Moore Style - From Gang Life to Speaking Stages: Youth Advocate Shares How Your Past Pain Becomes Your Purpose

Starting point is 00:00:00 When I go to schools, I don't go to schools to speak to kids. I go to schools to speak to the younger version of myself. Don't be ashamed to share your story. It will inspire others. You don't have to be perfect. You just need to be real. It's not what's on you. It's what's in you. Do what you love and love what you do. Whatever that thing is, whatever it is that you love so much that you would do it for free. So be the change you want to see.

Starting point is 00:00:24 What message did you need when you were younger? Because you never know who needs a little spark of joy. you're listening to more style a podcast to help you transform your image and transform your influence how do you turn hip-hop into leadership and pain into purpose well on today's episode i have carl young exec michelle here today with us and we're going to dive deep on what it means to be a successful speaker what it means to get onto tedx stage and really why it matters that you're why we'll move the needle forward. So thank you for coming on the show today. Oh my goodness, that was so amazing. Thanks for having me. It's an honor. It's an honor.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Such a pleasure. So where did you get the name Young Executive? Oh, that's a great one. That's his alias, by the way. Yeah. So when I was in school, I actually went to Morgan State University. I went to school for business, but I thought that they were going to teach me how to run a business, but they actually just taught me how to work for someone else for the rest of my life, you know? So I always had the entrepreneurial spirit. So I joined a marketing company called Legal Shield and it really taught me how to present, how to be relentless, how to recruit, how to train,

Starting point is 00:01:39 how to be the speaker that I am today. That was my training ground, so to speak. And they had different levels in the company and I worked my way up to the highest paid position, which is executive director. So I was in college. I was the youngest executive director in the whole state of Maryland. So everyone just kept calling me the young executive. Oh, there goes the young executive. There he goes. There he goes. There goes the young executive. I was like, that's a pretty cool name. I like that. So I turned it into my Twitter name and it ended up becoming a brand name for my company. And it just stuck. It just stuck. It just stuck. It worked. I love that because that's how I basically, I knew you, but I didn't know you yet.

Starting point is 00:02:16 Yeah. Young executive. So you've spoken at over a hundred schools. Oh yeah. What's one moment with a student that reminded you why this mission matters so much? There's so many, but I remember, Oh, let me just share this. When I go to schools, I don't go to schools to speak to kids. I go to schools to speak to the younger version of myself. So there was this, it was a It was like, it had to be like kindergarten or first grade, very young kids, right? They were like eight, nine, 10 years old. I'm walking into the school. There's this little kid sitting at a table by himself when all the other kids are like

Starting point is 00:02:57 sitting down Indian style, just waiting for me to present. And I'm like, what's going on with you? He says, well, the teacher said I'm the bad kid, so I got to stay over here. And I'm like, no, you're coming with me. So I had him sit down with everyone else in the presentation. And as I'm presenting, I got this presentation I do, five major keys to success. So I reward whoever can name all five major keys, I reward them with a special prize. So I asked him, who can tell me what the five major keys are?

Starting point is 00:03:30 The one boy that was sitting in the back in the corner by himself was the one that raised his hand. He named all five major keys off the top of his head. So I rewarded him with an autographed copy of my book. that same teacher tried to take the book away from him oh you'll get this when you deserve it I'm like no he deserves it now give it to him so I signed it for him I started talking to him I asked him what do you want to do when you grow up and he expressed himself to the level of his exposure right most of the times at a young age what you see is entertainment or sports or maybe music so he said I want to be a wide receiver in football and then but I kept seeing him staring

Starting point is 00:04:09 at my video director that I brought with me. So I said, you want to help me out and be my video director for the day? He was like, yeah. So the whole day he was shooting with me, videotaping all his other little friends. And by the end of that time, he said, man, I think I might want to be a video director one day. So I inspired him and I motivated him to be the best version of himself and even find a profession that he loves. But he would have never even got that opportunity had I not shown up and had it not been for the teachers that were there, you know? So I get it that on a day-to-day basis, there's different frustrations that teachers might have, but don't take it out on the kids, you know? And what message are you giving them when you're

Starting point is 00:04:53 saying, oh, you're the bad kid, you need to be in the corner? Maybe you're not giving the information in a way that they can receive it, you know? So luckily I was there at the right place at the right time. And hopefully we got a new video director coming out pretty soon. Yes. Oh, I love that story so much. And I love the fact that every question I'm going to ask you, it's going to be a story. You knew that. Pay attention, people. You've got some golden storytelling. You've got someone who has crafted this as a profession and art and literally teaches on this. Absolutely. It's taught me. Okay. From hip hop to SEL. Yes. Social emotional learning. You've built a movement that speaks directly to the youth. Right. What inspired the young

Starting point is 00:05:40 executive and how did it all begin? It all started out of need. Every time I turned on the radio, I heard a destructive message, sex, drugs, money, and violence. Every song, same message, different beat, you know? So I wanted to inspire predominantly the younger generation in a way that's never happened before. So instead of remaking or making my own music, I wanted to highlight the positive things the biggest influencers have said, you know? So these are genuinely good people to the core, but I couldn't understand why all the messages were negative. So I wanted to find a constructive way to highlight the biggest influencers. So it started with my book, 365 Hip Hop Daily Motivational Quotes. We're approaching the 10-year anniversary for

Starting point is 00:06:24 that book. Thank you. It reached number one bestseller on Amazon in three different categories in three different countries. And that was really the launching pad to my career. But I never wanted to be a speaker. I always just wanted to sell books. I thought I would reach like double platinum status just from selling books, but it doesn't work that way. For you to really push a book as an author, people want to know your story. Sometimes people fall in love with the person before they fall in love with the product. So the more I would speak, the more opportunities I would get to sell books, but more importantly, the more impact I was making. So I just kept speaking and sharing my story and also incorporating some of the hip hop quotes in it. And it just really

Starting point is 00:07:07 started touching the masses. And that just kept spreading and spreading and spreading. Once I finally embraced that I was going to be a motivational speaker, I wasn't getting booked. So I created my own show, the youth empowerment show in order for me to get an opportunity to speak to the youth, but also provide a platform so other people can inspire the youth as well. So with that being said, you might have a great idea. You might have something that you really want to do, but might not have the means to do it. At the time when I first came up with the Youth Empowerment Show, I didn't have a job at all. I was fired. I was unemployed. I was collecting a little unemployment check. It couldn't cover much of anything. My faith really saw me

Starting point is 00:07:52 through that. The one show that we were going to do, everything fell together last second. I literally prayed because we set a date for the show. Some people were expecting me to pull it pull it off. I didn't have any money for the cameraman. I didn't have any money for the venue. I just knew that we had to get it done. I literally sat there. I prayed and I said, God, if this is in your will, let's find a way to do it. I promise you. I checked my Facebook message, my mentor, Mr. Darnell Self, randomly. I haven't spoken to this man at that time, maybe like six months to a year. He sent me exactly what I needed to execute the first show without even having to speak to me. He just knew that I might've been on the verge of doing

Starting point is 00:08:47 something great. And he blessed me with enough money to pull off the first show. And it's been history ever since. Have you ever asked him why? I didn't. I never asked him why. Maybe that's a good question to ask but I never asked him why but I think I think it was just an answer prayer I just took as I just took it as an answer prayer never even asked him about it yeah yeah it was a huge blessing so I appreciate that yeah I know you've paid it forward too oh yeah one thousand percent one thousand percent yeah and I think that's something that you talk a little bit about like how you got to having Darnell as your mentor like how did that journey begin for you yeah um I always say I'm blessed to be a blessing, right? And, um, when I met Mr. Self, I was really in a,

Starting point is 00:09:33 in a bad space. And I say that literally because I was hanging around with dudes that, you know, weren't the best influence. We can put it that way. And, um, I got into a really bad car accident. So I was in a little bit of a financial strain. I didn't have really a vehicle to get around. And And one of my classmates, he just happened to introduce me to him because he was a part of the same business, Legal Shield. And at the time, we were getting ready to do a huge conference in New Orleans, of all places. And that director believed in me enough to invest in me, you know?

Starting point is 00:10:11 So I always had great people pouring into me at a very young age. So he paid for my plane ticket to get to New Orleans, paid for my hotel room. and that's all I needed. Once I got to that event, my belief level went through the roof. They say when a mind expands, it can never contract back to its original shape. I learned so much, but my vision was made clear at that moment. I've never seen that many millionaires and billionaires on one stage teaching me how to do the same. My belief level went through the roof and that's the event that I got a chance to meet Mr. Darnell Self. I was 19 years young And that's when I was able to pretty much start my mentorship with him.

Starting point is 00:10:57 And I was overly eager. I said, Mr. Self, we're going to make a lot of money together. And he just had to slow me down. He said, Carl, money is a byproduct of the person you become. Once you put God first, everything else will fall into place. But you have to become that person before everything else. He said, the order is faith, is family, and then is finances. So I just started taking that and running with it.

Starting point is 00:11:19 I love that. Who said something? Maybe it was that just was introduced to the Raiders, our linebacker. He was at an event and he's very big into faith, family, and I don't know if it's finances, but he's like, that's his motto. Right, right. And I was just like, oh, yeah. And I think the one thing that I've learned from a few billionaires that I've met or multi-millionaires is- You said that really casually too. Like, that's a big deal. Just a few. And I haven't like, you know, is the one thing, the one key thing to truly being successful is spirituality. That's real. And I don't think it matters what God you want to pray to, if it's the universe, if you just know that there is a higher consciousness. And what you said

Starting point is 00:12:08 is embodying that and being that is when I believe true success happens. Most people don't believe in themselves or in something bigger than themselves enough to see it through. You know, there's a reason in the Bible at 365 different times, it says, do not be afraid. That's for a reason. Our fears will, will, will cripple our success, right? For lack of better term. So it's like, it's like you really, really, really want to do something, but something in your mind says, you know what? That'll probably never happen. It's fear that's holding you back. So once you get beyond that fear, it's over. It's over. So your success is on the opposite side of your comfort zone, but we're comfortable. Sometimes we're afraid of the unknown. Once you get past

Starting point is 00:13:00 that and it's like, you know what? I'm just going to go for it. Whatever's going to happen is going to work out for my best interest. That's how I operate now. And because I have faith in God, because I have faith in myself, everything starts falling into place. Yeah. Yeah. And you know your purpose. Yeah, absolutely. And you live and breathe your purpose. 1000%. And that is something that is completely shifted for me and the better once I dialed into that. And sometimes it's hard for people to find what their purpose is. I just say, hey, listen, do what you love and love what you do whatever that thing is whatever it is that you love so much that you would do it for free do that for a living do that for a living whatever it is that you love so much that you do it for

Starting point is 00:13:41 I think I think your mom uh told you that as well when you were younger at a crossroads in your life right she's like why don't you just do what you love and then for you that was Stalin right that's a big deal when you when you do what you love you operate with a different passion that that you can't teach. You can't teach that. Yep. And I have done it for free. And we do it for free, but in the, in the doing it for free, you get better. You get really good. That's the, that's the training ground. When you get, when you start doing things for free and you're operating your passion, you love it. You pouring into all the detail, the differences in the details, like everything about what you do is going to be way better because you have a passion

Starting point is 00:14:22 towards it. And in you doing that for free, you're going to get better. And then people are going to start paying you for what you were doing for free. That's for sure. Yeah. For someone working with a youth, what are three powerful strategies to keep kids engaged while also delivering real life lessons? Oh, that's so big. That's so big. The easiest thing to do is ask yourself, what message would I give myself, right? What did your younger you need? That's the main thing that you got to ask yourself. So again, I'm not speaking to kids when I walk in the rooms. I'm speaking to the younger version of myself. I was a follower growing up. So whatever my friends wanted to do, I didn't even hesitate. I just did it.

Starting point is 00:15:11 So that got me in a lot of trouble. That got me in a lot of situations that I think I shouldn't have been in had I made up my own mind. So what message would you give your younger self? Maybe you weren't a follower growing up, but maybe you were influenced by something else, or maybe you were doing like whatever that thing is. Maybe you were depressed. Maybe you were a teenage mom and wanted to change that. Or maybe, like literally could be anything, right? Whatever lessons you wish that you knew back then, show up for you in that way. So be the change you want to see. What message did you need when you were younger? That's the main thing that would literally help anyone that's looking to work with the youth make a difference.

Starting point is 00:15:53 But also find out what they need. Ask the right questions. Because when I first started speaking, I was just giving them whatever I thought was going to work, you know. But I didn't even take the time to figure out what are their interests. What are some of the things that are bothering them or affecting them? I just assumed that I knew because I was a kid once. sometimes it's it's like totally different things that they're dealing with but you can um you can offer them your experience and your your your perspective and to help them see um see see their

Starting point is 00:16:22 way through but also last thing is just relatability just let them know like you understand and um it's okay to be vulnerable with them as well because oftentimes when we meet someone or we're speaking to someone everyone has their guards up so you're not gonna get to them and they're not going to get to you unless you are okay with being vulnerable because they already think their parents don't understand them so if you're coming in as an adult they might think the same thing of you unless you show them like hey I've walked in your shoes before yeah yeah you truly have a gift thank you with kids I've seen you in action and I've taken a lot of like learning tools from you and you just you know really focus on one of those and it's like asking them the

Starting point is 00:17:07 questions. What interests them? What are they up to in their world? Because even though we were there once and we did have similar questions, but they're in a whole different generation of what's going on in the world. I didn't have social media. Right. Right. Everything is way different now with social media. The level of exposure is totally different. But can I share a story that's on my heart right now? There's this kid, man. I love this kid. His name is Amari. He's a young kid in the Bronx. I think he's like third or fourth grade, fourth grade now. So I, we all have our days, right? So I didn't even realize this, but he really, this is something that changed my life and I'll never forget it. This literally just happened like two weeks ago. So I get to the

Starting point is 00:17:58 school. I have this residency with this school in the Bronx. It's an elementary school. So I'm there with the third and fourth graders, the young, young kids. And I get to my first class within two minutes of me, within two minutes of the kids walking in. So I'm already like a little frantic because I'm rushing to get there, right? I don't think I ate anything that morning. When I walked into the room, it was super hot. So I started to sweat already. And I'm like rearranging the tables and the chairs to make it fit for that particular day. And the kids start to walk in. So I'm kind of greeting them a little bit and um normally the kid Amari is just lighting up and he's always super excited to to be around me he tries to start to dress like me and everything

Starting point is 00:18:42 like so it's really cool but on this particular day we're passing around the uh the podcast microphone and he's just really cold to me for some reason so I'm like hey tell me about your weekend what do you how was your break and he was like it was fine I'm like okay I'm like well you want to tell us more he was like no not really I'm like all right whatever and then I just passed the microphone to the next kid and afterwards I pulled him to the side I said what's up with you he said what's up with you and I'm like what's going on I'm he said two weeks ago you came here and you were smiling the whole time today you I haven't seen you smile at all and I said whoa so you mean how I am is affecting you he said yeah because you're cool and I'm cool but you're

Starting point is 00:19:35 not being cool so I can't be cool and I'm just like wow I tried to coach him in that moment because I'm like you should show up for yourself no matter what but at the end of the day two things we don't ever know what they're dealing with and what they're going through in their lives but the most important thing is how you show up for them matters I didn't realize he was paying attention to the fact that I wasn't smiling I wasn't my normal joyful and high energy self I was just like just going through real life and I didn't realize he was paying attention and because I didn't show up in that room with joy it I guess he's an empath because it really affected him and now he was in a bad mood because he perceived that I was in a bad mood, you know? So I pay

Starting point is 00:20:23 attention to how I show up in this world because you never know who needs a little spark of joy. Yeah. That's a powerful story. And it's insane to me because I've seen this happen, raising a daughter, watching how you don't think they're paying attention as much. They're paying attention. And then they say something, you're like, oh, snap. Yeah. Yeah. You heard that or you were actually paying attention? The whole time, yep.

Starting point is 00:20:49 I imagine he looks up to you and maybe idolizes you in probably the best way. Right. But yeah, just you not coming in as your normal jovial self, that was super effective. I love that lesson because I think it just puts in perspective, not even children, but going into the world every day. How are you showing up? How are you showing up? Yeah. You might have ran into traffic on the way here or spilled coffee or something happened that shifted your mood a little bit. And now you're taking your frustrations out on the wrong people. How are you showing up? Well, thank you for that story. So I met you through speaker school and I've taken his speaker

Starting point is 00:21:34 school, I don't know, a few times, three, four times, something like that. And every time I learn something, because I do want to get better at delivering my message and speaking and just sharing. I think I remember, and I just have to say this, that you said to me, Celeste, get out of your head and funny enough another friend of mine today Dylan said the same thing I think you get in your head a lot and worry about like the perfection and I do yeah and I think it's like oh I don't want to sound stupid I want to make sure it's right I don't think it's so much a stupid part I think it's making sure that I'm delivering my message in a powerful way right because I look up to someone like you or Brandon or someone that's really you know been doing this

Starting point is 00:22:23 for a while. But I remember, and you're just like, you got to get out of your head. So what's some advice that you would give to the audience if they're learning and wanting to speak, to show up as whoever they are in this world? If they're an executive, if they're an entrepreneur, what are some tips you could give them to learning how to get more comfortable speaking? The biggest thing is don't be ashamed to share your story. It will inspire others. Whatever that thing is that is embarrassing, whatever that thing is that you try to let go because you're past that, you've overcome it, you've healed from it, or you don't want to go back, that's the thing that you need to be speaking on. and I can't even really give advice on how to get comfortable with that because that's something that you probably buried and left a long time ago that's the thing you need to be speaking on I hated bringing up the fact that I was one handshake away from joining the gang

Starting point is 00:23:30 I hated bringing up the fact that I was such a follower that I was just just bringing dudes I didn't even know in my car with whatever they had on them to joyride or just do crazy things. I hated that, looking back on that aspect of my life. But when I started speaking on that, when I started going deeper into that, that's when I started to impact the youth. So there's someone who is going through something that you've grown through right now. and they're, they're, they're having the hardest time of their life because you haven't said anything yet. That's the, the, the mindset that helped me shift into put, just throw my story out there and literally showing people who I was hanging out with in the past and who I'm hanging

Starting point is 00:24:20 out with now, the biggest differences between me back then and me today. Once you just, just dial it in on just expressing your story, even the parts that you're ashamed of, that's when you're going to make an impact. So I can't really give advice on how to be comfortable with that because that's the most uncomfortable thing that you can do, but I promise you it'll be worth it. Yeah. And even if you think that it's like you minimize it, even if you think it's not important. Oh no, we need that. There's someone out there that can connect with you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's someone that's dealing with trauma right now. Someone is dealing with drama right now. Someone is dealing with abuse. Someone is dealing with pain. Someone is dealing with the thing that you have overcome. And they need to hear you. They need to hear you. And the start is what stops most people.

Starting point is 00:25:12 People look at writing a book as this monumentous thing, which it is. People look at, you know, starting a business as this monument. It is. And they think themselves out of starting. They have paralysis by analysis. They just want to make sure everything is right. They want to make sure everything is perfect. You crossed all your T's, dotted all your I's.

Starting point is 00:25:35 I get it. You want it to be right. It does not have to be perfect. You don't have to be perfect. You just need to be real. So just start. Good advice. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:25:47 Great advice. Learned from the King Carl here. Just start. Just start. Just start. I mean, there's been, there was years that I didn't start my business because I thought I had to have this and this and this and this. And it's scary.

Starting point is 00:26:00 Like whatever, like writing a book, you're just throwing your art. That's art. That's your baby. So you putting it out there for people to judge you, they will judge you. right and that's a scary thought you know people making a post sometimes people will comment under something that you don't like to hear or you don't want to read like that's messed up but that's one of those things you just have to do it because don't focus on the negative stuff focus on the person that's going to need it the most you know people will talk about you your clothes how you

Starting point is 00:26:33 look everything except for the message i'm trying to spit you know what i mean but but listen put it out there anyways don't worry about who's going to judge you they're going to judge you anyways and and and um uh you know people try to talk down on you or whatever the case may be but you know um if someone is trying to pull you down that means you're already above them so keep climbing they're trying to bring you down to that level right no one who is winning ever has a comment negative to say they're winning it's the people who are losing that want to comment on the winners that's just what it is so you just got to understand if someone is commenting on you someone is is trying to trying to derail your success that means you are winning keep going yeah so you did

Starting point is 00:27:23 um mention just something a little bit in there and talking about people are going to judge you by what you're wearing yep yep yep let's talk about this a little bit okay let's talk about your TEDx performance I'm gonna say performance okay yeah because it was one of the best talks I've ever seen Carl give yet thank you but I want to talk about oh yeah about how you showed up yeah do rad Carl I did that on purpose I did that on purpose okay but wait let's talk about How did you, so Carl shows up, he's one of the last speakers to come and everybody knows, you know, he's a little bit late sometimes, but he always, but he's always there. He shows up. I show up a hundred and thousand percent. Right, right, right. Everybody's ready to go. And Carl

Starting point is 00:28:15 walks in and he's got a hoodie and a do rag. And I don't know if I'm missing anything else, but maybe some jeans or something. And let me have him tell you the story. Yeah. I did that on purpose. I showed up in a hoodie. I showed up in a do-rag. I showed up in jeans and sneakers. And I did that because I knew every single person, regardless of your race, your background, your religion, your bank account, I knew they were going to prejudge me. And that was a part of the performance. When we talk about social emotional learning, we talk about collaboration, we talk about building relationships, and you cannot just keep working with people who are exactly like you, right? I wanted to prove that the best things

Starting point is 00:29:01 happen with people who are completely different from you. You know, I have an amazing business partner by the name of Brandon. We're in the same city doing the same thing, but we've never met each other, right? We come from different parts of town, different background, different races, and everything like that. No one would have known that we've been such great business partners. He's one of the greatest people I know, like humans that I know, but that would have never happened if we didn't collaborate. So I just wanted to show everyone that it's not what's on you, it's what's in you, right? We judge on whatever we feel is a difference, whether it's race, religion, background, sexual preference,

Starting point is 00:29:46 like anything that we think, oh, I don't know about this person. But I just wanted to prove that the greatest collaborations can happen when you look beyond whatever you think is a difference and you just start to work together. Yeah, that was so powerful. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:30:02 And you know, me as an image consultant, I was like, what's he doing? You're like, what is he doing? You should have done TED Talk in a new way. Like, yeah, yeah. Do we need to have a meeting before? Yeah, yeah, why didn't he call me? But, you know, that was just a beautiful moment when, you know, you guys have to go watch it on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:30:20 Absolutely. It's just like, and you'll see what I'm talking about. But when he literally, you know, I won't spoil it, but he, you know, he does something to actually make a point. And it was just such a, like, you got it, you know, you made that point. So how does it feel to be a TEDx speaker? You know what? That's one of the bucket list items that is like, wow, I cannot believe this actually happened, you know?

Starting point is 00:30:46 So I am beyond thrilled. We're just starting to really push it as far as media is concerned. And, you know, you start with your warm market as far as getting it out there, but then, you know, you start to go beyond your warm market. So it feels incredible. So that's something that you get to put on your resume, put on your one-sheeter, and just really let everyone know, like, this is a serious speaker. That's like one of those notches under your belt, one of those accomplishments that every speaker looks forward to.

Starting point is 00:31:15 So I'm blessed to be able to have that under my belt now. Yeah. So do you think you're going to do more? I think I'm going to do a lot more, not just TEDx, but also just international speaking. You know, so I'm just going to use this as a launching pad for the next stages of my career. So what are your goals with speaking? Oh, I want to be an international name. You know, I have some really great mentors that I look up to that most people know on a first name basis. And it's like, man, I want to continue to work on my craft and work on my impact in order to get to those levels.

Starting point is 00:31:51 Yeah. And is there a certain audience you want to speak to in general? I didn't have an exact audience that I want to speak to in general, but I just look forward to doing more international things. You know, translating my words in different languages. I think that's so amazing. Ooh. Yeah. So how would you do that?

Starting point is 00:32:08 Say you spoke in Dubai, they speak English, and you want to go into Africa or India. Right. Well, that is Africa. Or Europe or whatever, where they don't speak English as well. Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, absolutely. Okay. And you know what?

Starting point is 00:32:22 It might sound silly, but I can't speak a lick of Spanish. Yeah. So I want to get into more Spanish-speaking countries, French. Yeah. Just a whole bunch of different places. Yeah, I'm excited for you. Absolutely. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:34 I know you're going to kill it. Whatever you want to do. I'm looking forward to it. You accomplished it. Looking forward to it. So as a keynote speaker and coach, how do you prepare to command the room when you're stepping in front of hundreds of kids, teachers, and even media? If you stay ready, you don't got to get ready.

Starting point is 00:32:53 Oh. If you stay ready, you don't got to get ready. I learned from really great mentors. I practiced for years, and then now when my moment hits, I can do it, you know? I'm going to be transparent. I didn't spend months practicing my TEDx speech, you know? The week of, I kind of got a gist of what I was going to talk about, but I really locked in for 48 hours, you know? And that's what it took for me to deliver that speech, right?

Starting point is 00:33:24 But for most people, they would see, they would hear me say, oh, I did it in 48 hours and think they could do the same thing. It doesn't work that way. The reason I'm able to lock in for 48 hours is because I spent, you know, years perfecting that, you know, years learning from the greats. And so what I used to do when I first started, I wrote down everything I wanted to say and just started practicing it. You know, practice is like such an underrated tool because it helps you get better and not just, you know, look at it one time and then just think you can jump on stage. Like, no, like literally sit there, practice, throw a video on, record yourself and actually see yourself delivering that message, you know?

Starting point is 00:34:09 And again, like we mentioned earlier, get out of your head and into your heart. What message do you need to hear? The younger version of you, what message do you need to hear before you made that decision, before you made that wrong turn, before you went to this place, before you hung out with those people, what messages you need to hear. And that's how I deliver it. So I speak to me. Yeah. Yeah. It's powerful. Well, is there anything you would like to say to the audience that maybe I didn't ask, or if there's just some words of wisdom? I know you always do. Of course. Of course. I like, you know, I like to quote rappers. I got to, I got to quote Nipsey.

Starting point is 00:34:44 Nipsey said, Nipsey Hussle says, you can have it all, but it's about your reason. A lot of people want a lot of things. I want the money. I want the cars. I want whatever it is that you desire materialistic. You could have it all, but what's your real reason for wanting those things? You know, what's your reason why? And I always like to say your reason why has to be strong enough to make you cry. It's deeper than I just want to make a lot of money. It's deeper than that. Why? I've never experienced that. Now we get to a little bit more. I watched my parents struggle. I watched my siblings struggle. I want to give back to people who always believed in me. Let's go real deep. I want to create a legacy, not just for me, but for my children's

Starting point is 00:35:29 children. Let's go deeper than that. Why is it that you want to do that? All right, I've never got to experience great things. I didn't go on my real first family vacation until I was like 21. You know, my parents provided everything we needed, not everything we wanted. You know, so I want to shift things a little bit for my children, my children's children. There's a reason why, let's just say Elvis Presley's children's children's children's children are always going to remember his name. He created a legacy while he was alive. You know, there's a reason why your children's children's children are going to remember your name. Right.

Starting point is 00:36:09 So I want to be able to provide not just for me, but for the masses. And that just really requires you to give it everything you've got. 50 Cent once said, I got a lot of living to do before I die and I ain't got time to waste. That is such a precious quote because we always think that we have more time until we don't have any more time. So while you are alive, while you are blessed to be breathing, give it everything you've got. Give it everything you've got. Les Brown, one of my mentors, says the wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery. People go to their graves with these ideas, with these inventions, with these gifts, with these talents, with these songs, with these books, with these movies, with these cures for diseases.

Starting point is 00:37:01 People go to their graves with some of the greatest gifts on the planet just because they never put it out there. die empty. Die empty. There's so many things I want to do. There's so many things I have done. I haven't put it out there. Die empty. Give it everything you've got. That's why I commend you for putting your podcast together and really executing in the way that you do because most people think about it. You know how many times I go into school teaching kids podcasting and I run into an adult i've always wanted a podcast what are you waiting on what are you waiting on you know so put yourself out there stop waiting like literally what are you waiting on it's your time yes it's your time thank you for sharing that i love all your quotes you tie them into meaning

Starting point is 00:37:54 and messages and stories and that's how what story is what facts tell stories sell thank you so much for coming on the show today I appreciate you for having me with your presence and your your life and stories and all the things that you have you're amazing I love you your mom your family um you guys are so incredible so I appreciate you for having me oh thank you and where can people find you everywhere yes everywhere um my my instagram handle and all my social media is the same it's at young executive and it's y-o-u-n-g-e-x-e-k-u-t-i-v-e so that's young executive websites young executive.com emails info at young executive.com whatever you need you'll find me there awesome thank you again for coming on the show i appreciate

Starting point is 00:38:44 you for having me queen thank you

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