Emmett Tatter is an author, yoga teacher, and advocate who shares his lived experience within the Florida prison system to highlight the human stories behind incarceration. He describes himself as a “truth-teller” and focuses on the reality of being treated as “inventory” rather than a person during his time in custody.
Key Professional Profile
Author: He wrote COUNT TIME, a work reflecting on his experiences and the moments that occurred between the frequent inmate counts in Florida’s prisons.
Yoga Teacher: He uses yoga in his practice and teaching, often connecting themes of mindfulness to his personal history.
Content Creator: He is an active voice on Substack, publishing articles and hosting live sessions. His writing often touches on themes of survival, chaos, and the maintenance of one’s mind in challenging environments.
Notable Works & Themes
Emmett’s writing frequently explores the transition from confinement to freedom and the psychological impact of institutionalization. Some of his notable Substack pieces include:
Eyeball to Eyeball: A reflection on his time at Suwannee CI and Lake Butler (Reception and Medical Center), where he faced significant trauma and chaos.
Sorting Hat, DOC Edition: A commentary on the classification and processing within the Department of Corrections.
Tango with my Granny and Blood in the Library: Personal essays that highlight different facets of his journey and identity.
Orange is the New Black (2013 – 2019) 7 Seasons (Netflix)
Oz (1997 – 2003) Osward Maximum Correctional Facility (HBO)
Alcatraz Island Tour
Talking Points: Let’s Make It Count
Time is the only resource you cannot earn back.
So why are you still spending it being smaller than you actually are?
Tonight’s conversation is for the leader who has waited long enough.
For the version of you that already knows what to do.
And for the part of your life that has been quietly asking: when?
“What would you do this week if you actually believed your time mattered?”
1. Making it count is not motion. It is a choice.
Most leaders confuse busy with meaningful.
They think a full calendar is a full life.
But making it count is not about doing more it is about choosing what gets your best.
• Motion fills your day.
• Meaning shapes your decade.
• You can be exhausted and not be counting at all.
“Busy is not the same as building. Both can fill a calendar. Only one builds a legacy.”
2. The world does not reward potential. It responds to presence.
You can be the most talented person in the room and still be invisible.
Talent is currency only when it shows up.
Counting begins the moment you stop hoping to be discovered and start being unmistakably present.
• Potential is private.
• Presence is public.
• You will not be paid for what you have not yet claimed.
“Where are you waiting to be discovered when you should be deciding to be found?”
3. Your influence is finite. Spend it like it is.
Influence is not unlimited. Every conversation, post, decision, and meeting is either compounding it or leaking it.
Ask yourself, honestly:
• Am I spending my voice on what matters or what is loud?
• Am I building a body of work or just a body of activity?
• Am I influencing the room or being absorbed by it?
“Your influence is a budget. Stop handing it out for free.”
4. Make it count for yourself first
You cannot lead a life that counts if your own life does not feel like it does.
That means:
• the rest you keep deferring
• the joy you keep postponing
• the relationships you keep under-investing in
• the dreams you keep filing under “later.”
Count the part of your life that is supposed to be yours. The rest of your leadership depends on it.
“You cannot lead a life of impact while skipping the one you are supposed to live.”
5. Count the courage, not just the credentials
We measure leaders by what they have collected—titles, degrees, and awards.
But the leaders who actually move things measure differently. They count:
• the truths they told when it cost them
• the doors they opened for someone behind them
• the moments they chose alignment over approval
• the times they refused to shrink to keep the room comfortable
Those are the metrics that matter.
“A career is what you collected. A legacy is what you risked.”
6. Make it count for the people coming after you
Especially for marginalized leaders, your visibility, your voice, and your willingness to take up space are not just for you.
It is the map. It is the proof. It is the permission slip for someone watching who has not yet seen themselves represented.
• When you make it count, you make a way.
• When you play small, you teach the next generation to do the same.
• Your courage is contagious, but only if you let it be visible.
“Who is watching you to know whether it is safe to try?”
7. Make it count this week, not someday
Someday is the most expensive word in leadership.
Most people don’t lose their lives to one big mistake. They lose it to a thousand somedays.
Make it count is not a future plan. It is a daily decision.
• One conversation you have been avoiding.
• One ask you have been deferring.
• One truth you have been softening.
• One project you have been waiting to feel ready for.
Pick one this week. That is how it starts.
“Someday is where dreams go to die quietly. This week is where they come alive.”
Closing Reflection
Sit with these:
• If I had one more year of leadership left, just one, what would I make count?
• What am I treating like it’s infinite that is actually finite?
• What is one thing I will do this week so that, looking back, I can say it counted?
You will not be remembered for what you almost did.
You will be remembered for what you finally chose.
Call to Action
• Drop one word in the comments that captures what you are choosing to make count this week
• Like, save, or share this Live with one person who needs the reminder
Thank you Mandy Ohman, Brandon Ellrich, Nabanita, Diane, Bob Lewis, and many others for tuning into my live video with Emmett Tatter! Join me for my next live video in the app.
