No Bootstraps When You're Barefoot

My Rise from a Jamaican Plantation Shack to the Boardrooms of Bay Street

By: Wes Hall

Narrated by: Christopher Allen, Wes Hall

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From one of Canada's most successful business leaders, the founder of the BlackNorth Initiative and the newest and first Black Dragon in the Dragon's Den comes a rags-to-riches story that also carries a profound message of hope and change.

Wes Hall spent his early childhood in a zinc-roofed shack, one of several children supported by his grandmother. That was paradise compared to the two years he lived with his verbally abusive and violent mother; at thirteen, his mother threw him out, and he had to live by his wits for the next three years. At sixteen, Wes came to Canada, sponsored by a father he'd only seen a few times as a child, and by the time he was eighteen, he was out of his father's house, once more on his own. Yet Wes Hall went on to become a major entrepreneur, business leader, philanthropist, and change-maker, working his way up from a humble position in a law firm mailroom by way of his intelligence, his curiosity, and his ability to see opportunities that other people don't.

When people expected his thick Jamaican accent, lack of money and education, not to mention the colour of his skin, to shut down his future, Wes was not to be stopped. He is still overturning expectations to this day. Well aware of racism and injustice, his lack of privilege and the other roadblocks to his success, Wes has always believed that he can walk along any cliff edge without falling. His book teases out and shows how he fostered that resolve in himself, exploring his childhood and the milestone successes and failures of his career in order to share not only how he stopped himself from falling, but survived and thrived, and then dedicated himself to bringing his family and his community along with him.

Now, with the founding of the BlackNorth Initiative, Wes takes aim at ending systemic anti-Black racism. It's a huge goal, but one he's tackling with heart, soul, smarts, and every connection he's made in an extraordinary career that's taken him to the centre of the Canadian establishment. Throughout his life he's resisted sinking into despair or getting lost in anger; now he wants to tell truth to power and pave a path forward.©2022 Wes Hall (P)2022 Random House Canada

Critic reviews

2023, PrizeName: Short-listed

“Wes Hall’s memoir is extraordinary: a rags-to-riches story that is also a powerful testament to the spirit that helped him overcome poverty, abuse and racism. He has bared not just his feet, but his fears, his aspirations and struggles, showing us that to come from ‘nothing’ shouldn’t be a barrier, but to do ‘nothing’ to break down those walls is never okay.” —Arlene Dickinson

“Wes Hall gives form and insight to an otherwise invisible man’s legacy. Invisible to those partially responsible for rendering him unworthy, undeserved and unseen, Wes emerges as a cultural beacon. The story of Jamaican success in the diaspora is familiar, but here we see it through a unique lens: the lens of someone who defied all odds to become wildly successful in a foreign country, in a way that nobody has before him. His book is another of Wes’s achievements that should be celebrated and shared across the globe.” —Kardinal Offishall

“Mr. Hall’s book, as honest and raw a tale as you’ll encounter, is a story of triumph in the face of incredible adversity.” —The Globe and Mail

Must Read

The book is truly inspiring. Every person should read this book to see what's possible when you persist and work hard. It will inspire a great work ethics and wanting to give back to the less fortunate.