Casey Gerald says ruining his reputation saved his life

Casey Gerald, author of "The Great Refusal," joined Tonya Mosley on Fresh Air to discuss his journey of walking away from conventional success and the profound insights he gained along the way. Gerald's story is one of radical self-discovery, challenging societal expectations, and finding true purpose.

Walking Away from Success

Tonya Mosley began by highlighting Gerald's unique path: walking away from his own success not once, but twice. The first instance was in 2016, at the peak of his career. Gerald, a kid from Oak Cliff, a working-class neighborhood in Dallas, had achieved what many would consider the American Dream: a football scholarship to Yale, a job at Lehman Brothers, an MBA from Harvard, and the creation of a successful nonprofit that landed him on magazine covers and TED stages. He even opened for President Barack Obama. A New York Magazine headline famously asked, "Does Casey Gerald know how to fix America?"

Yet, in 2016, he shut down his nonprofit, stopped answering calls, and disappeared. His first memoir, "There Will Be No Miracles Here," was his initial report back. After another period of silence, he has returned with "The Great Refusal," a book that reads less like a memoir and more like a challenge. Mosley noted that Gerald describes his choice to disappear as a "desperate one." Gerald clarified that he wasn't running away from anything, but rather running towards something, though he didn't know what it was at the time.