He was born and raised on Chicago’s Southside. His single mother raised him. She once moved to another neighborhood to escape the gangs and violence. With only two black families in that neighborhood, they returned to their southside home where Hanks excelled in basketball. Standing at 6’3” he found his rhythm on the hardwood as a shooting guard.
But family came first. He started working at age 10 with a paper route. By age 15, he moved to Chattanooga, TN to help care for an ailing grandparent. He earned his GED due to inner city gang violence. A tragic shooting drove Hanks to set higher goals for his future.
He landed a job in finance and customer service. After the passing of his mother, He began learning the workings and terminology of information technology. Over short period of time, he earned the attention of some reputable tech companies and landed a job – working his way up the ladder from the Help Desk to IT director.
In 2007 he needed a liver transplant. He received the liver, but during the operation there were difficulties and Phillip’s heart stopped. The doctor had to message Phillip’s heart with his hand and was able to bring Phillip back.
Phillip recovered and continued moving on with his life, and it seemed his career was established, and life was great! God was so incredible! This prepared him for the storm that was coming.
Out of nowhere, in 2020 tragedy struck again. Phillip was told he needed to have a 5-organ transplant with only a 50/50 chance of survival.
He spent months in the hospital and saw miracles happen in the midst tragedy. Everybody struggles in this life, and he feels led to share a message of hope, perseverance, and faith that helped him emerge through his experiences.
Through it all, he has seen God's hand.
