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Speaker 1: Commencement Speeches for the Class of is a production of

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, faculty, rising graduates, Welcome

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Speaker 1: to commencement. You made it. This year is a little different,

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Speaker 1: a difficult time to graduate because the traditional graduation day

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Speaker 1: has been put on hold. So we're bringing it to

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Speaker 1: you wherever you are because this is still your day,

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Speaker 1: your moment. And now put your hands together. It's time

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Speaker 1: to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the one and

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Speaker 1: only Bobby Brown. M Hi everyone, I'm Bobby Brown, and

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Speaker 1: I am honored to speak to the class of But

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Speaker 1: first to all the parents live saying thank you for

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Speaker 1: all you have done to get your child to this moment.

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Speaker 1: I am a mother of three sons. My youngest is

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Speaker 1: graduating the spring. I know how proud and excited I am,

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Speaker 1: and you must be too. Graduates, Thank your parents, just

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Speaker 1: do it now and again later. To all the university

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Speaker 1: faculty and staff, thank you for all you do. Your

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Speaker 1: dedicated service to educating and molding our children is commendable

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Speaker 1: and appreciated. And finally, to the graduates of the class

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Speaker 1: of twenty, congratulations. I know this semester isn't what you

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Speaker 1: are anticipating. No lounging with your friends, no lazy hours

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Speaker 1: wasting time, no drunk nights together, and no public graduation.

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Speaker 1: It sucks. It's just plain sucks. My advice to you

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Speaker 1: get over it. You are not where you thought you

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Speaker 1: would be today. You probably thought you'd just simply be

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Speaker 1: worried about getting a job, starting a career, and where

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Speaker 1: to live after graduation. And now, on top of all

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Speaker 1: of that, you're probably home with your parents, maybe some siblings,

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Speaker 1: and you're not sure where to begin. Yes, I know

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Speaker 1: it sucks. As my friend Liz Murray, who was homeless

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Speaker 1: as a teenager, graduated from Harvard and then wrote several books, said,

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Speaker 1: so what now? What? So get over it? I want

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Speaker 1: to talk to you about how I get over it.

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Speaker 1: I am an entrepreneur by accident. It's just who I

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Speaker 1: am and what I do. So what makes me an entrepreneur?

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Speaker 1: It's simple. I figure things out. When it seems like

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Speaker 1: nothing is going right, I'll find a new way to

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Speaker 1: make it work, or I discover some demand that nobody

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Speaker 1: else ever realized. That's my advice to you. Figure it out.

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Speaker 1: Look differently, act differently, don't be tied to the expected

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Speaker 1: or even anticipated, and The best part is this, You

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Speaker 1: don't need to have your life all planned out right now.

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Speaker 1: If there's one thing the current situation is teaching all

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Speaker 1: of us, it's that nobody knows what the future holds.

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Speaker 1: You never know what opportunities will come your way, but

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Speaker 1: you do need to be passionate and make the most

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Speaker 1: of what you have and to get started. In normal times,

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Speaker 1: you can be picky about your start, what jobs should

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Speaker 1: I take or what degree I should get next. Now

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Speaker 1: it's more important to just get out there and do

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Speaker 1: something other than worrying about the specifics. I believe there

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Speaker 1: are real opportunities for people that are courageous and open

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Speaker 1: and creative and willing to do whatever is needed to

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Speaker 1: be done now. When I graduated from college many years ago,

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Speaker 1: I had no clue what my journey would be. I

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Speaker 1: thought I'd find a job, and then I learned there

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Speaker 1: were no jobs and what I did just freelancing. But

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Speaker 1: I went with it. I was open, and some crazy

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Speaker 1: stuff happened. The more I was open and allowed myself

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Speaker 1: the flexibility, the more crazy things I became involved in.

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Speaker 1: When I graduated from Emerson College with a degree in

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Speaker 1: theatrical makeup, I moved to New York City to be

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Speaker 1: a makeup artist, and I knew nobody, so I looked

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Speaker 1: people up in the beauty, fashion and modeling industry in

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Speaker 1: the Yellow Pages that's what you now call Google. I

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Speaker 1: called photographers and magazines to show them my portfolio, and

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Speaker 1: I offered to work for free. I heard no a lot,

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Speaker 1: and of course the rejection was discouraging, but I never

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Speaker 1: gave up. This is a big part of getting over it,

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Speaker 1: not giving up. I was a waitress to pay the bills,

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Speaker 1: but didn't give up on my goal, which was to

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Speaker 1: make a living as a makeup artist with a long

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Speaker 1: term goal to do the makeup for a Vogue cover.

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Speaker 1: That goal took seven years to achieve, but I eventually

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Speaker 1: got it. The style of makeup when I started in

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Speaker 1: the eighties was very bold, think technicolor eyes and bright

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Speaker 1: pink cheeks. But I always believe women look better when

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Speaker 1: they look like themselves with makeup colors that look like

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Speaker 1: their skin. There were no products that allowed you to

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Speaker 1: do this, so I made my own. I started a

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Speaker 1: cosmetics company because I didn't listen to people who told

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Speaker 1: me it was a stupid idea. I named it Bobby Brown. Essentials.

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Speaker 1: After selling the lipsticks out of my house, I met

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Speaker 1: a buyer who worked for Burgder of Goodman, who took

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Speaker 1: them into the cosmetics department. We sold them on a

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Speaker 1: table until we got our own counter, and then expanded

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Speaker 1: the line, and then we launched into other stores. After

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Speaker 1: four years, we sold the company to a big corporation,

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Speaker 1: and eventually the company reached a billion dollars a year

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Speaker 1: in sales. I stayed on as the chief creative officer

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Speaker 1: for almost three decades. Then I left that brand three

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Speaker 1: and a half years ago. And what did I do well?

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Speaker 1: It wasn't an easy transition. I didn't take a vacation.

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Speaker 1: I didn't lay in bed and mope around. I got

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Speaker 1: over it. I got up, I shook myself off, picked

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Speaker 1: myself up, and started making phone calls. I didn't wait

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Speaker 1: for something to happen. I called friends. I found new

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Speaker 1: and interesting projects to work on. I made a pop

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Speaker 1: up shop, I worked on some websites. I started making podcasts.

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Speaker 1: I had no idea what I was doing. I just

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Speaker 1: figured it out and had fun doing it. I started

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Speaker 1: a line of supplements because I met a vitamin manufacturer

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Speaker 1: and told him it was something I always wanted to try.

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Speaker 1: This was also completely new to me, and I'm still

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Speaker 1: figuring it out. People often asked me, how did you

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Speaker 1: do it? My answer, I put one ft in front

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Speaker 1: of the other every day and keep going. I planned

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Speaker 1: to continue to be there in new and creative ways

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Speaker 1: to help people become the best versions of themselves. I

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Speaker 1: try my best to not let my failures stop me.

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Speaker 1: We all fail a lot of the time. Successful people

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Speaker 1: feel more than everyone else because we just try more.

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Speaker 1: We take chance is of course, it all doesn't work out,

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Speaker 1: But don't let your fear or your failures get in

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Speaker 1: the way of trying new things. Who knows where they

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Speaker 1: will lead. So to all you entrepreneurs, here are my

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Speaker 1: five tips for success. Number one, take care of yourself.

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Speaker 1: Many of you might be feeling stuck right now, and

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Speaker 1: I know how that feels. Figure out what makes you

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Speaker 1: feel good, motivated and healthy. For me, that's drinking water,

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Speaker 1: exercising as soon as I get up, and eating nourishing foods,

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Speaker 1: which I believe absolutely helps your mood and your brain.

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Speaker 1: For you, it could be anything. Do that push up challenge,

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Speaker 1: take a walk, hold a plank, whatever works for you

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Speaker 1: to connect with people, you don't have to ask for jobs.

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Speaker 1: Just think about what you know and what they do,

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Speaker 1: and how you can learn from them, even if it

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Speaker 1: meant not getting paid. It's an advantage that a lot

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Speaker 1: of you are living with mom and dad right now.

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Speaker 1: Think about what you could do, even from home, to

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Speaker 1: help people with their businesses. You never know. Reach out

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Speaker 1: on Instagram, damn people write people letters on paper, rate emails,

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Speaker 1: call people. Just start reaching out. Number three, be flexible.

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Speaker 1: Think of all the opportunities, the mega opportunities, that will

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Speaker 1: be in front of you in this new future. We're

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Speaker 1: not going back to the way things were, at least

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Speaker 1: according to this entrepreneur. So what could you do differently?

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Speaker 1: How are you going to use this historical time to

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Speaker 1: change it up? Think outside the box to something nobody

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Speaker 1: else is doing. Number four, take this time to reflect.

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Speaker 1: Things don't always go as planned, things are not always perfect,

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Speaker 1: And I'm someone who knows for sure that sometimes by

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Speaker 1: taking a step back, you're able to leap forward. So

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Speaker 1: take this time to think and to feel. Figure out

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Speaker 1: who you want to be, who you could be, then

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Speaker 1: figure out how to get there. And five be yourself.

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Speaker 1: My career was possible because I stayed true to what

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Speaker 1: I believed despite the current trends. My most important advice

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Speaker 1: to all new graduates is simple. Just be yourself. Be authentic,

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Speaker 1: be comfortable with yourself, not what you think you should be.

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Speaker 1: And once you do that, you'll find that people like

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Speaker 1: you for you. It's the greatest gift. So graduates, now

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Speaker 1: is the time. Who needs you the most right now,

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Speaker 1: the food pantry, the soup kitchen. Donate your time if

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Speaker 1: you have to, but get out there and beat everyone

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Speaker 1: else by your enthusiasm, fearlessness, and perseverance. These three things

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Speaker 1: will help you along the way in the next couple

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Speaker 1: of years. Get over it, get over yourself, get out there.

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Speaker 1: Congratulations to the class of You've got this. You can

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Speaker 1: find the collection of the credible commencement addresses from all

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Speaker 1: your favorite speakers at the Commencement Podcast on I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts. M