his experience with the rare opportunity to work for the FBI and the US Department of Energy, Walston opened his own mortgage business. Not only did this business enable him to help people in his community, but it enabled people to have something he and his family never did: his own home. He knew what it was like to not have a helping hand at first, so giving his wisdom to put people in his community on the fast track to success is the ultimate reward for Brad. 

Through all of his successes and good memories as an adult, Walston still finds being candid about hardships to be extremely important. He knows that people who only display their successes are doing their audience no justice, as it paints a false picture of what becoming successful is all about. People need to understand the sacrifices and hardships that come with being successful, and Brad is here to share some of the challenges he experienced along the way. 

For Brad, raising the capital necessary to fund his business was a massive challenge. On the business side, he found trouble hiring the right people to run and grow the company, and advises anyone to ensure that they hire the people fit for the job rather than someone they have a personal relationship with. 

Brad Walston has been through it all and is not afraid to tell his audience about what he’s been through. He has lived out his passion for over a decade and is able to inspire kids in his community every day through his line of work.