Enrique D. "Rick" Rigsby ^[31] is a minister, motivational speaker, author, and former college professor.

He gained recognition after he gave an motivational commencement speech at the California State University Maritime Academy in 2017. ^[1]

Rick Rigsby was raised in San Francisco, California. His father was a cook who dropped out of school in the third grade, yet Rick considers him "the wisest man [he] ever met in [his] life." ^[1] He, in particular, influenced Rick to "combine knowledge and wisdom to make an impact." ^[1]

He gained inspiration from his father, a man who left school in the third grade to work on his family's farm.

^[13] Rigsby's father would frequently ask him, "How ya livin'?" alluding to living life to the fullest.

Rick Rigsby references how his father would want him to live growing up: ^[1]

Rigsby graduated from CSU-Chico in 1978 with a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications. He earned his Master's soon thereafter with a degree in Public Communications. He later received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon.

In 2000, he was recognized by CSU-Chico as an alumnus honoree.

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Prior to graduate school, Rigsby spent nearly a decade as a reporter and anchor at KHSL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Chico.

Following his graduate studies, Rigsby spent two years as an assistant professor of at CSU Fresno.

Subsequently, in 1992, Rigsby joined Texas A&M as an Assistant Professor where he taught Speech Communication. There, he earned the Outstanding Teaching Award from the university's College of Liberal Arts. ^[29]

He also stood out as a character coach and chaplain for the Texas A&M Aggies' football team. ^[29] As a result, he also received the Outstanding Faculty Diversity Award from the Executive Vice President and Provost at Texas A&M. ^[2]

After 14 years at Texas A&M, Professor Rigsby moved his family to Dallas in order to grow his business.

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Expanding on his motivational speaking work, Rick Rigsby began offering corporate coaching and motivational speaking services on his own.

He started speaking for numerous sports organizations, including the PGA, and for teams in the National Football League. ^[11] He's also spoke at several Christian colleges and public schools.

On April 22, 2017, Rick Rigsby gave a speech at the California State Maritime Accademy commencement ceremony. ^[13]

After that speech went viral, he received more emails, phone calls, and responses from people than any other time in 30 years.

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In August 6, 2006, Rick Rigsby published a book entitled Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout. Referring to his father in the title, the book discusses six different lessons modeled by someone who would be deemed an uneducated man. ^[14]

Rigsby currently lives in Dallas, Texas. In his viral "Make an Impact" commencement speech, he admitted to adapting to the Texas lifestyle: he now listens to country music, hunts, and fishes. He even calls himself a "Blackneck Redneck." ^[1]

He has four children: ^[17] two from his first wife Trina Williams ^[1] and two from his second wife Janet Butcher. ^[22]

He and his first wife Trina met in college.

When they got married, Rigsby was a cub reporter and Trina was a labor and delivery nurse at Feather River Hospital. She eventually passed away in 1996 after her fight with breast cancer. ^{[1] [12]}

Rigsby recognized her in his viral commencement speech:

When Trina died six years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, he was depressed for two years.

His father stood by him at the casket and told him, "Son, just stand."

He was referencing that, no matter how difficult times may be, one must never give up in life.

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In retrospect, he has realized that his heart needed to be broken in order to help the broken-hearted.

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