BILLINGS — On Friday, guests at the Billings Depot were introduced to 16 distinguished speakers, all of whom have ties to Montana and whose stories will be on display at the second Billings TEDx Talk on Oct. 7 at the Babcock theater.
One speaker, Robert Doore, remembers his childhood on Montana’s Hi-Line like it was yesterday.
"I come from a humble beginning in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian reservation. I basically grew up with nothing, but I was fortunate to have a fire inside of me to really ascend to become one of the highest-ranking Native Americans in the NFL and the corporate world," said Doore, president & CEO of Chief Mountain Consulting, on Friday.
From those humble beginnings, Doore rose to become part of the then Washington Redskins’ front office for seven years and is now one of the newest inductees into the Montana Pro Football Hall of fame.
He says he never imagined being one of the first Native Americans in that position.
"A lot of people don’t understand the burden that comes with being the best of anything or the first of anything. For me, I never set out to do that, I just wanted to make an impact," added Doore.
It’s something Doore and 15 others will try to do later this year at the TEDx Talks event. The national series started in June 2006 and has become an inspirational staple.
TEDx Billings director D’Vaughn Hayes says he wants to showcase that Billings is filled with those who inspire.
"Ultimately, I really want to change the perception that Billings isn’t a cool place to be. I want people to feel proud that they live right here in Billings Montana.... If you are involved in any organizations in Billings like the Billings Chamber of Commerce or the Big Sky EDA, or any of those kinds of professional development networks, you’ll start to rub elbows with incredible people doing really amazing things on a worldwide scale. You really quickly find out that Billings is a really vibrant community with a lot of really innovative people and things that are happening." said Hayes on Friday.
That includes people like Doore, who wants to pass his success on to the next generation.
"If I can share my story and maybe inspire one more individual, one more little Montana boy or little Montana girl, to reach higher and just keep going, to dream big and never quit. That’s the impact I’m looking for," Doore added.
