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Lowell Hawthorne, a 57-year-old Carribean business owner committed suicide in New York over the weekend.  He was the founder and CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill.  He was once featured on the hit show “Undercover Boss” a show about black entrepreneurs who have challenges with their businesses.  He had 120 restaurants in nine states and built an empire. But as we all know being an Entrepreneur is like being manic, the highs are very high but the lows are very low. Read the whole story here.

ENTREPRENEUR AND 21-TIME GRAMMY^® WINNER SHAWN “JAY-Z” CARTER TO BE HONORED WITH THE GRAM

MY SALUTE TO INDUSTRY ICONS^® AWARD AT THE 2018 PRE-GRAMMY^® GALA

CLIVE DAVIS AND THE RECORDING ACADEMY^™ WILL PRESENT GALA ON SATURDAY, JAN. 27, 2018, AT SHERATON NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE ON THE EVE OF THE 60TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS^®

 Clive Davis and the Recording Academy^™ will present the annual Pre-GRAMMY^® Gala on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, at Sheraton New York Times Square, the evening preceding the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards^®. As part of the celebration, black entrepreneur and 21-time GRAMMY winner Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter will be recognized as the 2018 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons^® honoree for his significant contributions to the music industry and his numerous philanthropic endeavors.

Sponsored by Delta, Hilton, JBL By Harman, and Mastercard, the invitation-only Pre-GRAMMY Gala has long been one of the music industry’s most prestigious events, having hosted the industry’s top leaders and welcomed the world’s most talented artists on its stage. For the past decade, the gala has also included a presentation to honor industry luminaries through the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons Award. Past recipients include Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, Irving Azoff, Martin Bandier, Sir Richard Branson, Clive Davis, Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, Berry Gordy, Lucian Grainge, Debra L. Lee, Doug Morris, Mo Ostin, and Antonio “L.A.” Reid.

“We are absolutely thrilled and delighted to honor JAY-Z with this year’s GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Award. His contributions as an industry trailblazer and music visionary only begin to touch on the tremendous impact he’s made both in entertainment and beyond,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “JAY-Z also embodies the vibrant spirit of New York City and we couldn’t imagine a more fitting honoree as we return to Manhattan for this year’s GRAMMY Awards.

“JAY-Z is a quintessential icon and I couldn’t be happier and more excited to share the evening with him,” said Clive Davis, co-host of the Pre-GRAMMY Gala. “What a night this will be!”

Since 1996, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and 21-time GRAMMY Award winner Shawn “JAY Z” Carter has been a dominant force in popular culture, with multiple businesses and accolades across the recording industry.

Among his achievements, Carter has served as President of Def Jam Recordings, launched the successful Made In America festival, acquired luxury spirits brand Armand De Brignac, and maintains his role as majority owner in the 40/40 sports clubs. In 2013, Carter launched Roc Nation Sports, whose roster includes NBA Champion Kevin Durant and MLB All-Star Robinson Cano. Carter became co-owner in global streaming service, TIDAL, in 2015. In 2017, Carter became the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

Carter is active in giving back to the community, most notably through his philanthropic work through the Shawn Carter Foundation. The Foundation, founded in 2002, is dedicated to helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships further their education, encouraging them to tap into their potential. Since the foundation launched, Shawn Carter Scholars are studying at more than 100 institutions of higher education throughout the nation.

 

Ask for free or discount services?

What I find most amazing about people who ask for discounts is that they are always the same ones who OVERCHARGE other people for their services. And they demand premium rates. This is OUTRAGEOUSLY selfish and unacceptable to your growth.

After many years of falling for this trick, I finally had to stop. People who are closest to you will try to make you feel obligated. Like you owe THEM something for YOUR success. No matter how you look at it, that’s exactly the way it comes off. If I work hard for what I have and I’m providing a great service and you need to pay the price and shut the hell up. Don’t ask me for this.

Know that if you allow someone a discount or free services it is absolutely possible they’re going to tell other people. In addition, they will NEVER pay you full price. They will CONTINUE to ask for MORE discounts. Which in essence is going to destroy your business and make you ask for discounts and hookups as well. Someone once told me, nobody wants to do business with someone who looks like they NEED it. Stop doing ghetto business or you’ll never get corporate clients.

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Don’t Hire Friends, Just Give them the Money

It is not your job to save the world (aka Hire Friends) but if you volunteer, be prepared to work 24 hours a day. I’ve heard every sob story you can imagine and I’m not falling for it anymore. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to have a good experience but it’s RARE.

Hiring friends is always a problem. It almost always starts with some kind of a sob story which puts you behind the 8 ball from gate. They have an unfair advantage. Their mission is not to build your business as much as it is to get money in their pockets. You are not the welfare office. Not only with it hurt YOU it will absolutely affect your business to. You would seriously be better off to just GIVE the money.

They think that you’re obligated to help them and they treat you in that way. They give you excuses they take their time getting the work done they want you to do extra favors like drop off the money at the bank and other things that you don’t have the time to do.  I have one friend that I hired who was really good at what she does but she wants me to always drop money off at the bank, stand in line give her account number because she doesn’t have PayPal and refuses to get it. Really? Well, I will mail you a check then. So I’m obligated to go and stand in line and wait and then pay her money to her in another state I finally told her to get off her ass and get a PayPal account or set up Zeele with her bank account. I do not have time to go to the bank park my car and stand in line to pay someone. That’s not my damn job and it’s asking a LOT for me to do it.
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WPengine and StudioPress are the BEST

Who has the time to repeatedly look for the best web hosting?

I know that I don’t and I completely understand what it’s like to have a site all set up and get a spike in traffic then have your site crash. Right at the time when you could be converting a ton of viewers to your email list. A few years ago. I got the exclusive for one of my sites when a celebrity died. I literally think I was the FIRST one to report on her death and my site was hosted by a very popular hosting company. Needless to say, they didn’t live up to their promises and my site crashed giving other sites an opportunity to falsely claim that THEY were the source for the news. Of course it was tragic because someone died but this can also happen when you have news to share with your customers.

Link directly to discounted business plan

To that end, I’ve been with at least 5 hosting companies at this point and the one that is at the top of my list is WPengine. Hands down they have the BEST and most knowledgable customer service and they are right there if your site crashes or you need tech help for your blog, which I have found out is the MOST important aspect of hosting. WP stands for WordPress so they are experts in the are of the most popular format for blogs. I’ve been with WPEngine for 4 years now and I love it. I have had traffic spikes with no problem and even when my site has crashed without me knowing, they were on it by sending me an email to let me know they were either working on it or they had fixed it.

If you are serious about your business and your presentation I have two recommendations for you WPengine for your hosting and StudioPress for your amazing template.

StudioPress Theme of the Month – business Pro Theme

Please let me know how it goes.

Allow people to downgrade your business?

If someone insults or puts down your business. It’s should be as if they insulted one of your children. I lose it.

There are times that when people don’t get what they want from you and then act like kids in the playground, pissed because you won’t play with them. They downgrade your business and try to make you feel bad saying things like … ‘nobody’s interested in your business’ or you’re dated or you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. At that point, they see sharp teeth and hear growling (lol). I have worked TOO hard for what I have. Not having it.

That psychology is them putting you down because you didn’t give them what they want but at the end of the day, it’s pure jealousy and envy. Unfortunately, that kind of vitriol comes from so-called friends/associates and even family members. Once again don’t let anybody mess with the flow of your business.
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