{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Growth Mavericks","title":"He Was Found in a Box on a Battlefield","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3729,"description":"What does it take to go from being found as a baby on a battlefield in Iraq to performing in stadiums around the world with one of the biggest bands on the planet?\nIn this episode of the Growth Mavericks Podcast, Adam Callinan sits down with Emmanuel Kelly—singer, entrepreneur, founder of Outlyer Entertainment, and one of the most relentlessly optimistic people you’ll ever meet.\nEmmanuel’s story begins in Iraq, where he was found as a baby in a box on a battlefield and raised in an orphanage surrounded by war. After being brought to Australia by humanitarian Moira Kelly, he underwent years of surgeries and learned to walk for the first time around age 11.\nBut surviving those circumstances is only the beginning of the story.\nAfter appearing on X Factor Australia as a teenager, Emmanuel was thrown into the entertainment industry and experienced the darker side of sudden attention, fame, and what he calls “fake love.” Eventually, the momentum disappeared. He lost his money, lost his sense of direction, and found himself homeless in Los Angeles—something he managed to hide from almost everyone around him.\nAt 5 a.m. one morning, sitting on a park bench in Santa Monica after sleeping outside, Emmanuel watched the sunrise and remembered the kid he had been in Iraq: hopeful, determined, and unwilling to quit. He decided to ask for help and start rebuilding.\nWhat happened next is almost unbelievable.\nEmmanuel put a goal on his wall: perform with a major artist and a legendary artist before the end of the year. Then he started making as many as 100 phone calls a day, asking everyone he knew—and plenty of people he didn’t—for a way in.\nEventually, one connection led to another, a video found its way to Chris Martin, and Emmanuel got the call from Coldplay. What began with a single opportunity developed into a friendship and eventually led to Emmanuel opening 12 international stadium concerts for the band.\nAdam and Emmanuel dig into what that journey taught him about...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/AeBQQxJbUf-WSyMMarfVQi6SvNL8t1mMzevKk-UNMwA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9jNmUw/MDA5ZGE4NzFhZWE0/YThiN2I0ODFkNzM0/YWRmNC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}