INFLUENCER
Leon Logothetis BRINGS KINDNESS TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE BY RACHEL VANCELET TE
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he author of Changing Lives, One Adventure at a Time, and the host of Netflix’s Kindness Diaries which soon will be going into a third season following the travels of Mr. Kindness. Leon sits down to give an intimate interview into his unique inner world and personal journey dedicated to the spreading of kindness to others. The Netflix series is viewed as a unique social experiment, taking Leon on the long journey across country to challenge people in everyday life to hopefully be just a little kinder to strangers. Leon and the traveling kindness machine (otherwise known as the yellow Volkswagon bug he has driven to the ends of the earth) have both become an iconic symbols to his devoted fan following. Some say kindness is simply “the new cool” and this interview hopefully will spread a little kindness to Leon and give voice to his movement and become important to each of us daily. Happiness is the new rich. Inner Peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth. Kindness is the new cool. @thekindnessguy What inspires you daily? Helping others feel less alone and challenging myself to become a better person every day. You speak about your “Inner Rebel” which you describe as your inner voice that tells you are worth so much more. Can you speak to how you harnessed this inner voice to propel you forward out of your chronic depression? For a long time, I held onto trauma that weighed me down well into adulthood. My inner voice forced me to give up the things that were holding me back from my dreams and start connecting with others. This wasn’t easy and many times I wanted to give up but little by little I started to realize that voice was pushing me toward my dreams. The Kindness Diaries on Netflix launched you into the public consciousness. What do you hope viewers remember and/or are left with after watching your series? I hope viewers remember that anyone can be kind. You don’t have to travel to far off lands in crappy cars to be kind. The perfect example is Karen from Season 2 episode 3. She grew up extremely poor and worked her way through college. Now she helps the homeless population in Salt Lake City. She is making a huge difference in her town. Kindness exists in the world we just have to keep our hearts open. Could you tell us about your work with First Book and Classwish? For First Book I did a journey from London to Mongolia called the Mogul Rally. It took me 2 tries as I nearly died in a car crash the first time. I partnered with Classwish on The Kindness Cab. On this adventure I drove from Times Square to Los Angeles in a vintage London cab and donated all my fares to Classwish. I nearly froze to death in Colorado but made it out alive!
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