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Speaker 1: My next guest. His name is Benipu. He's a respected

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Speaker 1: entertainment industry veteran of decades of experience, propelling the careers

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Speaker 1: of some of the leading superstars. I say superstars do

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Speaker 1: mence words, including Jay z Rihanna, Kanye West, Travis Scott,

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Speaker 1: future DJ Khalid. In twenty one, Savage q Is left

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Speaker 1: an indelible mark on the music industry, holding the executive

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Speaker 1: roles that labels like Motown, Deaf Jam, Epic Records, MC Records,

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Speaker 1: rock Nation. That's when he called me, said he was

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Speaker 1: doing Rock Nation. I tried to hook up rock Nation

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Speaker 1: boy before ultimately deciding to pivot to This is why

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Speaker 1: he's on the show, pivoting to entrepreneurship, because that's what

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Speaker 1: money Making Conversations Masterclass is all about, not getting so

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Speaker 1: much locked in and what you're doing, but what you're

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Speaker 1: capable of doing for your own personal dream. Over two

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Speaker 1: years later, Ben and Pew's multi multitiered entertainment company, Diverse

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Speaker 1: Diverse Media is home to record labels, distribution, platform, publishing

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Speaker 1: management and more. Please working with the Money Making Conversations

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Speaker 1: Matter Class. The CEO Benny people, what uh are you doing?

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Speaker 1: My friends are you man, when you're Benny, it's uh.

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Speaker 1: First of all, let me just tell you why Benny

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Speaker 1: is so special to me. Steve Harvey, Now he gave

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Speaker 1: us our first record deal way back in the two

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Speaker 1: thousand one or two. Man, listen, that was a real

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Speaker 1: story to man. You guys, one thing I will say

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Speaker 1: about you and Steve is that you know there's no

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Speaker 1: secret on why you guys are successful because you know,

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Speaker 1: I've been in as I started my career in Motown Records,

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Speaker 1: So I was blessed start my introduction into the music

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Speaker 1: business and a black owned company, right, which is different,

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Speaker 1: like everyone's journey is different. But one thing that I

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Speaker 1: feel blessed was is that you know, they made us

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Speaker 1: work hard. Um, you know how it is when we

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Speaker 1: with us, right, But they taught me a lot, and

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Speaker 1: they wouldn't allow me to fail. They made me work

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Speaker 1: and wouldn't allow me to fail. They made me working

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Speaker 1: all right. But when I when I met you and Steve,

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Speaker 1: I saw it, like you know, the connection and the

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Speaker 1: love and the driving, the determination and one thing that

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Speaker 1: you guys always had was foresight and vision. So to

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Speaker 1: see where you both are is in a surprise to

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Speaker 1: me because you're always some tight top dress, yo, super clean.

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Speaker 1: I ain't yo, y'all remind me of jam and Lewis.

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Speaker 1: He mayn't remind me like this. If I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: drop it, I'm not gonna drop none. The worse that

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Speaker 1: I gotta get the people. Oh, I gotta get the

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Speaker 1: people a little bit about you know. I hear you

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Speaker 1: all that money making and all that good good, all

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Speaker 1: that good talk, but they don't know. Man, You're a

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Speaker 1: real one and um, you know what you talk is

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Speaker 1: really what you're about. So I'm so excited to be

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Speaker 1: here and just you know, be able to um speak

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Speaker 1: to your audience, and that you're extending, you know, an

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Speaker 1: opportunity for to do this with you. So appreciate your brother.

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Speaker 1: We know, Benny, um, the the the the ability to communicate.

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Speaker 1: It's always been your skill set, you know what. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I've met him in the l A, I've

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Speaker 1: met him at your car, i met him in Las Vegas,

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Speaker 1: I've met him in Atlanta, I've met him in New

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Speaker 1: York City. But it's always consistent. Your tone and your

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Speaker 1: personality has always been consistent. Is that intentional or you

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Speaker 1: have a clear understanding that people what they expect that

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Speaker 1: you should be delivering that. So it all starts for me.

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Speaker 1: It started at home. You know, my parents would never

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Speaker 1: allow us to speak with our head down in eyes down,

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Speaker 1: never did that. Um then as uh, you know, we

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Speaker 1: were being reared, realized the value of what we say

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Speaker 1: is what we mean, right, and you know all of

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Speaker 1: those things. We came from a strong Christian background, Like

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Speaker 1: my mother was a real Christian, not like the fake Christians.

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Speaker 1: But you'll know the real Bible, you know, the real Bible.

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Speaker 1: Like I never saw my mother the pair of jeans

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Speaker 1: and pants because there's a scripture somewhere I haven't found

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Speaker 1: it yet in the Bible that women I don't in jeans.

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Speaker 1: Wasn't even around then, but there's a scripture that women

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Speaker 1: shouldn't emulate men in any But you know, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: your audience, them, good old Baptist Christian men and men

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Speaker 1: understand that. And so we gret. We grew up in

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Speaker 1: a in a very you know, devout household in that respect.

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Speaker 1: But I think what what was really important for me

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Speaker 1: and identification was the fact that um I started delivering

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Speaker 1: papers and news newspapers at eleven years old. And what

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Speaker 1: you realize in the lessons that were given and dealing

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Speaker 1: with adults, it's kind of like now in business, managing up.

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Speaker 1: You know, just like when you go to a restaurant,

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Speaker 1: you eat, believe it or not. The service at a

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Speaker 1: disadvantage because you can always say I don't like it,

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Speaker 1: you go to the bathroom and leave right. There's a

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Speaker 1: lot of things that can happen, but you've already provide

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Speaker 1: the service. So at eleven years old, I realized how

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Speaker 1: shifty adults could be. Not un delivered the paper all week,

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Speaker 1: and rain had to get up at six in the

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Speaker 1: morning collect day. Y'all know when collect day is, you

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Speaker 1: either never dare they get a little bit, you gotta

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Speaker 1: come back later, come see me on Saturday, or like

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Speaker 1: you know what, they disappeared for three or four weeks.

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Speaker 1: So at that point I realized, you know, I wasn't

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Speaker 1: a child anymore because I was dealing with adults. So

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Speaker 1: it's like playing up in basketball, right like your freshman

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Speaker 1: playing with the seniors. So ultimately, I never really dealt

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Speaker 1: with kids my age in that aspect because I was always,

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Speaker 1: you know, dealing with adults. So I learned how to

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Speaker 1: customize myself in situations going up and down. Absolutely. The

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Speaker 1: interesting thing about just having you on the show. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about your book that's coming

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Speaker 1: out in September, and just that note right there, why

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Speaker 1: are you writing a book bene of you? So there's

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Speaker 1: a story behind that. I never had aspirations on doing

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Speaker 1: a book, but on August thirty feet I was in

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Speaker 1: a near death car accident. August two, I took my

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Speaker 1: son to boarding school. He went to i MG and

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Speaker 1: Brandon and Florida, And on the twenty sixth of August,

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Speaker 1: a friend of mine called me in the office and

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Speaker 1: he asked me if I wanted to go to a barbecue,

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Speaker 1: and I told him yes. The next day, he called

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Speaker 1: me on Wednesday and asked me if I was still coming.

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Speaker 1: That Thursday, he calls me again and asked me if

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Speaker 1: I'm still coming. That Saturday morning, I took a flight

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Speaker 1: from New Jersey down to Charlotte, North Carolina, and from Charlotte,

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Speaker 1: I drove to Columbia, South Carolina to visit my sister

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Speaker 1: and my nephews and spend some time with them while

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Speaker 1: they were playing football. My sister and I would drove

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Speaker 1: from Columbia to Orangeburg to spend some time with my

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Speaker 1: father and celebrated send me a birthday, and I spent

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Speaker 1: a little time with my mother, who has Alzheimer's. My

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Speaker 1: friend calls me a getting asked me if we're still coming.

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Speaker 1: On the thirty one, I drive from Columbia to Charlotte

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Speaker 1: to take a flight back to New York. It was

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Speaker 1: a misty rain that day, so the flight was delayed.

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Speaker 1: Get on the plane, fly back to New York about

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Speaker 1: an hour and a half late. Now I call my

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Speaker 1: wife and let her know I'm gonna be late because

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Speaker 1: the flight was delayed and I had a meeting in

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Speaker 1: New York City. In Manhattan. Driving home, my friend calls.

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Speaker 1: He asked me, are you still coming? And I said yes.

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Speaker 1: I called my wife, let her know to get my

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Speaker 1: youngest daughter and let her know that we weren't going

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Speaker 1: to take the convertible because it um seemed like it

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be safe with this rain. So we take the truck,

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Speaker 1: picked him up. We drove out the rule in New Jersey.

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Speaker 1: We're about twenty minutes out. My friend calls me. He

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Speaker 1: asked me again, are we coming? I said yeah. So

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Speaker 1: finally we get to the house and what I thought

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Speaker 1: was just a barbecue. He actually catered for the two family,

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Speaker 1: so it was really sweet. Four adults, three bottles of wine.

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Speaker 1: He and I peel off out of the living room

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Speaker 1: and we go into the deck. His house is ten

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Speaker 1: thousand square feet, so there's a lot of distance. We're

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Speaker 1: sitting on the deck and uh, we're reminiscing. I've known

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Speaker 1: him about thirty five years, and you know, talking about

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Speaker 1: the good things. A lot of challenges happen in his life,

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Speaker 1: challenges happening in my life. That misty rain happens again.

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Speaker 1: So I don't know whether he said or I said, Well,

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Speaker 1: we both stood up and said, you know what, let's

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Speaker 1: go take a ride. He just bought a new five

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Speaker 1: fifty bends. So we walked from the deck, through the

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Speaker 1: kitchen into the car. Poard jump in the car, turns

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Speaker 1: on the radio, He backs out, jumps out of the car,

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Speaker 1: walks in the house, gets a cigar, gets back in

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Speaker 1: the house, down the women and the two kids. They

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Speaker 1: come out. Don't know why black people always want to

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Speaker 1: see people pull off, but that's what we do, right

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Speaker 1: when we do that in a way, he backs out,

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Speaker 1: drives out his driveway, which is probably a length of

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Speaker 1: a New York City block. We get to the end

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Speaker 1: of the road where he opens the gate. It's a

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Speaker 1: two lane roadway and rule New Jersey. He literally makes

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Speaker 1: it right and I hear him and the car just

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Speaker 1: shoots off. So I made a call all day. So

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Speaker 1: I pick up my phone and I cut my eyes

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Speaker 1: and look at the old demo and the cars the

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Speaker 1: seventy five. So now I cut my eyes and I

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Speaker 1: turned my whole head and he's out conscious with his

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Speaker 1: foot on the accelerator. So now from where we started

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Speaker 1: two impact was a half a mile without the car

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Speaker 1: moving forward without a driver. At that point, I did

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Speaker 1: what I was always conditioned to do, what my mother

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Speaker 1: has always taught us to do, and speak to God.

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Speaker 1: And the first thing I said, because I've seen all

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Speaker 1: of my family obviously my son, saw my sister, my mother,

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Speaker 1: my father, my daughter, and my sister standing in the yard,

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Speaker 1: I said, Lord, I guess I'm not going to see

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Speaker 1: my family anymore. The second thing I said that God

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Speaker 1: is Lord, I guess I'm gonna see you soon. Because

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Speaker 1: now I get a grip so my mortality, and you realize,

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Speaker 1: like just skin in it can't end good. Because the

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Speaker 1: car is now without a driver. At ninety miles an hour.

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Speaker 1: The third thing I do is I get mad with God.

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Speaker 1: But I'm glad God didn't get mad with me, because

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Speaker 1: I thought about, who's gonna pull wisdom into my son

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Speaker 1: at this point, who's gonna marry my two girls, My

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Speaker 1: wife's not prepared for this moment, who's gonna take care

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Speaker 1: of my mother? And most importantly, you know, God, have

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Speaker 1: I known I was gonna die today, I wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: came to this barbecue. As we start veering off the road,

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Speaker 1: we start clipping trees and bushes, and every time he

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Speaker 1: would um take his foot off the car with decelerat,

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Speaker 1: he was out right. He was out conscious, gone foot

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Speaker 1: on the accelerator, car being driven by itself. So at

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Speaker 1: some point we hit something in the middle of the

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Speaker 1: road and the car just shot across um through the

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Speaker 1: opposite side of the road, and we had an oak.

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Speaker 1: At ninety miles an hour, I sustained a level to

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Speaker 1: concussion l three old four vertebrae fracture, bulging disk in

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Speaker 1: my back. We had to tree so hard that a

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Speaker 1: lacerated my liver, which led me to lead out half

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Speaker 1: the blood in my body and the force of of

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Speaker 1: the tree and the belt restraining me um severed two

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Speaker 1: ft in my small intestine, and at that moment God

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Speaker 1: put a book inside of me called on Impact, which

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Speaker 1: takes you through my journey from eleven years old delivering

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Speaker 1: newspapers to modern day. An Impact is an acronyms that

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Speaker 1: stands for intuition, mastery, pivot, authenticity, connection and teamwork. And

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Speaker 1: at the end of each chapter is a hit list

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Speaker 1: that the reader can apply to themselves and say, pretty much,

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Speaker 1: if Benny could do it, I can do it too.

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Speaker 1: And that is what led me to this point in

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Speaker 1: the pivot aspect of moving forward in a different direction

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Speaker 1: in my life. We'll be right back with more Money

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Speaker 1: Making Conversations Master Last with Rushan McDonald. Now let's return

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Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Fear is

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Speaker 1: a good thing, because unknown is a good thing. I

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Speaker 1: always tell people we live a life of being too comfortable.

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Speaker 1: And if you live that comfortable life, are you happy

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Speaker 1: with that comfortable life? When I say that, I'm not

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Speaker 1: talking about just a job. I'm talking about a relationship.

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about where you're living. I'm talking about to

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Speaker 1: call your driving the clothes you're wearing. Are you're comfortable

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Speaker 1: walking out that front door. Are you comfortable sitting at

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Speaker 1: that desk and where you're working? If not, then you

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Speaker 1: need to pivot. And when you pivot, they're no guarantees

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Speaker 1: the beauty of your life. Up to that point, when

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Speaker 1: you're with your friends driving down the road, everything was normal.

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Speaker 1: You live in a normal life. When you looked over

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Speaker 1: there and saw he was unconscious and eighty miles an hour,

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Speaker 1: those few seconds you had to think everything was abnormal,

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Speaker 1: everything was against the trend and so but but at

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Speaker 1: that impact, it had to be every think it was

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Speaker 1: in slow motion, if I that's how it really does

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Speaker 1: happen in slow motion. And because I've been there, you know,

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Speaker 1: like I was telling you all fair from a from

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Speaker 1: a life journey, you know our my lung collapse, stayed

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Speaker 1: in hospital thirty days. And I was one of those

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Speaker 1: people who thought like I was a self healer. You know,

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Speaker 1: if I got sick, I go play basketball. I just

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Speaker 1: sweat it out of me. You know, I never stayed

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Speaker 1: in bed. And then in that's when I was diagnosed

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Speaker 1: with cancer. And when you were talking that same story,

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Speaker 1: it was very relatable to me, because what happens is

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Speaker 1: when you met with tragedy or a decisive moment in

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Speaker 1: your life that you can't control. That's that's the that's

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Speaker 1: the part right there that y'all need to understand. When

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Speaker 1: he was looking over there at his friend, not knowing

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Speaker 1: what was wrong with his friend, he knew that car

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Speaker 1: was driving and he couldn't stop what was happening with it.

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Speaker 1: That's not being in control. And so when they told

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Speaker 1: me I had cancer, I had no control right there,

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Speaker 1: but I had an understanding that well is going on

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Speaker 1: in my life at the time, and the people I

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Speaker 1: cared about, the people I wanted to be, to be successful.

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Speaker 1: That's where I'm living hopefully. That's why you're living, Benny.

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Speaker 1: That's why it's a blessing to have a family. It

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Speaker 1: carries on you have a reason to live. And so

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Speaker 1: I was all right, you know, I looked at everything

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Speaker 1: that was happening in my life, the people around me,

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Speaker 1: the people that had touched I was all right with die.

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Speaker 1: Not saying I wanted to die, but it did tell

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Speaker 1: me at that point I needed to change my direction exactly.

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Speaker 1: And and God finds a way of getting the attention,

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Speaker 1: and what you're talking about is in regards to like

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Speaker 1: the pivot. You know, when I look at my journey

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Speaker 1: in the music business after three decades, what people fail

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Speaker 1: to realize, like when I left UM rock Nation and like,

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Speaker 1: how could you leave that job? And well, it's the

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Speaker 1: best thing, Like it was an amazing situation. But have

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Speaker 1: you followed my career. I left every job at the

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Speaker 1: top because what I'm a believer is not talk about

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Speaker 1: to be about it. And I left all of those

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Speaker 1: people that starting in Motown to finishing my career in

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Speaker 1: corporate rock Nation and def Jam and Epic and all

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Speaker 1: of these situations because as a giver, it's it's about

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Speaker 1: teaching people, giving them the opportunity, showing them how to fish,

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Speaker 1: and then let them fish right. And so at this point,

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Speaker 1: even in the current landscape, a lot of the people

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Speaker 1: I taught to fish and now the people that are

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Speaker 1: now in control of the business. Because it's not about

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Speaker 1: me having the best folks with me. It's about me

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Speaker 1: going helping others to be the best. And when you're

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Speaker 1: doing that, then you don't worry and life is good. Man.

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Speaker 1: You know, we don't get up and down, you know,

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Speaker 1: we know we don't have manna sandwiches and woggle right.

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Speaker 1: You know how to do bone right and sometimes you

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Speaker 1: put a little manna's on woggle. The beauty of what

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Speaker 1: we're talking about here, I want everybody hit is but

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Speaker 1: we got to slow it down a little bit because see,

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Speaker 1: your pivot was tied to an accident that nearly killed you.

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Speaker 1: One of my pivots, because that's not the only if

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Speaker 1: he always told you he left jobs at top, so

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Speaker 1: he was pivoted and seeing other opportunities. So we're just

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Speaker 1: talking about this one moment and not saying and we

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Speaker 1: want to let you know that everybody doesn't need to

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Speaker 1: have a life threatening diagnosis, a life threatening event to

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Speaker 1: change your direction. When you hear me talk like this,

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Speaker 1: how do you encourage people to step out on fear,

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Speaker 1: past that fear and step And if we always hear

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Speaker 1: this stepping out on faith, I would say, if you

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Speaker 1: don't have a playing with their faith, it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: a short journey. Talk to us, Benny. So you know,

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Speaker 1: I think to your point is is actually seeing the

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Speaker 1: finish line? Right? Um. I wake up every day knowing

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Speaker 1: where I want to be, so whatever comes along the

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Speaker 1: way I'm comfortable with it, right. If you know, if

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Speaker 1: it's uh, if it's a it's a great day, it's

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Speaker 1: a great day. If it's a bad day, it's a

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Speaker 1: bad day. Because as you know, you're in the moment

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Speaker 1: right right, the past is gone and you know today

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Speaker 1: is only you know yesterday for tomorrow. So you gotta

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Speaker 1: take the time in order to accomplish what you're doing

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Speaker 1: today and the value of what it is. Because once again,

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Speaker 1: whether I never knew before the value of time until

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Speaker 1: I walked out of that house and realized in an

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Speaker 1: instant things change. So why I'm in control of what

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Speaker 1: I am in control of? Make it matter now. The

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Speaker 1: finish line is how you see the finish happening, and

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Speaker 1: along the way, you stay focused on what it is

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Speaker 1: that you want. Don't don't straight, stay focused on what

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Speaker 1: you want, and that's where the accomplishments are come. Because

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Speaker 1: if you wake up every day truly loving what you do,

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Speaker 1: nothing else matters. Doesn't matter how much money you make, right,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't. And when you make a lot of money,

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Speaker 1: you know how to make that money work right. And

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Speaker 1: if you if you just make because once again, I've

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Speaker 1: been saving money, my mom taught me how to save

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Speaker 1: since I was five years old. I had um Christmas clubs,

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Speaker 1: some of for those who are old enough to know Christmas.

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Speaker 1: Cause my mother used to walk me a mile to

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Speaker 1: the bank and we put a dollar together in the bank.

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Speaker 1: So she taught me how to save money then at five.

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Speaker 1: So that's enrooted in me right, in which I rooted

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Speaker 1: my children and still in my children, which all of

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Speaker 1: us should do right. Because we don't know what the

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Speaker 1: value right or what we do in the responsibility of

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Speaker 1: who we are on what we're supposed to do right.

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Speaker 1: I think we get very sidetracked. And social media is

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Speaker 1: a problem with that right, like it's it's about to

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Speaker 1: swipe up, swipe down. What you're the thing about? You know,

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Speaker 1: millennials world problem. You know, we realized now that millennials

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Speaker 1: just take advantage of technology. While people were complaining about technology,

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Speaker 1: millennials saw an opportunity to skip tax steps. So technology

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Speaker 1: is tied to that. So all you have to do

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Speaker 1: with either during the game that line long line of

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Speaker 1: people who want to change or that very short line

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Speaker 1: of people who are frustrated. And I say short line

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Speaker 1: because a lot of people getting out of that line.

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Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, So you can look around you.

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Speaker 1: You'll never be by yourself because there's stuffing to people

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Speaker 1: out there who are just gonna admit. We won't admit

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Speaker 1: they change. But the thing that I really wanted to

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Speaker 1: point out and just hearing you talk and uh and

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Speaker 1: and dealing with it, you know when we start, we've

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Speaker 1: we've been fortunately have a lot of famous names in

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Speaker 1: our tied to our resume. Go with Robert towns Unti

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Speaker 1: and Tamara Maori, I can go with the Bo Neigue.

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Speaker 1: I can go with Jamie Fox, uh, Kevin Hard, Nick

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Speaker 1: Can and the list goes on and on and each

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Speaker 1: one of those people, Steve Harvey, Stephen Nay Smith, there's

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Speaker 1: people always say wow, you just these people have unique skills,

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Speaker 1: unique skills that separate them and make them special, make

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Speaker 1: them all too because they can't work around everybody. They

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Speaker 1: have to be around a certain amount of people. And

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Speaker 1: if you're around them and you don't have that same mindset,

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Speaker 1: they will trample you because they want to be great.

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Speaker 1: And if you don't understand, if you're hanging out there

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Speaker 1: just to have a good time, you won't be around

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Speaker 1: these people. A long talk about hanging out with those

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Speaker 1: type of people. Um, it's not my chance that's successful. Yes,

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Speaker 1: none of them, the ones that you named your repertoire

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Speaker 1: you worked with and equally showing the ones that I have.

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Speaker 1: They all have that you not unique skill set and

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Speaker 1: that is determination and drive by any means necessary. They're

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Speaker 1: focus individuals. I mean you see it. Um, I've been

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Speaker 1: with with individuals that you know that they would be

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Speaker 1: who they are just because of their work ethic, Like

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Speaker 1: there is no break time, it's work time, right. And

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Speaker 1: and ideally, when you're on a dream, right and you're

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Speaker 1: on a quest or you have a journey, that's what

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Speaker 1: your focus is. So you need people who buy in

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Speaker 1: and understand exactly where you're going. And those of who

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Speaker 1: you need around not naysayers, not hanger on right now,

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Speaker 1: people that kill your spirit? What are you not gonna

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Speaker 1: make it? Let them go, right, let them go and

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Speaker 1: and ideally you know that's what becomes most important, is

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Speaker 1: is understanding the company you keep. Will be right back

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Speaker 1: with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald.

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Speaker 1: Music is always key to what we do, and it's

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Speaker 1: time to everything we do in life. I always tell

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Speaker 1: you know, our relationship goes back to a record Daily

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Speaker 1: brought to Steve and I a long time ago. And

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Speaker 1: if and if P did he were released the artist

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Speaker 1: that we needed as our first single. Uh he and

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Speaker 1: I might not be sitting here, but it's a beautiful thing.

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Speaker 1: So I wanted to just drop some nuggets about what

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Speaker 1: this book is all about. You talked about how I

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Speaker 1: got started, but your impact man, on how to motivate

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Speaker 1: people and take them to the next level. Let's talk

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Speaker 1: about a couple of keys the key to building mental

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Speaker 1: relationship because people don't understand young people understand the value

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Speaker 1: of mentorship because they understand that, But what is really

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Speaker 1: the value of building mental relationships? Man? If you mentoring

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Speaker 1: changed my life? Uh? As I said when I started

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Speaker 1: at Motown Records. The woman who actually gave me my

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Speaker 1: first job works for me now, right because you know,

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Speaker 1: once again, you know, life goes through with cycles and

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Speaker 1: and that's what long term relationships are about. Right. People

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Speaker 1: pour into you. You make sure that you're able to

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Speaker 1: give something back when it's time to drink, and and

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Speaker 1: that's how it works. And you know, like for me,

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Speaker 1: with with the companies that I've worked for, it's about teach,

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Speaker 1: especially for US is IS minorities and African Americans and

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Speaker 1: you know all folks is you know, we need a break,

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Speaker 1: we need an opportunity. There's a lot of things we

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Speaker 1: don't know. So instead of making a mistake, like think

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Speaker 1: of it in its most rudimentary basic terms. If you

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Speaker 1: didn't know green means go, yellow means casting, and red

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Speaker 1: means stopped, you'd always just walk in the street. But

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Speaker 1: there's someone to teach you and didn't move you along

427
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: in in in life in that in that respect, and

428
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: and that's what I was able to do with the

429
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,920
Speaker 1: people that I've um worked with. I've had some amazing

430
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 1: mentors from Dietre taid L, a read Um, you know,

431
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,680
Speaker 1: just to just to name a few and um. It's

432
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 1: a great resource for those to have an opportunity to

433
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,880
Speaker 1: be able to ask questions that you know, you may

434
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 1: not feel that confident and asking what those where you

435
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,960
Speaker 1: can be vulnerable. And that's the importance of of giving

436
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 1: people an opportunity to be vulnerable to grow, because if not,

437
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,159
Speaker 1: they'll make mistakes and mistakes that you already have the

438
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: answers to why would you do that? Right? Right? We know.

439
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: The interesting thing about it, I always talk about, you know,

440
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 1: because we talked about money earlier. I would tell people

441
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,919
Speaker 1: I never go into a relationship thinking about money, you know.

442
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 1: I think about what I can build and what value

443
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,160
Speaker 1: I can create, Because if you create value in any situation,

444
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,679
Speaker 1: somebody's gonna pay you some money. Somebody gonna pay you

445
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,920
Speaker 1: some money. Man, somebody gonna pay you some money. They're

446
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 1: gonna pay And a lot of people missed that. They

447
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: come in this was this is what I want to

448
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,880
Speaker 1: get paid, and it guess what, and then people start

449
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,240
Speaker 1: judging you based on what they paid you. Now, when

450
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: you create value a need, they don't judge it. They

451
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: know they have to pay to maintain that relationship or

452
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,239
Speaker 1: maintain that skill or product that you're delivering on a

453
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,400
Speaker 1: consistent basis. But you have to be consistent about it.

454
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,560
Speaker 1: I'll remember that when I was how I got started

455
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:18,960
Speaker 1: in radio. We're just sitting in the back of the

456
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,680
Speaker 1: studio watching Steve Harbor every day and frontally, Ie went,

457
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 1: I can do this, and I started dropping producer notes

458
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 1: producing next to you know, I was then executive producer

459
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,399
Speaker 1: of the morning show because I had value and I

460
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 1: saw it the I learned my craft, But nobody paid

461
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,879
Speaker 1: me extra money to get up at five thirty to

462
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: going to student at six o'clock. I could have stayed

463
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 1: at home and just collected my my commission check because

464
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 1: I got paid on the deal. But you knew where

465
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,399
Speaker 1: you was going and the opportunity was the value like

466
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,440
Speaker 1: there wasn't um when I was at a company. Um,

467
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,480
Speaker 1: it was an interesting point. I had to make a

468
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: decision on whether I was going to stay at the company,

469
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 1: and I was I was gonna take another job and

470
00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 1: take a six figure pay cut. Right, that's better that

471
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 1: That was probably the first real bet on yourself, right,

472
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,119
Speaker 1: the real bet on yourself. But um, it was an

473
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: opportunity at this particular company that they never gave outsiders

474
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 1: an opportunity to come in and they were the best.

475
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,679
Speaker 1: So for me, the value was I want to go

476
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 1: learn how they do their business, and that opportunity wanted

477
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 1: up paying thirty x Right. Like at the end of

478
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,879
Speaker 1: the day, that money that I didn't make for that

479
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: period of time, I didn't make it. Oh, I made

480
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 1: that over and over and over again because of the education,

481
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 1: right and realizing, following and looking at where I wanted

482
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: to go. And these are steps, right. It's the tuition

483
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: that you pay to be yourself right, right. I literally

484
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 1: just give you an example of my relationship to that.

485
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 1: I remember when I was a writer, was on ABC.

486
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: The show got counsel of Steve Harvey, Me and the

487
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 1: boys got counseled. And then I went over to Robert

488
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: Town's first show. You know, they cut my money in

489
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: half or so cool I'm working and then they but

490
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 1: they kept my job titled. They didn't the same, and

491
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,359
Speaker 1: so I went to UM. I went to Warner Brothers

492
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: Studios and I sat down. They said, uh, I said,

493
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: I just want my job title to be elevated. He said,

494
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,440
Speaker 1: we can't give you no more money. I said, I'm

495
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,359
Speaker 1: not asking for no more money. I just want my

496
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,320
Speaker 1: job title to be elevated. He said does that mean us? Yes,

497
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,879
Speaker 1: because see that's about you know, like you said, showing

498
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: value with your name, because you know it's the staff writer,

499
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 1: executive story of it, you know, assistant producer, producers super right.

500
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,920
Speaker 1: So I was about to miss a step. That guy

501
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 1: looked at me. He goes, nobody's ever coming here, and

502
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 1: said they wanted a title but not worried about the money.

503
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 1: That small move got to me eventually be co Executive

504
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 1: Producer to the Jamie Foxx Show. If I didn't go

505
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,120
Speaker 1: in that room and tell this guy, don't worry about

506
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: the money, just give me the job title, I would

507
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,520
Speaker 1: have never got to be the co executive producer to

508
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 1: the j B. Fox Show because I live in the

509
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,639
Speaker 1: title behind correct, I see you? And so that's what

510
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: that that that that's my slide over to your the

511
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 1: value of personal branding something you know, oh too well,

512
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,639
Speaker 1: And I want to let somebody know on my side,

513
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: I did a personal branding moved way back then before

514
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 1: branding was as they said in Vogue today, everybody uses

515
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,640
Speaker 1: it so much, but nobody knows what it really means.

516
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 1: Talk about personal branding, Bene Pew. So it started for

517
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: me as a child. You know, it's uh, it's a

518
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,119
Speaker 1: funny story. Um, My sister Regina and I and the

519
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:34,800
Speaker 1: rest of our family. We grew up in a five

520
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: family house and in the attic is which where our

521
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,119
Speaker 1: apartment was, and the winners were really cold in the

522
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: summers were really hot. And what was the chances that

523
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 1: my last name being Pew. That there was a family

524
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: of skunks that lived in proximity of the house under

525
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: the house and you know, for our distance. So when

526
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,919
Speaker 1: whether the raccoons or cats or dogs would would agitate

527
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 1: these skunks, they would spray, and what would happen is

528
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,160
Speaker 1: that the scent would go the draft would pull through

529
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:13,199
Speaker 1: the house and come in to our apartment, and me

530
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 1: and my sister literally would smell like skunks. So we

531
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: would go to school with the last name Pew smelling

532
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: like skunks. And kids as mean as they are, you know,

533
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,439
Speaker 1: like children, like just nasty. You know, we can be

534
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 1: bad like kids. We all we're back heads, right, and

535
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,119
Speaker 1: realized at that point, you know, it could have been

536
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 1: a pure negative. I can't change my name, right, um,

537
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: and obviously I'm not in control of the circumstances with

538
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 1: the skunk. So that was at the point when I

539
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 1: decided to brand myself and make sure my name mattered.

540
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 1: So that's why I'm always Benny Pew, not Ben. I'm

541
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 1: not Benny. I'm Benny Pew because I wanted my name

542
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,239
Speaker 1: the matter, because of the I can say that, you know,

543
00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:58,960
Speaker 1: like I would say, you know, Oprah, I'm not trying

544
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 1: to be open. Open can top you. You know if

545
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: you if you got a bad thing that happened, you're like,

546
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 1: we got a bad thing after your you know what

547
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Oh you are? You know I was on

548
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:17,240
Speaker 1: listen that's open because you know, because of my name Rushan.

549
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: You know, my father's really annaunciated Russian. And so I

550
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 1: had to make a decision is it Russian? To Rashan

551
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 1: and said, pick a name? Brother, I remember two? He said,

552
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 1: pick a name. I say Ros. He said, but don't

553
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,000
Speaker 1: say it like that. Don't say it like you're guessing.

554
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 1: Say Rashan, Okay, Rashan. And so same thing there. If

555
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 1: you make a decision, ride the decision out and then don't.

556
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,719
Speaker 1: If you don't want to be called Chris, your real

557
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,480
Speaker 1: name is Christopher, say let people say your real name

558
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: christ for her. And that's what people so much and

559
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: so long in life. There are a lot of the

560
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: people to define their path. What is the thing that

561
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 1: really set you apart? As far as defining people with advice, faith,

562
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: I mean it's very clear, Um, you know what you

563
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 1: believe is important because it all starts with with the

564
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,320
Speaker 1: beliefs in the almighty and then belief in yourself. It's

565
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: really important. UM. Everything else the secondary to me. Right. Ultimately,

566
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: you know someone who's been in UM, some of the

567
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 1: worst situations and the best and some of the best situations.

568
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,840
Speaker 1: What's been most important is my driving for us has

569
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,080
Speaker 1: been my faith. So that's really it's simple for me.

570
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 1: I always tell people that, UM, but a strong belief

571
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 1: in what you wanna do will be tied to the

572
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 1: goals you put in place to achieve your dream. But

573
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: it all starts with a dream. But a dream cannot

574
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,160
Speaker 1: be a complience without goals. The goals you put in

575
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: action to create create next level opportunity. I thank you

576
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: for coming on the show, brother Man. That was good man.

577
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: Say that again, Rashan McDonald, and that's been benef you.

578
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 1: Thank you so