Mr. Waterlicious and the Amazing Rise of Patrick Malcolm Special

This past Labor Day weekend the 2009 Black Enterprise/Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge took place in Orlando. During Grammy Award-winning Wyclef's set, Patrick Malcolm, aka Mr. Waterlicious, rushed the stage to promote his company's product. Who is he?

Patrick Malcolm is a businessman. His product Waterlicious has been getting ready to hit the scene for some time now. McDonald's was readying to promote the drink before the recession changed their course towards coffee drinks. During the time Waterlicious was with McDonald's, though, funding was obtained to create a water beverage that was vitamin infused for kids. Using FDA-approved labs the company's finished product is the first water beverage specially formulated for children that includes fiber. Malcolm used his entertainment skill to be able to get on stage with Wyclef as Mr. Waterlicious. Malcolm was able to get the mic several times and left the stage only when Wyclef took a sip of the beverage. The perfect endorsement came when Wyclef downed the entire bottle. That kind of courage to do what could be impossible is the Patrick Malcolm story. Born in Jamaica, Patrick's father died when he was just four months old, leaving his schoolteacher mother to raise him. His early years were spent in deep poverty. During our interview Patrick related about an incident that took place when he was only five, shaping his early years. "My mother couldn't afford to feed us so she sent me to my grandmother to stay for a week," he told DigitalJournal.com. "It was a 5 hour trip in a hot cab. When I got there, hungry and tired my grandmother sent me right back. No food, no rest. I was back in the cab for another 5 hours. When we were on the way back I looked over an saw a cow, all alone. No one to take care of it. I knew I was just like that cow. Completely abandoned." Patrick grew up quickly. By the time he was 10 he was working in a Kingston bakery taking the hot bread off the platters. He was paid $25 a week, money his mother took from him. She told Patrick he was too young to handle money. His life began to change on June 1, 1988 when he stepped off the plane in New York City, his new home. "I felt so free and alive!" he declares. He struggled in his new homeland, though. He knew no one. In school he took English at the literal level, not understanding the slang his classmates spoke. There were fights. He didn't fight back because he had heard that American kids carried guns to school. Finally his anger broke free and he took on two kids. Gang members witnessed the fight and approached the young, lonely boy. They offered him a family that he had never had before. "I never had any close ties to family before. Never had a toy as a kid. Nothing at all on Christmas mornings. So these guys were there, backing me up, giving me a family. I mean in my life I had seen abuses. One night this guy my mom was dating was at our home. I went to bed and my mom had beautiful pearly white teeth, I woke up and those teeth were gone. It was just the way it was. I don't look backward, only forward. I only focus on the positive now." Patrick had a lucky star shining down on him. He was spotted and cast in the television show Oz as a stuntman and the movie The Best Man. He was getting parts and commercials. Everything was going his way. He had friends. He had money. He felt invincible. Then it ended. Patrick was in a car accident that threatened to paralyze him. The friends disappeared except for one. That friend is his partner now at Waterlicious. During this hard period Patrick turned back to God. "God was like telling me I am trying to get your attention. Slow down." Patrick related to me about a Bible that was in his room. He doesn't know how it happened but that Bible kept appearing right next to him, until he finally opened it. "I was telling God I would do anything it said to do. I was going to open to a page and just do it, it didn't matter what it said to do. So I opened the Bible and started reading. 'Oh you man of so little faith..' My life changed right that minute. I had been not taking care of myself and letting my hair grow, my beard was looking rough. I went straight out and got a haircut and a shave. I got a meal of red snapper. That's a big thing for a Jamaica boy. I wanted to change. And I did. I have not looked back since. I focus on the positive now and move forward. I have devoted my life to God now."

special permission Patrick Malcolm

Wyclef and Mr. Waterlicious, AKA Patrick Malcolm

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He is also very devoted and passionate about Waterlicious. The water drink has 50 calories, but they are not empty ones that are in so many fruit drinks. The FDA-approved formula has vitamins blended for each stage of a child's life, from the womb until adulthood. The prenatal formula has folic acid while the children formulas have B vitamins and other nutritionally added ingredients. Unlike other fruit flavored waters Waterlicious has no corn syrup. Instead it uses crystalline fructose, a natural fruit sugar that is slow to absorb and does not adversely affect blood sugar levels. As for the stunt this past weekend at the Orlando event Patrick figured that he would be stopped by security but he just wanted to try to get on the stage. He was able to use that time on stage to market his product without spending a dime. "I knew at most I would have 15 seconds to make an impact and let the world hear about Waterlicious. It was crazy! I did it!"