Feeling drained and down lately? Who have you been keeping company with?
Ultimately, we all want two things in life… to feel good and to have control. We can’t always have either, both or one of the other at all times when it concerns others but we CAN CONTROL how WE FEEL. I could literally end the whole story with that last sentence because it’s JUST THAT SIMPLE. As black entrepreneurs, we must consider that there will be naysayers, people who are jealous and people who will not believe in what we do because they can’t see what we see for themselves. There are others who are just stuck but truth be told when you are in a race for the finish line if you take time to stop, look back or even look to the side you will lose time. This is absolutely not to say that all negative people are the way they are because they simply choose to be that way.
Some people have had horrific experiences in their lives and they have lost all faith in mankind. Nevertheless, they are not alone. MANY people have had horrific experiences but they CHOOSE to take the high road. As a matter of fact, many black entrepreneurs that I have come across have horror stories to tell about the way they grew up, abusive relationships or even extreme poverty growing up but they have made a decision to ensure that their lives and their children’s lives will be very different. This past weekend, I hung out with an old friend who is by far the most negative person I know. She constantly complains about everything and her presence is an extreme weight on one’s soul.
I finally had to tell her how negative she is and how much she complains about EVERYTHING. I also told her that most people will not say a word, they will have a bad experience with you once and you will never hear from them again. I get why people do that. When you tell someone how negative they are, they don’t listen because they are not into taking responsibility for their actions, they are into blaming everyone else. Even telling them how negative they are is draining. Here are a few tips to steer clear of the negative people ESPECIALLY in your business. If you let them infect you they will also infect your bottom line.
Negative People are Self Destructive
When people hate themselves they have no reason to love you. A very good friend of mines who is a therapist states “Misery Loves Miserable Company.” I am a firm believer that this is true. You MUST and I mean MUST avoid negative people at all cost as an black entrepreneur. If you let them into your life they will not only infect you they will infect your business because they will drain YOU. We have to get up each day and we are our own motivators. We don’t need ANYTHING to get in the way of our positive energy.
Negative People rob your positive Energy
When I hung out with this woman this past weekend. I was so exhausted, I literally came home and slept for 5 hours. While I was with her, I had a blazing headache (and I rarely ever get headaches) and I was out of my usual spiritual element. She was a burden on my SOUL that day and she robbed every bit of energy I had and I just wanted to get away from her as soon as I could. We were supposed to do some research together in a certain part of LA but after being with her for an hour, I had no desire to start, do or complete the job.
Negative People Thrive off Misery
Taking the time to tell a negative person about their habits and ways is indeed a waste of time. As stated above, they are not here to hear what you have to say to help them, they are only interested in how they can rob your positive energy to feed on. It’s like a vampire out for blood. Once he gets what he wants he leaves you for dead and searches out the next victim. You are trying to save them but they are trying to rob you. You have what they want, and they have what you DON’T want so why risk it. If a person can’t figure out why their phone never rings or they are not invited to events it’s up to them to put two and two together because ultimately it’s only them who can change their situation by shifting the way they think. When these things happen it is not the world but it is US. At times we have been given horrible advice like “It’s not always about you, it’s about them and what they are going through.” Nevertheless, if you continue to get the same reactions from several people it IS about YOU. If you are trying to grow you must make sure you aim for the most positive experiences in your life and business. All will not always be rosy but there are a lot of things we can eliminate before they get out of control.
Also, Avoid Negative Situations
Sometimes negative situations can be disguised as positive. For example. There are very few industry events held in Los Angeles anymore and the ones that are here are for the new breed of industry people. Unfortunately, there are some older industry people that can’t let go of the past. There are those who don’t want to move on and let younger people get their shot. They want to hang on to what was and they often talk about how much they miss the old industry. These are people who can’t embrace change because they have not prepared themselves. I don’t feel that way. I gladly embrace the kids who are coming up in the industry as I am honored that I got my chance too and I try to provide opportunities to younger industry people through my industry vehicles. In addition, I have constantly stressed over the last 20 years of producing Radio Facts that those who diversify their talents will have the longest careers.
A couple of months ago, I was invited to a huge lot party at Capitol and Motown records in Hollywood, There was great music and food and great displays and just about every major vet and new artist on the Capitol and Motown labels were there. The crowd was exciting, upbeat and positive and they embraced the new industry. The key I want to stress about this event was it was a celebration of the FUTURE of the industry not the past. I don’t believe in going to industry events where people thrive of what was or used to be. That’s because I don’t consider myself to be done with the music and radio industry yet. I still have ideas and I embrace change at the same time and as long as the industry will have me, I will be here in some capacity.
I don’t find great joy in talking about whose sick, who is dying and who is homeless when I get dressed up to go to an event unless it’s an actual funeral. I’m not in denial but there is a time and a place for everything and it should not be the THEME of an event because it is depressing and it signifies the end. The end of one’s journey and career. There MUST be balance and that means we must have control of our options in our business. In the music industry, I personally don’t consider a lot of people to be my true friends. I would consider, out of thousands of people I’ve met over the years, maybe 20 as true friends.
This is a business and it’s about relationships and what you can do for people, initially, I didn’t get that and at the beginning of my career I was devastated when I was between jobs and the people who I thought were my friends really were not. As I got older I understood how business works. People deal with you based on what you can do for them and that’s (mostly) how they form their relationships with you. I consider my clients my closest allies in the industry because they believe in what I do and they support me and I’ve known most of them over 20 years. The fact that I am an black entrepreneur speaks volumes about their faith in me and I truly honor that. It’s really not personal, it’s just business. Who is it in your business that you consider your true allies? Know that those are the people you must focus on and support.
I left Buffalo, New York some 30 years ago and once I moved to Atlanta then Los Angeles after that and worked in radio as a DJ for many years there was no turning back.
The new environments opened my eyes to all that I had missed growing up on the East side of Buffalo. Nevertheless, there is one thing that is foremost in my mind on the few occasions when I return, think, or talk about Buffalo… the food.
Without question, my career in the music industry has afforded me the opportunity to go to some of the best restaurants in the country but none of them compare to Buffalo’s still famous food spots.
Tale of Two Legendary Restaurants, One that still is and what that WAS.
Scottie’s Steak House popped on the scene in the early 60s in Buffalo (see video). Owner James Scott explains everything that we know it takes as black entrepreneurs to run a successful business and get it off the ground.
As a radio and music industry black entrepreneur, I can agree even today with MOST of Scott’s points in the video but not all of them. He makes two statements that probably explain why his restaurant is no longer around today.
He states that “Owning your own business is not fun” Says who? The old adage is true, ‘Do what you LOVE and the money will COME” a black entrepreneur going into a business he or she is not passionate about is almost sure to fail. Running your own business that you are passionate about is like falling in love.
Time slips away and you can spend endless hours doing what you do and not even notice you have been doing it for 10 hours straight. That is the bliss of doing what you love.
Scott mentions in the video that he has worked 18-hour days. I know music producers who LIVE in the studio and can do it for several days straight with little or no sleep. I never hear them complain about how many hours they have been in the studio, they are more focused on the result of it.
The number one rule is you NEVER go into business to make money (unless you have a great business partner who handles that part and you are the creative ebb and flow). Most of the people I know and am close to today are black entrepreneurs and they are all successful in their own right because they LOVE what they do FIRST and FOREMOST.
Our creativity is at its peak when we love what we do and that’s what sells our businesses first.
In the years to come, Scottie’s Steak House experienced great success and it’s amazing how the video coverage talks about the local government in Buffalo giving small business loans to blacks back then who were smart enough to capitalize on the culture and what they knew best but how much did they love it?
This is not a dig at Scottie because I have no doubt he faced many other obstacles that got in the way of him running his business as a black man. Restaurants in the black community were something that white business owners often failed at because they were not connected to the culture of black food.
Like most cultures, black folks KNOW when the right cook is in the kitchen and you better be connected to the culture the food is from if you want our business. (Thanks to Doug Ruffin who told me he stopped Canisius College from dumping many years of great Buffalo News footage and video in the trash after it was donated by local TV networks who were updating their studios. These videos are priceless.)
I’m not sure how Scottie got to his idea for the perfect steak sandwich, but he did. This was the MOST Crucial time for his business
Scottie’s Steakhouse had the most amazing steak sandwiches. By far the best I’ve ever had to date. A childhood friend, Cricket, asked me to walk there with her one day and I wanted to go to see what the big deal was about Scottie’s. Everybody in the neighborhood was talking about their steak sandwiches and how good they were.
Sure enough, as soon as we walked in the door it was crowded and the smell was unbelievable. Cricket ordered a regular steak sandwich/sub and she gave me a piece of it. It was love at first bite.
I went back on my own a few days later then again the next week and many times thereafter, I was hooked. Then something happened. I noticed (read more, click here) that the more popular Scottie’s Steak House became the more sandwiches were changing.
There was more vegetables than meat. I watched the girl make my sandwich one day and I noticed she was putting half the meat with the peppers and onions than I was used to.
I thought this might just be a new employee and after a not-so-enjoyable experience with a “vegetable sandwich” I went back a month later and there was even LESS meat and the PRICE went up!!!! It appeared they were using what they once used for one steak sandwich to now make 3 sandwiches.
Where the meat was once the main ingredient, it was now pretty much used for seasoning the sandwich like Lawry’s. I never went back and I noticed there was no crowd the last few times I was there and people stopped talking about Scottie’s like they used to.
On the other hand…Bocce’s Pizza
Bocce’s website states: Bocce’s Pizza is one of the oldest and best-known pizzerias in Buffalo, NY. Since 1946, we’ve been proudly serving our customers some of the best-tasting food in Western New York. Our fresh pizza is still made with the same sauce recipe used back in the 1940’s.
Our delicious food has touched so many lives throughout the years that we are sought out by many who had to leave the Buffalo area. We get phone calls and have customers come in all the time requesting a half-baked pizza or wings to take home to share with their new friends and family across the country.
Stop by or call today for an Original Bocce’s Pizza and let us create a delicious memory for you!EXACT same ingredients and the same amount of ingredients that they have been using since they opened in 1946.
They didn’t go from 50 pepperonis to 3 and the cheese and the bread and the sauce have never changed. No matter who works there, they are taught to make the pizza the same way and they do. Bocce’s Pizza is STILL around today and STILL successful in Buffalo and beyond because they KNEW what the customers loved about them and they never wavered in an effort to cut costs or make extra profit.
People would have paid their rent for that pizza as long as it tasted the same. I KNOW MANY people, including myself who order that Pizza be expressed or when they go to Buffalo to visit they bring it back with them.
I even have one childhood friend who is a Vice President at a University who can only tolerate Buffalo for 1 day per visit, but she loves Bocce and she makes sure she gets two large Bocce pizzas before she leaves and she brings separate suitcases for her pizzas, takes them home and freezes them and enjoys them for the next month. We laugh about her process but she loves that pizza. If you want to know the whole story about how Bocce’s got started, go here.
The overall point here is to be the MOST successful in business you must:
LOVE what you DO…FIRST.
Understand AND be a part of the culture that you are serving
Don’t sell your customers short or try to blindside their senses (in this case taste buds)
It’s better to charge MORE than to give less (and have the NERVE to charge more)
Always be loyal to why you are successful and use that to GROW other products for your customers
The demand remains high as long as your brand remains loyal and you remain trustworthy
Wouldn’t it be great if as black entrepreneurs and black-owned businesses if we could be auto clone ourselves black everything that we hate doing is done for us?
Make Your Hire Strategy your HIGHEST Strategy
Without question, team management is one of the most challenging aspects for all types of entrepreneurs. Finding great hired help is the number one challenge of every black entrepreneur that I know of but one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made myself, in the past, is using my own business as a way to help others who are between gigs or offering my company up as a sidegig for them when we have big projects. The effort of killing two birds with one stone has often come back to bite the business AND us in the a#@.
If I can be as blunt as possible, the bigger idea is to grow your business not stifle your growth. Your levels of strategy for running the business should not include being the mother, father, friend, aunt uncle, caregiver, bank or counselor to the people that you hire and when you hire friends you may end up playing all those roles and it’s difficult to have the mental toughness to separate work from friendship. Especially if you want to maintain that friendship.
This twice about hiring friends to help you with your business. The biggest reason is that you need to be able to have a guilt-free approach when it comes to disciplining someone who is not doing the tasks assigned to them and it’s very difficult to do that with people you have previously befriended.
I have learned in the 25 years that I have been in business that there is an expectation, a level of disrespect and an extremely uncomfortable price to pay when neglect to remember the “bigger idea” which is to GROW the business. Here are the reasons that you should always reconsider before making the mistake of hiring friends.
1. Emotions Lead to Poor Management
You are trying to help them but are they trying to help themselves? If your reason for hiring a friend is to help them financially instead of loaning them money you may never get back, you are making a mistake. you should be helping YOURSELF first THEN helping them not the other way around. (click “Next” below to see next segment)
2. Compassion and Sympathy are often Characteristics of Entrepreneurship that can lead to Poor Management
Friends know you and your weaknesses. Your options are very limited when it comes to being your friends’ boss AND their friend at the same time. We rarely can have it both ways. We’ve all had the friend who is down on their luck or between jobs or sidegigs and in need of some extra cash but is your business a black owned bank or a black owned brand? Your friend has let you know they need money NOT a job. Which one do you think will be their first priority?
Before you offer up your business to help out a friend know not to use your black-owned business to kill two birds with one stone. Your job as a black entrepreneur is not also Superman or Superwoman and you can’t save the world. Your friends know your triggers, your strengths and your weaknesses and the other people that work for you don’t need to be in on that as it will affect your performance management down the road.
3. Friends Make you Feel Obligated
You put yourself in a poor position when you hire a friend MOSTLY because of this… They will use the friendship as a bargaining chip because it’s all they have but YOU have a lot more to lose including their friendship so you will tolerate things out of the ordinary. This will take your attention away from the bigger idea of growing your business and having control over team management. While they may need money to pay the rent, hiring friends can be a greater costly investment for your black owned business.
4. YOU make you feel Obligated
As I said earlier the characteristics of entrepreneurship often involve finding a way to help solve a problem but there are times when we take that too far and it should never affect your small business management ability or your levels of strategy to grow your black owned business.
Your intentions are good but you soon realize you’ve made a mistake and now you have to pay more either in money or time to fix it. Their problem may now become a BIGGER problem for you.
My suggestion is that before you make a mistake like this, change your hire strategy to bring in people who can do the job instead of just collecting the check. Know that the the BUSINESS is the FIRST PRIORITY and you need people on board who can complete the tasks assigned with no drama. You may end up having to pay them to GO. Either way, you will be the bad guy but your peace of mind and health are worth a HELLUVA lot more than a stroke or a heart attack because of stress.
5. You Hesitate to Express Dismay
You may have a lot ot say about what your friend is doing wrong but in an effort to spare the friendship you may remain silent. This will absolutely lead to stress and poor performance management. This will affect you in every way including your creativity and innovation strategy. You put yourself in this position and now you have to find a way out of it.
6. You Sacrifice the Time and Money for your Black Owned Business Because You Don’t want to lose the Friendship
You have bitten off more than you can chew but at this point, it’s too late. You have to find a way to get out of the mess that you put yourself in.
7. Your Inability to Control Your the Friend that you hire will affect your Performance Management.
If your employees see this, it will certainly cause dissension and strife which could end up being a much bigger problem for you.
8. Friends Will Overlook the Tasks Assigned to Them
They are only concerned about their own situation and it makes sense, it is paramount to them at this time and you are secondary.
9. Other Employees Will Witness Your Poor Management
After all, you knew they were having financial problems so what’s YOUR problem?
Over the last few months I have been doing many beta tests. Not only on my online business but the company that I keep through my business which is outrageously important for your personal growth. Not surprisingly, I have found that almost ALL of the people that I know/knew who have their own businesses are either not as advanced as I am in business. Most of them are struggling and out of about 50 there may be one or two who are at the same juncture as I am right now. That doesn’t mean I will always be on top, I have learned that lesson the hard way but in order to STAY on top you MUST surround yourself with the RIGHTPEOPLE.
The greatest complaint that I hear from those who are on a similar level is “I am so f’king tired of people calling me to pick my brain for free. Who do I go to when I need help?” I can completely relate because I have often felt the same way. It’s not the people who are calling for help who are at fault, it is us, we feel a bit of guilt and/or obligation for our success as if we don’t deserve it and we DO.
People will test out your business esteem all the time and you better pass the test for your OWN benefit. My mother says To whom much is given much is expected and I believe and accept that. Each week, I get at least 20 calls and emails that say “Call me” with a number attached. It’s not a request, it’s an order like I OWE them a call. In addition, I don’t even KNOW these people and 99.99% of the calls are pure bullshit. They often want a shoulder to complain or cry on about their problems or mostly to dangle carrots telling me if I help them get to someone or something in the industry that they can’t get to, they will help me down the road. I NEVER get calls saying “Do you need help?” “How can I help you?” or “Is there a way that we can work together?” it’s always something for me to do for them.
I am not stupid nor am I motivated by that but there is an amazing silver lining in this cloud. The fact that they are reaching out to you means you are doing something VERY right and you are effective. They can see the potential and the success in what you do and people want to align themselves with that, nevertheless, in small business, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and we need to know how to treat these people and situations so that they don’t interrupt the flow of our success.
When I wanted to consult with other business owners about my dilemmas there was often nobody that I could call or reach out to. I finally came to the conclusion that in order to grow in business it is PARAMOUNT that we have resources of other black entrepreneurs who are MORE successful than we are I will also say this can be damaging because you can get some really BAD advice too. If you are creative, like I am, it’s best to go with your gut, win or lose because as I love to say, You won’t grow if you don’t know and the only way you can KNOW is to take chances.
If you need mentors who are more successful than you are at LEAST take these people out to lunch and pick THEIR brains about certain issues, but LET THEM KNOW what you want up front and I respect their time by treating them to lunch or dinner. Nobody wants to be used or treated like they owe you. Most of the people that contact me do just that, they want information… FREE information… NOW and many don’t even ask “How are you?” I can understand where they are coming from, they have nothing to offer BUT a promise.. but at least be HONEST about it! When you have money it’s not the time to spend it’s the time to INVEST for those hard days ahead. This is another subject perhaps that I will write next.
Many of us, including me in the past, think we can relax and breathe when there is an upsurge in income. HELL NO. That’s when you are supposed to go to work!. I have resolved this problem by simply asking when I get these emails that demand “Call me”…. “How can I help you” and I don’t call them. If they continue to play games and say something like “I want to advertise” which I used to fall for, I send them a rate sheet and my PayPal info and tell them to send me the elements after they pay. I usually never hear from them again and it’s not because I’m being rude, I’m not, it’s because they have been busted.
black entrepreneurs must understand what the self-esteem of our business is and how certain people can affect what we do. We should be spending our extra time LEARNING and GROWING instead of being stressed out and giving away our services for nothing in return. We are successful because we have EARNED it, we have a great brand and we have found a hole and filled it. That does not mean we now OWE other people BECAUSE of our success. It greatly helps nonetheless to make sure you give back by doing volunteer work of some kind I have seen the amazing benefits of this first hand. Volunteer work is not paying someone’s rent.
Broaden Your Horizons.
Are you in the same place that you were in 3 years ago with your business? Are you making the same money? Are you doing the same things? Are you still dealing with the same people for external resources? Then you are NOT growing and neither will your business. Go where the people you want to be around most ARE. Do what you have been thinking about doing WHILE you can do it so that you can GROW> Don’t wait 10 years when you may not be in the position that you are in now and say I WISH I would have done it. Join a local organization for black entrepreneurs like the Small business Administration in your area. Check with the local Chamber of Commerce to see if they have luncheons or meetings for black entrepreneurs and/or black entrepreneurs. Join local political mailing lists and check your email for events in your area and GO! You would be AMAZED at the contacts you can make at these mixers and events. Read the small business newspapers or websites in your area and reach out to some of the people who are being interviewed or who write the stories.
Be Direct, Even if It’s Perceived as RUDE
If someone tries to pull rank on you because they were on top of their game 20 years ago and they think they are entitled, check them with respect. Simply say when you get the demanding email that says “Call me” that “I’m too busy and that it’s best to reach me via email. How can I help you?” Unless it’s a PREVIOUSLY paying client, you don’t owe anyone anything. I say that because we must realize that we provide a service so therefore we get paid for that service it’s a fair exchange BECAUSE IT’S business. The people that believe in you and respect you most by supporting your business get to the front of the line for your attention. Ironically, have you noticed the biggest clients usually request the LEAST from you? It’s the people who don’t give you a dime who treat you like you owe them something.
Beware of those Contacts who Exude Greed
This blog is so incredibly therapeutic for me because simply writing about my experiences helps me to see things I could not see before. Beware of those who always come at you as if YOU need THEM. After all they are coming to YOU aren’t they? I have three words that are of utmost importance in the success of your small business especially if you want to grow into a big business one day or even sell KNOW YOUR VALUE! And NEVER question it or allow anyone else to do it. How do you know your value? The BEST way to determine it… do your clients automatically keep coming back! I could end this section RIGHT THERE. In ANY business from a dry cleaner to a corporate sales executive to a street walking prostitute… people come back to the place they see the MOST value. Then there are those who want everything for free but the point is, THEY ARE COMING TO YOU… so don’t be afraid to say no and keep it moving. Truth be told, people who come to you and want you to provide services for free usually don’t have any money or they have a welfare mentality. ‘Why should I pay for something when I can get it for free, even if that means putting someone down to get it!’ My GREATEST advice on this issue… NEVER TELL ANYONE WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE EXCEPT those who can help you get there DIRECTLY. Beware of people who you discuss your ideas with who always turn it into an opportunity for themselves. You didn’t invite them to take part but they are going to take part anyway. These people HURT your goals and the less they know the better off you are. You will often get discouraged by talking to them, once again BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS make sure you surround yourself with WINNERS if you want to be a Winner. Nobody can do what you can do and you don’t know what you can do UNTIL YOU DO IT!
Use what you have to get what you want
Your biggest clients believe in you most. Treat them the way you want to be treated. NEVER waste their time and don’t be intimidated by them. They support you because they either believe in what you do or they like you or both. These are the people that can help you expand your business. Understand things will not always be the way they are right now, so you better take advantage of potential growth NOW while you have the clients supporting you. Don’t wait until you have nothing. Strike while the iron is hot and use what you have to get what you want. If you have a bigger idea, these are the people that you should approach first but make sure you have everything written out and expressed first.
Re-evaluate your FaceBook page and Linked In Accounts
I am really starting to think the only value FaceBook has is to promote and market things like this site. I am just not interested in a majority of the postings on that site and I am unfriending people as you read this because for black entrepreneurs who work for themselves, social networking should certainly involve face to face meetings. How many of your FB friends do what you do? How many of these people are forging ahead? How many of these people do you actually learn something from? How many of these people are beneficial to your growth? I’m just learning how to use linked-in but will never know if you don’t grow. )
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE MOVING NOT THOSE WHO ARE STANDING STILL WITH THEIR HANDS OUT!
Would you rather be in the Race or on the Sidelines? Some of the BEST advice I EVER got was from a former boss Dr. Daddio in Denver, Colorado. He was a legendary DJ who owned his own station. He told me “Always look at life as a race. Make sure you are in that race and not on the sidelines. Never look at the person next to you because you lose time, Only look at the finish line.” I have to add to that Notice that there are those who run in the race and those who cheer them on in the sidelines. Which one would rather be? The runners (black entrepreneurs) all have one thing in common so do the people on the sidelines, which position are you in? Are you a runner or a person who cheers on the runners? It’s most likely that runners have the most in common because they have a goal which is to win and they are MOVING and not standing still. Those on the sidelines have a goal too… To watch others achieve success… Which one are you?
Best in business
Kevin Ross
This information cannot be copied or duplicated without the permission of Kevin Ross
There are those times when no matter how successful you are, it’s just time to close your business
I just saw a longtime friend be forced out of his business. He basically lost everything and had to even move back to his hometown to live with his parents. He told me that he is humiliated.
At one time he was very successful but a change in the economy and for what he was doing brought a whole new set of challenges for him. Could he have saved the business? Sure he could have but his ego wouldn’t let him. He considered himself an expert in his field and refused to listen to others. In addition, he failed to pay attention to changing trends, the fact that he was getting older in a youthful business and that he was losing touch as he failed to surround himself with the right people in his business. He went from a hugely successful business to barely keep his head above water to drowning and watching the imminent death of the business he had built from the ground up. He literally broke down in tears.
As black entrepreneurs, we can only do so much and we don’t have all the answers. We have our strengths and we have our weaknesses but we are not Supermen/women, fortune tellers or money trees. The first sign of a failing business (yes, even in this economy) is a cash flow problem. People will say, isn’t that EVERYONE’S problem? No, it’s actually not and we need to stop comparing our businesses to everyone else and limiting ourselves to what we assume is the norm. Why can’t we have a business that does NOT have a cash flow problem? There are several businesses that don’t worry about paying bills and/or making payroll. There are owners who take extravagant vacations and there are owners who are not begging for business. You would be amazed at how they are often very frugal (that’s another post) but it’s certainly very possible.
Sometimes EVEN When the Money is Great You Have to Walk, It’s better to Leave on Top Then to Beg Your Way to the Bottom.
While this can’t be all of us it’s certainly achievable (depending on what you do and how valuable customers perceive you and/or your product). The first and most important step is we must always think BIGGER and understand we don’t always just have 1 passion. That’s what makes us “Entrepreneurs” and the very reason that we don’t work for others. We have the ability to create our own destinies. Notice I said “Destinies” as in the plural form.
I have to admit, It was very difficult to see a man so broken. He is depressed and he feels like a failure. I can sympathize with him because I have been there too. Many of us look at our business like a relationship. We nurture it and watch it grow and if it dies on us it’s no different than losing a valuable relationship with someone. It goes back to the “train-on-the-tracks-and-paralyzed” theory I was talking about in another post. There are those times when the business has its ups and downs. Of course we want the ups to remain for the longest period of time but unfortunately, outside factors beyond our control can take precedent often preventing that from happening. What do you do when the down periods last TOO long or appear to be lasting longer than usual? You have to evaluate the business, how you feel about it, the economy of the business, trends and where you are as far as your passion to do it.
At Some Point, You HAVE to Replace Yourself with Someone Younger or Prepare for a Certain Business Death
I read the most powerful statement from a departing CEO who left a company that he built called the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. He stated: “A movement that does not prepare, embrace and insist on young leadership is destined to fail. An organization that does not prepare for succession is a hobby. A leader who assumes that he or she is irreplaceable is a fraud.” Another executive in the music industry who went to Wharton told me “The nature of a business is to build it then sell it. In the black community, we keep the business until we die, that’s not a way to get wealthy but a way to inevitably drown.” They are both correct. At some point, the parent has done their job and the child must be freed.
An black entrepreneur certainly can experience wonderful highs but those lows can also make quite an impression on us. We are MARRIED to what we do as black entrepreneurs and if your relationship with your business has soured it’s time to do one of two things: Morph it or Divorce it. Sometimes we are behind the trends and so busy with the day to day that we are missing something. Perhaps our business has lost its appeal to us and it has now become a “job.” One that, like most people who work for someone else, we don’t look forward to doing every day. For an black entrepreneur that’s a double whammy because we can change our situation. To run a business that we don’t like doing is a recipe for disaster.
I can tell you I have experienced that true passion in my business or rolling out of bed with a huge smile on my face and I’ve also experienced that low of sleeping an extra hour or more to AVOID running my business. It’s the greatest of feelings to do what you love doing, getting paid for it and you own it. The old saying is true: Do what you LOVE and the money will come.” I have never heard anyone say “Do what you HATE and the money will come” (laugh). I read a very interesting story of a man in Black Enterprise who was an attorney, mostly because his parents wanted him to be one.
He was successful but he hated doing it. He wanted to, of all things, bake cakes. When he told friends about this some laughed but people who sampled the cakes thought it was a great idea. He left his cushy attorney job, all the money and prestige to do what he was called to do and he has one of the most successful cake businesses on the east coast.
Another attorney, I was reading about in the LA Times left his corporate job to use an old beat up Church as a place to create counseling and to show interest in at-risk youth bound for gangs and some who were former gang members. He went from his corporate job to mopping smelly urinals and sweeping up huge dead rats to build and achieve the business for his passion, helping other people. He has since taught those at-risk youth and former gang members to start their own business called Homeboy Industries. His theme is “Jobs not Jails.” He started it in 1992 and not it’s a successful worldwide company and organization. What is your passion…? Do you still leap out of bed ready for the day? Is it the same as it was a few years ago? It might be time to do something else.
Do you look forward to running your business? Is it taking its toll on you? Just know that if you started and succeeded at one business, you already have the tools to do it again. Don’t wait until you are completely discouraged because you are so burnt out on what you are doing, save that energy to light the flame under your next venture. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Use your down/free time to make the necessary moves to start your new business and look forward to the day when you can (for the first time or once again) leap out of bed with the greatest smile on your face ready to face a great business day with customers coming to YOU for your services in droves. it IS possible!
I learned how to be an entrepreneur by trial and error and since I am celebrating my 25th year in business I’d like to share the truth about Black Owned Businesses, Enterprise and More
So I’m celebrating my 25th year as an entrepreneur this year. I was prompted to write this after someone called me about someone who has just lost their corporate job and they asked me “Why doesn’t he last anywhere more than a few months?” I thought about that knowing that I’m blessed to be a successful entrepreneur and I believe this person has the same passion and potential from their past experiences. It’s not that they can’t keep a job, they may be better suited to work for themselves.
A Bit More about me, Kevin Ross
The longest job I have ever had in my life was at Urban Network, a now-defunct magazine in Los Angeles. It was one of the most educational music industry jobs I’ve had in my career but I lasted there under two years. I’m glad the late Jerry Boulding hired me because working there was like college for me and I learned SO much from Jerry. I had no idea at the time that I would be a facilitator of my own business and I lacked mentorship during my entire career.
A few months after I started, I was assigned as the rap editor and I HATED that job and I begged them to give it to someone else. There were many obstacles involved in me not wanting that job starting with a severe lack of interest. Another employee who had been there before me Harry Akaki wanted the gig and I would have given it to him on a silver platter but I didn’t have the power to do so. I knew that I would not have much success in a new position, at the time, that I had to be accountable for.
I was not that guy that you would find hanging in the hip hop spot, or playing hip hop music in my car so I was not qualified to rank hip hop songs on a chart. Then again I have worked at many organizations in the industry where a LOT of MFs were far removed from their titles, but they were not the same color as me and they made/make a LOT, LOT, LOT more money so I was not an anomaly just an underpaid member of team management.
I was not into hip hop music and it reminded me of how I grew up and I wanted no part of that again. But they made me do it and I’m glad they did. My job was not only to do the chart and ACT like I was interested in the genre. I knew that I looked like a damn fool ACTING like I was interested in hip hop. Wearing baseball caps backward, speaking hood dialect, and not smiling for pictures and trying to act pissed off and hard. I was a happy MF, but I was also an actor and that was the hardest role I EVA had to play and I didn’t do it well. So the Oscar DIDN’T go to … To make matters worse they wanted to fire me for a job I didn’t want in the first place, can you say “set up” (lol).I’m embarrassed to even admit it. You would have thought I would have caught a glimpse of my damn self even in a rearview mirror while thuggin’ my way down these LA streets wearing Tims. I should have just stopped and said “Um, hey Kev, yeah … this shit isn’t working! WTF are you doing?” But I needed the money and the job so I had to do what I had to DO.
The Hip Hop Songs Pay Off
I knew the management and owners at Urban had no interest in hip hop music either so it actually shielded me for a few months from the BS but it was also going to be my demise at Urban. Let me feign disappointment … DONE!
I had to sell the ads AND collect the money. The accountant, a short grouchy old german woman named Eyouna or Ulgar (I think) came down one day, cracking the whip and she told me, “You need to collect this amount from Priority Records!” The amount was about $10,000. I got something like 5% commission of what I sold so I would get a whopping $500.00 of the $10,000 for the ads I sold.
I called Priority Records and got the money a couple of days later. I looked at that check that was addressed to “The Network Group” or something like that for $10,000 and I thought to myself. I did the chart, I sold the ads but it’s not my magazine. This fkn check should have MY name on it.
Eclipse or Eyouna or Ulgar, whatever the F her name was, was there to snatch that check from my hand as soon as it came in and it took her about two months to give me my $500.00. She even complained to the Bird brothers that I kept asking her about it and Urban Network management told me to stop asking for MY commission. Really? Sht, I had rent to pay. So I had to wait another MONTH for $500.00?
It was at that moment that I decided to learn everything I could about a magazine while everybody in management at Urban Network was fighting each other for sh that didn’t belong to them … position and the damn magazine.
Me and the receptionist Dusean Dawson used to have a field day laughing at them fighting while we told jokes and played music that I sang to drown out the slamming doors and arguing. And Scott Galloway would always have his headphones on bopping to the music in his ears while playing his wide-ranging plethora of music in his office den. He may not have even been aware of what was going on. They were, and still are, my two favorite people from Urban. Jerry Boulding was too.
I started staying later and coming in during the weekends too. I wanted to learn all that I could about doing a magazine and I did. Ironically, I had no plans to do my own magazine. I just wanted to learn as much as I could.
Entrepreneur Characteristics
It was a natural progression for me to be an entrepreneur and perhaps it is for you too. Let me share with you the things that I know and what MANY of my entrepreneur friends have also agreed with. So, if you’re even thinking about taking the dive I want to give you a few suggestions and some insight on what you can expect … you’re welcome. And so it begins …
It Will Take Over Your Life
I can honestly say, it takes a LOT to excite me these days but talking about business always perks me up (as well as singing, dancing and telling jokes). I LOVE everything about business, well ALMOST everything and I love to see black entrepreneurs prosper because I know the circumstances that many of us come from and face.
My first job was being my own booking manager at 14. I booked my own TV commercial with no experience. I just called advertising agencies in the phone book (remember those) and sent the only copies I had of my grade school pictures (I didn’t know where to get them copied) I booked a series of commercials with the now defunct Weil, Levy and King ad agency in Buffalo as the stock boy in the Tops supermarket commercials. My face was all over Western New York, I was on Billboards and TV. I was a neighborhood star and it got me into Performing Arts high school on the spot. I saw what success could do for a person at a very early age. I came a long way from the kid who had to use food stamps at the same Tops grocery store. I was hooked and didn’t quite know it yet.
You May Be Single for a Long Time or Have Problems in Your Relationships
Most of the entrepreneurs that I know are single or if they are in relationships they are almost always short term or headed towards divorce.
Being an entrepreneur is like being a firefighter when duty calls you have to go NOW and your job becomes your soulmate and those close to you get jealous of that.
I know entrepreneurs who WANT love in their lives but they have to schedule a time to use the bathroom, how can they be in a relationship? In other words, YOUR JOB is your man or woman or significant other FIRST or you won’t be successful. Welcome to sacrifice.
You Will Be Extremely Gratified
Every success will bring you joy and every failure will drive your ambition. I have been blessed to leap out of bed in the morning feeling like the world was an amazing place and it was my canvas to paint on. When I worked for other people I never had that feeling, I was always stressed. I have worked in my draws and washed clothes while I worked and ran errands for myself and others while making sales calls. I LOVE IT and this is the benefit of being an entrepreneur, you beat the world at everything and go against the grain instead of with it.
You are ahead of the curve, while everyone is at work you are at the cleaners, or putting together a campaign for a client or planning a vacation but taking your laptop to work while you are there. But you are ALSO working while everybody else is watching TV or having drinks with their friends. I will say that “working” is a strong word because I have not worked in 25 years. I have been “building” and there is a HUGE difference but an even greater sacrifice.
I RARELY hear other entrepreneurs complain about being an entrepreneur but they DO complain about certain aspects of it like hiring people.
Things Will Not be Fair for Black Entrepreneurs
… but if you are a great strategist they will be JUST. I see a lot of money for hip hop songs and R&B go to other trades that don’t spotlight the urban industry or have the audience that I have but I also see what they CAN’T do and how I can be better doing what I do too.
You have to know that success in business is a STRATEGY not a competition and successful entrepreneurs know the strategy. Black Owned Businesses will meet face to face with racism as it has no boundaries but don’t take it personally… take it where it has never been before or fill a hole that only YOU can fill. Nobody can do what you can do.
You Will Be Have to Change The People You Deal With
People don’t understand Successful Entrepreneurs. They think we sit around all day twiddling our fingers and masturbating while the money rolls in magically. Wrong … we DON’t twiddle our fingers.
The money doesn’t just ROLL in for the reasons that people think it rolls in. Know that money is a result of EMBRACING PASSION FIRST.
You will Have to be a Jack of All Trades
There are three things that you BETTER know as an entrepreneur, how to sell, how to strategize and how to stay on top of trends and mostly BY YOURSELF. These are the tools that keep you relevant. Oh, there is a fourth thing and it’s THE most important … KNOW YOUR ACCOUNTING! Make sure you use services like Quickbooks Online and HIRE a bookkeeper and accountant. You will not have time to do this yourself. As you grow, consider sources like Intuit Payroll to help keep your taxes on point.
You Will Find it Difficult, if not Impossible, to Hire Good People
Sam Sylk is a DJ and Entrepreneur who works in radio. He owns his own restaurant in Cleveland. He told me “People don’t want a job, they want a paycheck.” Let the church say AMEN … He was SO right about that.
Unfortunately, entrepreneurs are SO dedicated to solving problems which is what makes us entrepreneurs and Black entrepreneurs are even more susceptible to this because we know about racism and people not getting a fair chance.
The problem is many black people don’t give a shit about black-owned businesses (lol) this is what I like to call unrequited support. It often seems that you can never do anything right with OUR people? You can pay them more than white companies can give them breaks that white companies won’t give them and you can pay their rent for a year and they will STILL talk about you.
It is VERY TRUE that we really do think white ice is colder and more refreshing. THEN when you hire white people as a black-owned business … YOU become the no good dirty MF who abandons the community. You can’t win so you better put the business FIRST and find other ways to help the community.
You have to make the decision, do you NEED the best assistance or sign up for Public Assistance? As Steve Harvey said (I cannot BELIEVE I am quoting Steve Harvey) “You don’t encourage poor people by becoming one of them” there was truth in that. HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE TO GET THE DAMN JOB DONE, Black, White, Green, Gay, Crippled, Drunk with a Dead Eye and Crazy. Be the priority NOT the Option for the people that you pay and don’t give a sht because they are going to talk about you no matter WHAT you do.
You have to keep all poison and negative sht at bay or it will destroy your business. Your first friend, Your Wife, Husband, Partner and Child is your BUSINESS. If you can’t commit to that, it’s better to find a job.
You Will Have to be Very Strategic
… especially if you are of the Negroid persuasion. We have to be incredibly crafty, creative and strategic to keep the ball rolling and we have the background to do it. The key is to pace yourself and take care of yourself and your needs FIRST so that you are able to run the business. People will come at you a mile a minute with THIER needs. You are not jehovah jireh. Always do what’s best for the business FIRST.
Most of Your Friends Will be Other Entrepreneurs
If you are a successful entrepreneur, there is absolute certainty in the fact that we attract who WE are good and bad. 90% of my closest friends, the people that I talk to every day are successful entrepreneurs. We are a very misunderstood group of people but we get each other.
No matter what our background is we somehow have that commonality and associate best amongst ourselves. Since I have always been misunderstood anyway, being an entrepreneur has been a true blessing for me.
You Will Find Most People Really DO have Agendas Except …
Ironically, the people who support you the most … want the LEAST!!! They see the value of your business and they don’t have time to play games with you. The biggest clients are ALWAYS the BEST clients. (well at least for ME)
I have celebrity contacts who have said over the years that they can’t trust anyone and I can honestly say this is true of most entrepreneurs too. Your job is to live your passion and the money comes after that but then it seems it’s everyone else’s job to separate you from your money.
People are EXCELLENT at selling themselves as the second coming of Jesus then delivering a truckload of Hippo shit after you take the time to train them and hire them. You are trying to build a business and they are trying to pay their Cricket cell phone bill.
I had one potential writer tell me, and I kid you not … “If you pay me now for the next two weeks, (this is before she did any work) I will give you an extra week of work on the house. I have to pay for my motel room and I have to do it by tomorrow.”
She sent me a link to writing credited to someone else online and told me she was a ghost writer for the story. I guess I needed to go up to a wall and bang my head against it to see if it hurt.
Another time, I posted a job in one my email blasts to the industry and someone wrote me back, “This would be a good job for my niece. She works at Walmart. She will be at work on Wed around 10 am, can you call the store and ask for her and tell her about the job?” Sure, after I take my head off and put it on the nightstand before I go to sleep.
Success Will Make You a Small Scale Celebrity
Yes, it’s true, success is the same across the board it’s just on different scales. I have people email me like they know me asking for meetings and sending people they know my way saying “I’m a friend of So and So and he or she told me to reach out to you. And I don’t know either of them.
“I need to start my own business can we meet?” or “I need the record labels to send me product” or “I need tickets to a concert for my cousin” … you name it. It’s no wonder that celebrities and business people have buffers, you really do need them.
I was asked by someone to post something that was completely against the grain of what I do in business. I told then no via text and why I could not do it and they posted the exchange in a screen shot on Facebook. I was very disappointed but realized I had to take responsibility for surrounding myself with the wrong people. I haven’t made that mistake since.
Your Competitors Will Hate You or Turn on You
… but if you are successful you don’t even know who they are. When I was younger and people didn’t like me for no reason I used to try to be friendlier to them to try to make them change their minds but it always made it worse.
Even during my early days in radio with certain programmers and owners.
Today, I have no problem telling someone who doesn’t like me to stop everything and text in a go Fk yourself appointment on their calendar but it took me a long time to get there. Many times people see your greatness before you do and they are jealous. KNOW YOUR VALUE because it will be challenged.Let it go or it will anchor your blessings. I know this from experience.
Certain people who can’t do what you do will have a disdain for you when they are trying to drive in the same lane. Never take it personally just know when this happens you are on to something and they are alerting you to it.
Your Best Ideas Will Come at 3 am
Successful entrepreneurs know this. In the middle of the night in your REM sleep, you will get a great idea that you KNOW if you don’t get up and work on it THEN and there you will forget it. My idea to do Radio Facts came to me in the middle of the night in 1995.
You HAVE to Micro-Manage People
It NEVER fails. The people that I have hired work out great for a short time but they almost ALWAYS lose their focus after a few weeks and get lazy. YOU HAVE TO MICRO MANAGE. The minute you get comfortable and think that you can breathe you get caught up in the BS.
I had to erase writers from the site who wrote hundreds of stories for me because I found out they copied stories from other sites. This cost me thousands in revenue and profits because I was not watching them but it saved me from being sued too because I caught it in time.
You can never expect people to give anywhere near a sht as much as you do. You have to be on top of it all the time.
Mentors Can Help or Hurt You
I’ve never had a mentor and that was a HUGE blessing for me. Had I had a mentor in 1995 when I started Radio Facts, they would have told me NOT to do the magazine because it was encouraging people that they were taking advantage of.
It actually DID happen. There were people who were cool with me who cut me off when I started doing Radio Facts. And still don’t speak to me. Give me a minute to cry … done! Fk em
You Have to Keep Learning
keep being a student, keep working.
Kevin Ross
If you keep being a student, you will keep working. I’ve seen enough of this from this perspective in the music industry and I have another saying “Radio is a Springboard NOT a Recliner” and that means that any opportunity that you have in the industry is an opportunity for something greater.
Take advantage of job opportunities when you are working because it will usually be something better than what you have. If you wait until you are NOT working to find something better it could be cleaning toilets.
Keep learning ALL the that you can while you can. That experience can come back later to serve you for the greater good. The more you know the better qualified you will be to run your own business.
If you rest on an opportunity you will lose greater opportunities and outgrow the first one. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen MANY times in the industry and few people recover from it.
Passion is the First step to success, Money is the last.
If you are in any business to make money ONLY. You will not be in business for long. Today’s industry is about passion and people are very sensitive to those who are knowledgeable about certain subjects and to those who are bullshitting. Passion will keep the ball rolling. Greed will slam the door shut. Feel free to share and comment.
Managing Anderson .Paak is the current road to success for Adrian Miller, a hard-working industry black entrepreneur.
Biz Tipper: Originally published Nov 23, 2016 – Adrian Miller is the CEO and Managing Partner of OBE. He’s from St. Louis but moved to Los Angeles at a young age. Miller started his industry tenure in Urban Radio working as an intern for a college station while attending Tulsa University. He progressed from there to working for PMP Promotions, HITS Magazine, Loud Records, Immortal Records and Warner Brothers Records.
He held most of those positions at a management level at a young age when most people are at the bottom of the industry ladder climbing the rungs. After gaining vet status quickly, he diversified his skills and became interested in start-ups; Worldwide Heavyweight, Pheed, Xyion, and now OBE which is his current successful venture. He manages and is also a managing partner for/with Anderson .Paak.
I’ve known Adrian for 20 or more years and it’s always great to see true industry friends speak their goals, do the work, then achieve them. I’ve rarely seen someone who is more creative, determined and hustles like he does. He’s been touring the world with Anderson but gladly accepted an invitation to talk to Radio Facts’ readership about his industry theories, legacy, lessons and the future.
“I was encouraged, early on to be honest about what I liked and to understand my value.”
KevRoss: You have a lot of experience working for corporations in the industry like Warner Bros and HITS magazine but you’ve also been an black entrepreneur for many years as of late? Which do you prefer?
Adrian Miller: I definitely enjoy both, you should have skills for both. When I think of the corporate environment it’s just more logistics and protocol, always checks and balances. This same skill set is important for smaller businesses to develop. But large companies with their board of directors and culture have to also learn to adapt and move on a pivot, there is good on both sides and I enjoy learning from both.
KR: You have held many leadership positions in the industry at a younger than average age. How did you manage that?
AM: I was encouraged, early on to be honest about what I liked and to understand my value (thanks to Glenda Joyce). I try to speak on what I understand and learn from what I do not know. Usually, bosses like people to be more observant and less “know-it-all.”
KR: On average, how many hours do you work each day?
AM: Roughly 10-12…but everyone who knows me always tells me to rest more.
KR: What’s the best advice that you would give other industry black entrepreneurs?
AM: Be hands on and open for change…it’s coming.
KR: When you decide to work with talent, do you go by the talent only or is it important to see if they have good business acumen? What are some of the traits that make you want to work with someone?
AM: Looking for talent for me is not any different now versus when I started as an A&R rep. All the artists I find myself gravitating towards have the same work ethic and stand for something in their art. They have a voice and care about what they are doing with their God-given talents. It’s that important to me to afford those that work harder at it than me before I can feel comfortable just handing over a platform for an audience. I want to believe 100% and it’s not just my opinion. It takes research and feedback. People always ask me if I like it, but I’m only one person it also matters if others will enjoy it.
KR: Congratulations on your success with Anderson .Paak it has certainly been a long time coming. How did you meet him?
AM: I was working with friends of his and connected the dots to their extended family of musicians and his name kept coming up. People were sending me demos of his and talking about him.
Anderson .Paak, Adrian Miller and AFROPUNK owner Mathew Morgan
KR: Is it true that you actually sold your house in order to finance his project? Tell us about that?
AM: I survived the housing crash with a really good piece of property and wanted to start a company but was stuck doing my agency Xyion (music placement/consulting) business. Not a bad business, but when I ran into Anderson I knew it was something special, he is the truth.
So yes it’s true I sold the house I was living in, to downsize and make sure we could keep going no matter if people loved his music now or loved it later, they were gonna eventually love it. It was definitely one of the craziest moves I ever did in my life. Something had to give and so it was the house, easy choice when I’m living in a family neighborhood for eight years and I’m a single male, it was time for a change because I felt retired and I was ready to regroup my hustle again. The music business requires you to stay in the loop, meetings, studio, traveling, etc.
KR: Anderson has stated that most people don’t get him unless they see him perform or work with him in the studio, was it the same with you?
AM: True, but it’s always like a dream working with him because he doesn’t make bad music. He might not finish an idea but once it crosses that threshold from idea to song it’s usually pretty solid. He is one of the greats and I don’t just say that lightly. Having been in the rooms with creatives like; D’Angelo, Prince, Stevie, Sting, and Dr. Dre … Anderson is crazy with his structure and finding his moment in every instance.
“It’s my belief that living properly fits us all to be where we are supposed to be in the exact time.”
KR: When was the moment that you realized your vision became a reality?
AM: When he signed on board and we were rocking. You have to note the first meeting I took him to was to meet with Dr Dre’s attorney. The idea of doing business with Dre was from day one. We just needed to get there.
Adrian speaking on a panel for the Grammy Museum
KR: Are you surprised at his level of success?
AM: This is just the tip of the iceberg. He is unstoppable and such a treasure to work with and for him … the sky is the limit. I’m both gracious and blessed at this space in my life.
KR: As you know, we work in a progressive industry that can change in an instant. Hype has always been viewed as a red flag or a turn off to true industry pros because it’s so common. How do you promote without hype?
AM: We hire the best to do what they do. There’s a fine line but when you have reputable names & partners that are good people backing your moves, it’s easy. From friends like Kevin Morrow, Peanut Butter Wolf, Taz Askew, Jimmy & Larry at Apple even Ty Cannon and Dr Dre and the Aftermath/Beats team it’s so much easier … Wait did I forget Ghazi and Nima (got’em)!
KR: Do you think that your various positions in the industry have prepared you for this moment?
AM: It’s my belief that living properly fits us all to be where we are supposed to be in the exact time. Nothing will be as it was only what it will be. So yes I was prepped for this precise moment.
KR: Who are some of the industry players that you admire most and why?
AM: Loving the questions: I look at so many people to mold what it is I do but always keeping true to my own form. There is a super long list of friends, mentors, and family that have been my support and the core for what I do.
Eddie Harris for my first job in radio and Graham Armstrong for the introduction to the key players in Urban Radio – along with Mark Boyd who was a big brother to me, also Christian Carbaza; They have all since transitioned on so rest in power to each of them.
My Godmother is Claudette Robinson (Smokey Robinson’s ex-wife and a former original member of The Miracles), so elegant and never ever has a bad word to say about anything or anyone, her long talks are guidance and strength. I keep my positive vibrations from her for sure.
Dan Charnas, Kim Buie, Orlando Aguillen all encouraged me to find the talent. Paul Stewart, Mike Ross, Steven Rifkind, Amanda Demme, Happy Walters, Jerry Heller, Rick Rubin and Benny Medina all taught me to, stay close to the talent.
Fabian Duvernay, taught me loyalty is royalty and Clarence Avant, Dr. Dre and E. David Ellington have explained to me “the art of the deal”. Above all I have always secretly wanted the career path of Harry Belafonte Jr. he is the epitome of class.
Adrian Miller with Shade 45 host Sway
KR: How has your life changed over the last year with the success of Anderson?
AM: Went from a busy week to a flurry of daily busy tasks to address.
KR: What have been some of the hardest yet most important lessons that you have learned in the industry?
AM: Advice from experienced industry vets was to “learn everything”, while your new boss would say, “only do one thing”. I learned everything requires attention to detail and to cultivate you must time your time and go at your own pace.
KR: What’s next for Adrian Miller?
AM: We are still just starting on Anderson .Paak – wait and see the next phase. I will continue to help build structure our business for the brands: OBE, Anderson .Paak, The Free Nationals, NxWorries, etc …s o much more to come. The possibilities are endless. I give thanks for your questions it really made me think Kevin, I applaud you and Radio Facts for the continued support.
He was born in Mississippi on June 16th, 1927, George Ellis Johnson moved to Chicago with his mother and brother in 1929. As a boy, George shined shoes, then dropped out of high school and worked odd jobs to help support his family.
In 1944, he joined his older brother at Fuller Products, a cosmetics company founded by Samuel B. Fuller. Fuller, who would become the richest black American of the 1950s, inspired his employees with sayings like, “take what you have and make what you want”.
Johnson quickly mastered door-to-door sales, then joined Fuller’s laboratory staff, where he learned how to make lipstick, foundation and cologne. By 1953, George had risen to head production chemist and was married with two children.
That same year he met a celebrity stylist, who needed a product that would straighten his client’s hair without burning their scalp. With Samuel Fuller’s blessing, George created a gentle hair relaxer for black men at the Fuller labs, then approached his bank for a $250 business loan to market his “Ultra Wave Hair Culture”.
He was denied.
Undeterred, he reapplied and asked for the same amount. This time, however, he said the money was for a vacation and the loan was approved.
In 1954, with S.B. Fuller’s blessing, George left his job and founded the Johnson Products Company at age 26.
Ultra Wave was an immediate success, but it was eclipsed three years later, when the company released Ultra Sheen, a revolutionary hair straightener for black women that could be applied at home.
George Johnson, Johnson Products
Johnson Products grew rapidly, moving from the second floor of a South Side warehouse to its own three-story building. By 1964, the company was generating $1 million [“one million dollars”] in revenue and the release of its “Afro Sheen” line would take Johnson Products to new heights, enabling George to found Independence Bank, which would eventually grow into the nation’s largest black-owned bank.
Sales reached $12 million in 1970 and in 1971, Johnson Products became the first black-owned corporation to trade on the American Stock Exchange.
Mr. Johnson’s principal sponsorship and television advertising on the long-running dance show “Soul Train” garnered even more popularity for Johnson Products and by 1975 the company was generating revenue in excess of $37 million.
At its peak, Johnson Products Company was the largest black-owned corporation in the United States, with over 230 employees and markets in Africa, the West Indies, and Latin America.
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.
I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents.
I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents.
I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.
When, while the lovely valley teems with vapour around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath of that universal love which bears and sustains us, as it floats around us in an eternity of bliss; and then, my friend, when darkness overspreads my eyes, and heaven and earth seem to dwell in my soul and absorb its power, like the form of a beloved mistress, then I often think with longing, Oh, would I could describe these conceptions, could impress upon paper all that is living so full and warm within me, that it might be the mirror of my soul, as my soul is the mirror of the infinite God!
O my friend — but it is too much for my strength — I sink under the weight of the splendour of these visions! A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine.Paragraph
I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now. When, while the lovely valley teems with vapour around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and
Aenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia, in mattis felis consectetur. Sed at pretium orci. Ut tempus libero odio, sit amet consequat neque pretium ut. Integer hendrerit mauris nec odio auctor suscipit. Proin porttitor turpis vitae ligula dictum, a sollicitudin purus congue. Nulla viverra nisi ex, ut ornare tellus cursus quis. Nulla posuere tincidunt leo at condimentum. Sed egestas tortor a nisi fringilla, id cursus odio rhoncus.
