WEBVTT - Putting yourself in a position to be successful w/ Will Lucas 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.000 So I'm gonna tell you two stories today, and um, 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:09.040 the topic of this particular podcast episode is something I 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.680 firmly believe in, and it's about putting yourself in a 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:16.000 position to be successful. Because so often we want to 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.799 be successful and we see success, whether we see it 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.720 on social media or we see it in people around us. Um, 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.520 we see success, UM, and we don't always believe that 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:32.440 that success is either possible for us. Or we might 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.000 believe that it's possible for us, but we don't know 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:39.360 what to do in order to accomplish that success that 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:43.839 we so desire. So I'm gonna tell you two stories today, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.920 and this is these are my stories, and hopefully, UM, 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.200 whenever I whenever I talk to people, you know, whether 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.600 it be talks at conferences, whether it be keynote speeches 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:01.040 or whatever, I'm really trying to give you. So if 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.680 I'm telling you my story is not because my story 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.759 is so great, It's because I'm hoping that there's something 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.480 in my story that you can take and use for 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:14.199 yourself in order to find your success. So the first 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:19.920 story is a story about how I found at least 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.280 the first few steps into the career that I'm in today. 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:28.160 Because um, I'm on preface my story with this. There's 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.720 a quote by Steve Jobs, and you, if you're listening 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:36.120 to this podcast, you've heard me say this before. And 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.640 it's a quote by Steve Jobs that I firmly believe in. 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.640 It's one of my favorite quotes. I do have a 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.480 couple of favorite quotes, but this one is among like 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:48.400 the top three of my favorite quotes, and it says, 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:53.920 you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:58.080 connect the dots looking backwards. And what that means for 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.080 me at least I I believe know how he meant it. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:06.400 But what I get from that quote is this is, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:11.079 if you look back over your life, you will find 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:20.400 clues that dictate your present circumstance. So if you find 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:25.519 yourself doing a particular job and you are like really 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:30.120 really good at doing that job, if you look back 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:34.400 at whether you were you know, a kid, or whether 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.680 you had a particular job, or whether you had certain experiences, 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:43.320 you will find, if you look hard enough, certain instances 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:47.959 in your life that says you will be good at 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:52.040 this particular thing. And that's what connecting the dots means. 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:55.919 It's not something like, you know, super highbrow. It's not like, 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.520 you know, it's not super deep. It's it's really a 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.600 simple thing. If you look backwards, you will see things 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:07.280 that connect to what you find yourself doing today. And 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:14.040 it's hard to do looking forward, if not in some cases, um, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:19.160 very very very difficult. So we want to do certain 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.720 things in the future, but we don't always know what, 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.480 like and and I believe in like, like what is 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.639 the divine plan for you? Like? Because if I would 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.000 have told you at you know, sixteen or seventeen, what 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.880 I wanted to be doing, it's not what I'm doing today. 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.320 But I'm really really happy doing what I'm doing today, 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:40.760 but it's not something I could have articulated, you know, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.600 years ago. So anyway, all right, so let's you know, 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.040 we set the stage with that particularly quote. You can't 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.800 connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect the 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:57.200 dots retrospectively looking backward. All right, all right, So there 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.680 was a time when I wanted to be in the 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.960 music of business. I wanted to be um a producer. 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:04.920 I wanted to be a music producer and a songwriter. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.040 And so I'm from Toledo, Ohio, which is you know, 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.840 if you drive fast it's like half an hour from Detroit, 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.320 but if you like relatively close to the speed limit, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.000 it's like forty five minutes. It's a little bit south 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.480 of Detroit. And you know, you know where it's at, 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:24.880 Look on the map. If you don't know where's at, 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.720 Google Google Map it all right. So I'm from Toledo, Ohio, 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.240 not known for like a lot of things other than 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.440 you know, we have i think one of the top 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:39.279 rated like minor league baseball teams in the country, and um, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:45.120 very rust belt, midwestern, you know, middle class, blue collar 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.840 sort of city, you know. And I wanted to be 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.640 in the music business. So being an ambitious kid, you know, 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:57.800 I've I've always been super ambitious and always like strategizing about, Okay, 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:59.919 I know what I want to do, how do I 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.520 get there. I've always been that way. It's been my 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:08.200 life's part of my DNA. So I was thinking as 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.760 a youth, like how how can I find my way 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.960 to the music business in Toledo? And I found myself 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.600 at a teen summit that a local radio station UM 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:24.520 was putting on, you know, or at least the program 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.680 director was on a panel at this team summit that 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:33.080 was happening at a particular library in my hometown. And 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.960 so after the team something, I almost remember what I 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.680 was wearing that day, which is like super wild because 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:39.680 I don't remember like a lot of details about like 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:44.360 my my childhood and youth. But I remember, like almost 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.280 verbatim what I was wearing a day. But it has 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.080 nothing to do with the point of this story, only 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.880 that it's like the good point in my life that 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:58.359 obviously was like super critical to um what I'm doing today. 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.600 So anyway, so at this team summit, the local program 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:06.640 director for the radio station was on a panel at 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:09.880 the library that I'm an attendance of, and I'm with 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:11.800 a friend of mine that I was going to high 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.320 school with, and we were for some reason, we're at 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.479 this team summit and we were just there to hear 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.599 about I don't even know what the team summing was about, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:20.440 but I guess it was about teen issues because it 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:24.440 was a team summing. So the program director is talking, 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.039 and in my mind at that team summit, I'm sitting 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:31.200 like in the last row and I'm thinking, like, yo, 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:32.839 I would want to be in the music business. And 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:37.040 so I'm in Toledo. The closest thing to the music 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.800 business is the radio station. And so this is how 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.520 my mind works, and my mind has always worked this way. 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.880 So I'm like putting together the pieces and so active 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.600 the team something is over. I go up to the 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.600 program director, who's like in the only he's the program 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.680 program director of the only hip hop and R and 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.240 B radio station in town. There's only one at this age. 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:02.800 So I go up to him. I say, hey, my 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.040 name's Will Lucas and I want to be in the 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.120 music business. And so he says, um, well, the best 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.560 thing I can tell you to do is find an 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.120 internship somewhere. So a matter of fact, a matter of fact, 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.840 because there was a lot of like teenagers like in 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.360 line because of tea something. There's a lot of teenagers 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.480 in line waiting to talk to him. And so he said, 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.240 just come out to the radio station like tomorrow or 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.480 whatever and we'll talk some more. Because it's a lot 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.960 of teenager in line. So I go out to the 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.680 radio station. Had to be the next day because that's 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.840 kind of the kind of guy it was. So I 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:40.360 go out to the radio station and he says, again, 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.200 you know, we're sitting in this I guess, like a 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:46.720 little tiny three thousand white radio station like way out 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:51.239 of town. Like it's I mean, I think Midwestern country, 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:55.160 like no man's land. This is like pure flyover. So 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.120 like the radio station is like in like places you 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.080 don't go. So, but for whatever reason, that's where the 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.640 radio station was. So I'm out there, and you know, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.800 I'm sitting inside the radio station, inside the studio. And 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:10.800 he says again, so, the best thing I can tell 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.200 you to do is find an internship somewhere. And so 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:16.600 as a matter of fact, we need an intern here 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.320 at the radio station. So I'm so my internship started 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:25.120 that day at the radio station. And so I would 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.400 go out there every day after high school. I should 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.680 say every day because it was like three days to 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:33.360 the next point in this story. And so I would 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.840 go out after um school for the next several days 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:42.120 directly out to the radio station and my um Buick Riviera. 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.960 I would drive out there, and I would see um 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:49.040 about like what he wanted me to do. So three 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.600 days into my internship, which I really wasn't like doing anything. 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.559 I was just watching him do radio. I was watching 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.840 and b on their personality. And so three days in 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.160 he put me on the air with him during the 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.200 five o'clock traffic jam. So mind you, he works from 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:08.480 three pm to eight pm, like Afternoon Drive, which is 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:12.600 like beyond the morning show is the number one radio 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.400 slot for radio personality. This morning show is like the 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:19.000 King of the Hill. Afternoon Drive is the next biggest 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:23.960 um like time slot for radio personalities. So I go 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.680 out there. I hang out with him during his shift. 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:29.960 After I get a school obviously, so I probably make 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.319 it out there like three thirty four o'clock. Um, and 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.840 he puts me on the air with him during the 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.400 five o'clock traffic jam my third day into my internship, 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.480 and so, um, he did this five o'clock traffic jam, 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:44.480 which is like when they do this you know mix 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.320 and you know, I'm Will Lucas. I'm like, I don't 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.440 know what to do, is but I'm just like hanging 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:52.559 out with him on the air, you know, from five 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:56.640 to eight pm when his shift is over. So I 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.400 did that for a couple of days. You know, we 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.920 found I'm sort of chemistry obviously because he let me 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.559 continue to be on the air with him every day 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:11.800 after five o'clock and so signs my phone and so 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.280 three days into it, we're going to air, did that 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:20.040 every day. I went through like it's so crazy to 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.880 think about. I went through multiple you know, like radio names, 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.360 like like because I was trying to find like what 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.400 was my name going to be for the radio. His 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:30.800 name was Charlie Mack, and I'm like, Okay, I gotta 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.959 find a name for myself. So my name's Lucas. And 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.280 so we was just like messing around with a bunch 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.360 of names. So, you know, the at one point in 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.600 my you know, early early early, like the early weeks 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.319 of my radio career, my name was like night Train 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:48.000 for whatever reason, I have no idea. So then then 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:52.079 there was a point where, um, I remember being in 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:56.920 the production room with him and we were talking about, Okay, 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.640 what is my radio name going to be? And um 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.839 so he was like, after we like probably throughout ten 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.199 fifteen names. It's like roomors. Tiny's like at four by 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.360 six rooms like super duperteen. So I remember he was like, 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.719 whenever you figured out, let me know, brother, And I 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:20.840 heard him say butter. He said brother, but I heard butter. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.240 So my first radio name, my first official radio name, 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.160 was butter because when he said whenever you figured out, 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.320 let me know, butter, I heard Butter. He said, brother, 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.080 so Butter, it was so my name on the radio. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.320 My first name on the radio was Butter, and that's 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.640 what they called me for years UM in my radio career. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.480 So six months after Um doing the five o'clock traffic 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:48.040 jam with him, he put me UM in this Saturday 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:49.760 I gave. I got a Saturday night show. I was 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.520 eighteen years old doing radio on the Saturday night UM 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.760 in my hometown six to ten every Saturday night. And 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.320 I had the number one radio show in the city 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:04.360 on Saturday nights in Toledo. And mind you this particular 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.439 radio station, and this for some some of you guys 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.040 like you, this will mean nothing. So I'll try to 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.840 make it like parallel or something that will make sense 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:13.360 to you. This is this is a three thousand watt 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:17.000 radio station. The biggest radio stations in town have a 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:22.199 hundred thousand watts or more. So think of you know, 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.160 like this. Let's say we're talking about cars, and so 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:30.199 I am driving a UM A Nova, like a Honda Civic, 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.480 like a Priest. I am driving one of those, and 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.240 the biggest dogs in town. The biggest radio stations have 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:42.360 like Dodge Rams F one fifties or you get. So 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.959 we are in the tiniest situation in town, the bottom 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.240 of the totem pole with regards to the power of 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.760 the radio sate radio tower that this particular radio station has. 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.080 So anyway, um, I'm doing these Saturday night shows, but 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.000 I have the number one show in the city. I'm 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:05.600 like eighteen years old. And so he remember he was 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:10.520 on the afternoon drive. Six months after I had the 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.760 Saturday night show, they moved him to the morning show 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.600 and I got his afternoon drive show. So I was eighteen, 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.520 just about to turn nineteen, and I'm doing drivetime radio 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.240 in my hometown three to eight. And so by this 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.599 time I had graduated. So I'm doing three o'clock to 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.400 a p m. Monday through Friday. And so I had 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:33.560 the number one show in my demographic because I was 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:37.200 My job was to target eighteen to twenty four. Eighteen 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:41.040 is four years old people who are in the listening audience, 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.560 because that was a coveted demographic of people who listened 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.120 to the radio because they spend money. So advertisers want 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.400 to target that demographic. And so I'm doing that. And 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.520 so suffice it to say, like all of those skills 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.360 that I learned. Again, I didn't want to do right. 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.160 I never wanted to do right. Yo, Like, don't forget 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.000 that point in the story. I happened to be good 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.760 at something. I learned very quickly, how to be engaging. 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.960 I learned very quickly. How to build production skills. I 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:17.160 learned very quickly, you know, how to um make things 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.840 sound a particular way to make people want to listen 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:23.800 to it, and just creating engaging content. And so I 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.880 did this very early in my career with the intent 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.400 of finding my way into the music business. And so 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.920 story number one, the whole like crux of this conversation 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.640 is talking about how I thought I was doing this 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.320 particular thing to get to what I wanted, But there 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.640 was another plan for my life, and so I found 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.000 if you look at what I'm doing today, I have 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.480 a podcast that's her all around the world because and 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:54.840 I'm able to do this. I produced this podcast, I 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.800 do the booking for this podcast. I obviously record myself. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.600 I'm in my basement right now recording this podcast. And 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.080 I'm doing all of these things with the skills I 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:08.080 learned at seventeen and eighteen years old, having taken an 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:12.920 internship with the intent of being a music producer and songwriter. 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:18.040 I couldn't have scripted this. I could not have scripted 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.360 this because I was doing it with a particular intent. 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.240 But I did it well because I knew if I 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.000 did it well, it would put me in position. It's 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:28.800 just a different position that I thought I would be in. 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.480 But I'm living a dream today. I'm living a dream 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.200 that I didn't know I had. But it's a better 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.760 dream than the one I thought I had. Story number one, 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.880 Story number two, let's talk about it. So Afro Tech 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.120 and so I'm doing podcasts. So, oh, I gotta see 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.720 this thing about podcasts. Man, I've slipped into the podcast game. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:57.160 So I've talked about this, maybe not on this podcast, 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.760 but the one I'm about to tell you about. So 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.440 a couple of years ago had to be what like 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:07.560 five years ago? Now, um, this is before. This is 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.120 pre me being involved with afro Tech. So I'm talking 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:13.640 to a friend of mine. He's an advisor. He's a 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.640 white guy. He's an advisor to a startup that I'm founding. 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.880 I'm trying to get going at this particular stage. And 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.400 he comes to me and he says, you know, what 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.600 would it take you Remember he's a white guy. He says, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:29.880 what would it take to get more black kids interested 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.400 in tech? And I said, well, they need to see 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.320 a black Mark Zuckerberg, like somebody who looks like them 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:40.800 and is realizing success. And because that's what I believed 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:44.600 in that moment. And at the end of that conversation, 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.360 I kicked myself because I'm like, yo, like, we have 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.080 super successful black people in tech, we just don't know 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:55.000 who they are. And so I went and after that podcast, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.120 after that conversation, I went and I'm I'm thinking to myself, like, 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.200 what can I do to be part of the conversation 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:05.359 of elevating the names of black technologists? What can I 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:09.359 do to be a part of the conversation of making 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.399 sure that we have representation? So I said, Yo, I 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.160 did radio for all these years. I did radios, Leado, 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.760 I did radio and Detroit. I know how to do this. 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.200 And so I'm like, I'm gonna put together I'm gonna 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.959 do a podcast and it's called Today. I mean, I'm 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:26.919 kind of jumping ahead and the story, but just for 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.800 to save the time, I did. This podcast is called 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:34.080 of ten podcast. It was white. I was only gonna 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.760 do ten episodes. That's why it's called of ten podcasts. 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:39.240 One of ten, two of ten, three of ten. You 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.960 guys are smart. Thank you for following on. So I 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.919 did this podcast called of ten podcast. It's still in 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.040 my iTunes, you can find it today. And the point 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.960 was to highlight these super successful black people in tech, 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.800 and I wanted to share their stories, and so I 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:01.320 did this podcast. I was only intending to do ten episodes. Again, 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.199 it's called of ten podcasts, and that was gonna be it. 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.760 So I did these ten episodes. I had like fantastic 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.200 people on there. I mean like Crime de La Crime, 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.960 people who were at the top of the game in 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:19.000 these this podcast, in this season of black technology. So 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.320 I'm like the first episode was like my my guy 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.600 who's a friend of mine, mcin Day at the egg Bow. 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.359 He was like one of the lead engineers at Facebook, 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.720 friends with Mark Zuckerberg. I mean, this guy's he's fantastic 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:37.800 and he's he's actually founder of um deaf Color. He's 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.000 founder of Deaf Color. I was about to google it, 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.840 so sorry for the falls there. I was about to 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:44.719 google it, but he just came to me. He's founder 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.760 of deaf color like a black um kind of cohort 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.960 or collective of black engineers in Silicon Valley. So, um 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.639 my guy mackind So he was the first episode that 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.280 I had, and I had like a run of ten 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.640 episod so olds phenomenal people who were in this podcast 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:05.000 that I did. And I'm a nobody, Like I'm a 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:07.960 guy in Toledo and in his basement doing this podcast. 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.320 And people are saying, yes, I will do your show. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.240 And so I'll save another day to talk about how 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.919 to get great people for your podcast, but for tonight 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.280 we'll talk about, you know, putting yourself in the position 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:23.000 to be successful. So did this podcast called often podcasts 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:28.800 fantastic series of um highly successful black technologists put it 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:33.359 out and you know Twitter is like yo, people on Twitter, 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.359 not tweater, not actual Twitter people on Twitter. We're like, yo, 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:42.119 fantastic run UM episode six. I love that episode fire 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.040 Remember when he said this episode like seven? She said that, 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.360 and I was like bars, So it was like it's 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.080 fantastic run. When is your next season? And I'm like 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.679 there is no next season? Like this is it? Like 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.000 I'm I'm working on other things. I did this to 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:00.879 contribute to the conversation, like I was intending to do 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:06.280 several several seasons, but I did it, and like, this 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.639 is like a gift to the world. I didn't even 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.680 have any sponsors for this, Like I did it because 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:16.720 I wanted to contribute to the conversation. So like we're 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.760 five we were five seasons in. I'm kind of jumping 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:21.840 ahead of the story, but we did more seasons. But 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:28.840 the point is, after that first season of of Tim Podcast, Um, 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:32.439 I heard about this thing called afro Tech and I'm like, 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:34.480 how did I not know? It was the first year 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.320 of afro Tech, And I'm like, how did I not 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:41.840 know that this conference happened? Because half the people I 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:46.919 interviewed on the of Tim podcast podcast we're on the 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:51.520 stage of the first afro Tech and I said, I'm 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.360 never gonna miss another afro Tech. I'm never gonna miss 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:58.600 another one. And so I knew then, like I was sold, 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:00.520 Like I didn't I had. I didn't go to the 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.399 conference that year because I didn't know about it, but 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.280 I saw pictures and I'm like, yep, this is my thing. 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:08.920 I'm never gonna miss another one. I'm here when until 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:12.560 they stopped doing it. I knew that the first moment 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:17.119 I heard about afro Tech. So obviously I go to 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:22.359 the second year of afro Tech and I knew, I 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:27.600 absolutely knew I was gonna have a life changing experience. 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:30.320 I don't know why I knew it, I just knew it. 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.640 And so again, I'm a content creator, so I said, 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.679 you know what, I know, I'm gonna have fantastic experience. 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.240 I'm gonna vlog every day of this conference. So I'm 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:45.480 taking my camera and I'm gonna record, not with the 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:48.920 intent of like putting out, you know, like a bunch 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.640 of content, but I'm just gonna record, put a bookmark 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:56.159 there because we're gonna come back to that. I planned 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:58.800 on doing a video, and I said, I'm gonna put 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.920 out a video about my experience going to the first 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:04.680 to my first afro Tech, which is the second afro 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:08.280 Tech that ever happened. And so I was know it's 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:09.520 gonna have a good time. So I did it. So 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.480 I took my camera recorded everything about my trip to 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:14.920 getting on an airplane, matter of fact, getting in the car, 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:17.600 on the way to the airport, getting to the airport, 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.560 sitting in the airport, landing in San Francisco, first day 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.160 vibes like the whole situation, and I said, um, and 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:29.720 remember I did this up Tim podcast. I was still 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:32.720 doing the podcast at this moment, so I'm so I 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:35.679 took and I come from radio, so as I'm telling you, 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.800 the dots are connected, I come from radio, and I 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:43.280 have this podcast that is called The of Tim Podcast, 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.520 which is a tech based podcast at this time, so 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:50.120 coming from radio, I'm a DJ. I do club nights. 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:55.080 So I said, I'm gonna print flyers to take with 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:59.080 me to AFRO Tech. And on these flyers, it's not 0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:05.720 a club night, it is promoting my podcast. So everybody, 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:07.679 because I saw who was going to be speaking on 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.560 stage because it was on the website, So I said, everybody, 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:15.240 who's gonna be speaking on stage, I'm printing flyers about 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:18.360 my podcast with their faces on and saying, Hey, if 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:23.520 you like Jessica Matthews Uncharted Play Present Day, Uncharted Power, 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:27.520 check out my podcast because she's on my podcast. Hey, 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:31.200 if you like Paul Judge, several companies, a whole bunch 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:33.680 of patents, a whole bunch of money, a whole bunch 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:37.679