Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - YAPLive: Hala's Keynote at MIT's 2022 Gathering of Titans Conference

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

On her path to becoming the successful podcast host of the Young and Profiting Podcast and the CEO of YAP media, Hala Taha had to overcome adversity and rejection. Hala’s story is one of grit, determination, loss, and hard work. In April 2022, Hala shared her incredible story at MIT’s 2022 Gathering of Titans at Endicott House. Gathering of Titans is an annual conference that brings a group of passionate CEOs together to share world-advancing ideas and business insights. In this #YAPSpecial of Hala’s Gathering of Titan’s speech, Hala shares her incredible come-up story, she talks about her experience as a Palestinian in the United States and dives into how she overcame the low points of her career and life to find massive success and happiness. She ends the talk with her secrets to profiting in life.     Topics include: - Introduction - Hala’s background and the American Dream  - When Hala realized she was different  - Growing up in America and wanting to be a star - The impact of 9/11 - Hala’s experience at the New Jersey Institute of Technology  - The Law of Attraction  - Getting an internship at Hot97 and dropping out of school - Getting fired from Hot97 - Starting the Sorority of HipHip - Pursuing her MBA  - Internship at Hewlett Packard  - Starting Young and Profiting Podcast  - 2020 and the loss of her father  - Becoming a full-time entrepreneur  - Hala’s secrets to profiting in life  - Q & A  - And other topics…  Resources Mentioned: Hala’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/     Hala’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/yapwithhala/     Hala’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yapwithhala  Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/@halataha   Website: https://www.youngandprofiting.com/  Text Hala: https://youngandprofiting.co/TextHala or text “YAP” to 28046 Sponsored By: Open Door Capital - Go to investwithodc.com to learn more! Jordan Harbinger - Check out jordanharbinger.com/start for some episode recommendations Shopify - Go to shopify.com/profiting, for a FREE fourteen-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features Zapier - Try Zapier for free today at zapier.com/YAP First Person - Go to getfirstperson.com and use code YAP to get 15% off your first order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of YAP is sponsored in part by Shopify. Shopify simplifies selling online and in-person so you can focus on successfully growing your business. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash profiting. Booba one will save you on all your eats. Savings can't be beat. Up to 10 percent of your order. Join Booba one and save.

$0 delivery fee and percentage off discount subject to older minimums and participating stores. Taxes and other fee still apply. You're listening to YAP, Young and Profiting Podcast, a place where you can listen, learn, and profit. Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Halla Taha, and on Young and Profiting Podcast, we investigate a new topic each

week and interview some of the brightest minds in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your everyday life, no matter your age, profession, or industry. There's no fluff on this podcast, and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research and asking the right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes of XFBI agents, real estate moguls, self-made billionaires, CEOs, and bestselling authors.

Our subject matter ranges from enhanced productivity, had to gain influence, the art of entrepreneurship, and more. If you're smart and like to continually improve yourself, hit the subscribe button, because you'll love it here at Young & Profiting Podcast. This week on YAP, we're sharing my recent talk from the 2022 Gathering of Titans Conference at MIT's world famous Endocott House. The Gathering of Titans, also known as as GOT is an annual private event that takes place over a week and brings together CEOs, change makers and thought leaders from all around the

world. Past speakers of this event include former YAP guests, JT McCormick, who is the CEO of Scribe Media and Marshall Goldsmith, who is the world's number one leadership coach. In addition, this stage is where British American author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek first got his big break. And he actually workshopped and got the idea for his breakout book, Start With Why, at this gathering of Titans Conference.

With Jotie snagging epic heavy hitters like this, I was super honored to be a guest speaker at their recent conference. And I wanted to give a quick shout out to the incredibly successful entrepreneur, author, and recent YAP guest, Darius Moshazade, who's a board member of GOT and invited me to speak this year. Thank you so much, Darius, for giving me my first real life

speaking engagement opportunity. I will never forget you for it. And this year's event was titled Vision Quest with the goal to explore the complicated new reality that leaders are navigating in today's world. And when Darrys first asked me to speak, I thought I was going to be giving either a social media or a podcast workshop. And I was so game to do that. And it felt really easy. But then Darrys told me he had other ideas. And he wanted me to speak on my story and what I went through and for an hour.

No slides, no notes, he wanted me to speak from my heart and he said verbatim. Hala, you're kicking ass and I know there's a reason why you have so much drive because people don't have this much drive unless they've been through some shit. Quote unquote. Darry also wanted me to give my authentic story and that meant sharing things about myself and my past that I've literally never talked about before publicly. And I have to say it was scary. In fact, I remember five or 10 minutes before the speech, I told Darius I took some parts

out and he got fuming mad and he told me, Holly, you better put that stuff back in your speech. This is what's going to touch people. People need to hear your story. And so I did put it back on my speech last minute. And I decided now that I'm not only gonna share it to all the entrepreneurs that were at this event, I'm gonna share it to all my young and profiting listeners because I think that you guys deserve to hear my true

come-up story. And so in this speech, I go into detail about how my summers in Palestine as a child really shaped who I am today. I get into how I overcame rejection and challenges like being a minority, getting fired, losing my father, and I talk about why 2020 was both the worst and best year of my life. And finally, in the spirit of Young and Profiting podcast, I leave you with my top secrets to profiting in life.

So without further ado, here's the recording of my first speaking event ever at the 2022 MIT Gathering of Titans Conference. Halataha is our speaker and presenter this afternoon. And I asked her a few weeks ago if she was interested in doing this. And I started thinking about like, well, what was that drove me to want to ask her to do it? And there's three words. The words are this, hustle, smart, and tenacious.

And I'm a person that loves tenacious people. And she is probably one of the most tenacious people I've ever met in my life. For those of you guys that notice, Brian Scudamore or my LinkedIn profiles are on like, ultra-surround sound. It's because of the work she does. She's the queen of LinkedIn amongst other royal titles. She has a podcast called The Younger Profiting Podcast. It has millions and millions downloads, hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Her accolades in

the podcast world have dubbed her the name of podcast princess. She was on the cover of podcast magazine. And that's like kind of like her night job. Her day job is running an incredible, incredible marketing agency called Yacht Media. And I know this because I'm actually a client of hers, as is Brian. When I think of her, I'm like, this is an entrepreneur that we all need to know.

And I felt like one of the best gifts I could give to the group would stick together here for Yolanda meter and learn her story. So without further ado, Halita. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome.

You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome.

You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Well, thank you so much. Thanks to Darius for inviting me today. The past couple of days have been so wonderful. And when Darius first asked me to come speak to you all, I thought he wanted me to give a LinkedIn training. And I was like, sure, yeah, I could do a LinkedIn training. I could teach everybody how to podcast.

And then he was like, no, Hala, I want you to share your story. And I have to say some of these things that I'm about to say in this speech. I've never said on any other podcast. I've never said in any other room things that I'm about to say in the speech, I've never said on any other podcast, I've never said in any other room. So I'm just telling my authentic story so that you guys can understand my experience. I hope that you leave this conversation,

having a new perspective, learning something new, and finding some value in this conversation. So I think my story best starts off with my dad. So my dad is Palestinian and he was born in 1943. That was five years before the Nebka. The Nebka is the Arabic word for catastrophe. And the Palestinian catastrophe was in 1943,

and that's when 600 villages were burned. 750,000 Palestinians were made refugees, and 15,000 Palestinians died. And I guess you could say my dad was one of the lucky ones, because he wasn't pushed behind the wall. He wasn't sent to Gaza to become a refugee, and in the open air prisons, so to speak. He was in the West Bank.

And so my dad grew up as a poor farmer's son and he only lived on Figs and Piedabird. He would tell me, two of his youngest siblings died when he was younger. They were a family of eight that lived in one room and he lived in extreme poverty. And my dad knew that there was only one way out at the time, and that was to be very educated and to get a scholarship. And so he decided he'd be the first person in his whole village to go to college. And from when he was a little boy, he decided he'd be the smartest kid in school, and that he'd get perfect marks so that he could achieve that dream and elevate his whole family out of poverty.

And he did. My dad had extreme grit. And so he had no light, he had no running electricity, sorry, no running water. And the only light he had was on his walks to school. And so he would read his books on his long walk to school. And that's how he was able to study and become the smartest kid in his class, get perfect marks, and eventually get a scholarship to medical school in Cairo. So my dad went off to Cairo, and he got a scholarship there, and he ended up going to America and becoming a doctor, finishing his residence here, becoming a surgeon, becoming chief of surgery in multiple hospitals in New Jersey, and ended up owning a medical center.

And he literally brought his whole family out of poverty. of surgery in multiple hospitals in New Jersey and ended up owning a medical center. And he literally brought his whole family out of poverty. My dad was so generous, he was so humble, and his favorite store to shop out was Sears. And he would give all his money away. He put all his kids to college, he put all his nieces and nephews in Palestine through college and through grad school, and essentially lifted my whole family out of poverty and Make sure everybody would be okay So in terms of my experience the first time that I realized I was different

Was my summers going to Palestine we had a house in Palestine and actually my whole family lived on one street A bunch of people had moved to America and so it was this town they called it the American Village in Palestine, because it was a street half the people were actually Americans and had summer homes there and we're not there most of the year. And so I remember when I finally realized what was going on, that was the first time I realized I was different. Because when I was in America, we were kind of treated

like an American family, sorry, an Italian family. I really knew we were ethnic, knew we would go back home over the summer, but we were just treated like a normal family, maybe like an Italian family, in my white affluent town that I grew up in and watching New Jersey. But when I went to Palestine, at a certain age, I realized how different I was. I remember my dad being this amazing respected doctor in America. We'd go to the Israeli airport and he'd get interrogated for hours. And I would be sitting on the airport floor, like waiting for dad to get done with his interrogation every time we went.

I remember having to drive on separate roads, even though I was a U.S. citizen, not allowed to drive on the same roads in Palestine. I remember having to take super quick showers because we weren't rationed water like everybody else because we were a Palestinian family. I remember almost dying at a checkpoint one day when we landed and we had all our luggage in a van and these checkpoints are super crowded and it's super chaotic and everybody was saying, go, go, go, like all the soldiers

and there was nowhere to go. We almost fell off a cliff and we almost died because our van almost fell off a cliff and it was my sister saying, go, go, go, like all the soldiers. And there was nowhere to go. We almost fell off a cliff and we almost died because our van almost fell off a cliff. And it was my sister saying, push the luggage to one side. And we did. Everybody pushed the luggage to one side on the van. And we ended up making it. And we didn't fall off the cliff.

And I literally almost died when I was like 12 years old at a checkpoint. And that was Palestine. Because in America, I was totally normal. And we were were respected family. And in terms of my experience growing up in America, I was always wanted to be a star. All my siblings wanted to be doctors.

And so I have three siblings. They all ended up being doctors. I have three cousins who lived down the street. They all ended up being doctors. And so there were seven kids in the family. And I was the only one who never wanted to be a doctor, not one day in my life. I always wanted to be a star.

I loved to sing. Actually, it's a big joke in my family that I sang before I spoke. And my first words were singing a song back to my mom. And I was always super outgoing. I was a kid that was dancing and singing at all the family parties and always like the star of the show. And I had a great childhood.

You know, I was lived a decently privileged life in terms of like we always had money. I lived, I had a good family. And I did great in school. I was popular. I used to be the lead in all the talent shows. I'd get on every sports team and everything was great. And that was until 9-11 hit.

So 9-11, I was a freshman in high school. And I remember at that time, there was some buildup happening in terms of air of paint and I was starting to get a taste of the oppression that I was feeling in Palestine suddenly was happening at home. And I remember learning about the planes hitting and feeling this pain in my stomach, like, oh my God, everyone's going to hate us.

And this is going to be so bad. And I remember being so devastated when I found out because my family was so proud to be American and my dad loved America. And I was like, this sucks because everyone's gonna hate us and we actually love being American. And so I remember actually crying on the floor, hysterically crying, calling up Z100. It was a very popular radio station at the time,

trying to get through because they were having this whole thing where people were calling in, telling their experiences, everybody was sharing their thoughts. And I so desperately trying to get through to let everybody know that we didn't feel this way, that none of the Arabic people knew about it, and that we're just as shocked and as sad as everybody. But at that point, my life was changed.

And for the first time ever, I learned that gatekeepers don't only exist at checkpoints. So my life was turned upside down. I was just starting my high school career. And from then on, I went from the American Girl Next Door to never getting any opportunities. I tried out for the place, I never got a part. I tried out for the cheerleading team.

I didn't make it. I tried out for the volleyball team. I didn't make it. They didn't even let me in the talent show every year when I hands down had the best voice in school. And so that ended up really impacting me because I didn't get into a great college. I had great grades, but I got into a meter of course school because it looked like I had no ambition, but I had lots of ambition. I wasn't given any opportunities. And so I went to New Jersey Institute of Technology. It was in New York, New Jersey, a super diverse school. And from the moment I stepped foot on that campus, my life changed.

First of all, it was four years after 9.11. And so four years after 9.11, things kind of cooled down. People were starting to be more accepting. And the other thing is that it was a super diverse school. Previously, I went to a very white Christian Jewish school and I was like the only brown kid in school. And so I started getting opportunity left and right. And I had so little fear of rejection

because I had been rejected so much. I just thought it was a part of life that I tried out for everything and I'd make it. I tried out for the play. I was a lead. I tried out for tuning. I was the captain. I was in my sorority and I was obsessed with all these extracurricular activities because I got

no opportunities in high school that I was doing very poorly in school. I didn't care about class because I was like, oh, I'm finally able to do the things I was never able to do. And I was just really embracing that experience. At the same time, I found out about something called the law of attraction. So the law of attraction almost became my religion. I was never religious. My family wasn't very religious. I grew up Muslim.

I never related to that. I feel it's kind of a sexist religion and I never, ever related to that. And nobody ever forced me to relate to that. So I found the law of attraction. And it literally was like my new religion. I almost got into like a cult. I was obsessed with Abraham and Esther Hicks,

and they were these big lot of attraction people. I'd listen to their CDs all day, I'd read all of their books. It was like a new religion for me, and I got super into it, and I did affirmations every day, and visualizations every day, and I literally believed that life was limitless.

I thought I could create my own dream life. And I was so naive, I really believe this. And honestly, my life just skyrocketed from there. So I was 19 years old, I found the law of attraction. I really was super confident at this point. I was crushing it in college, other than school. But the extra curricular part, I was crushing it. And so I ended up, at the time, I always knew that I wanted to use my voice to impact the

world and make a positive difference. That's my purpose in life to impact the world with my voice. And you know, you often don't know exactly how that's going to be. And at the time, I thought I was supposed to be a famous singer because that was always my natural talent since I was a kid. And so I set out to songwriting and I worked with all these different producers and I started writing music and I had this bright idea. I was in the radio club.

I did like every activity in college and I was like, well, I'm in the radio club. I could probably get an internship at a radio station and push my music to the DJs and break that way. And so I did. I applied to all these radio stations and I ended up getting a job at Hot 97. Hot 97 is the world's number one hip hop and R&B station. This is about 10 years ago. It was a huge deal to work at that station.

All the people, all the DJs were like celebrities in the local region. And I ended up getting this internship. I did a great job. They ended up promoting me to be like the sacred intern in the studio area. And I was Angie Martinez's assistant. She's a voice of New York, one of the most famous personalities

in the world. And I was essentially the assistant producer on the Angie Martinez show, the biggest show in America. So this was supposed to be a normal college internship. But then they started to say, holla, like, can you come every day? Can you start working on the weekend? Can you come at night? And you're doing such a great job

and they want to be there more often. So I ended up dropping out of school. And I thought I had this great opportunity. I was failing out of school anyway. And I was just so enamored by this life because I met every celebrity you can think of. J.Lo, Kim Kardashian, Chris Brown, Kanye. I was hanging out with these celebrities at night. I was 19 by this life because I met every celebrity you can think of. J.Lo, Kim Kardashian, Chris Brown, Kanye. I was hanging out with these celebrities at night.

I was 19 years old. And so it was just a big opportunity for me. So I did it. I quit my job and I started this apprenticeship at Haunt 97 and I worked for free there for three years. And I got never paid a dollar. I would make my money at night hosting parties and selling showcase tickets with the DJs.

And I did everything for that station. I was the show runner, I would enter the phones, I would run the commercials, I would go in at 2 a.m. in the morning and run the delet boards when I had to and make sure that music went on for the world all night. That was really scary if I had to go to the bathroom or something that there would be like dead air.

But I love that job. It became my identity. So all my friends knew me as Hala from Hot 97. Everybody would be like, oh my gosh, how'd you get that job? Like you have the coolest job in the world. And I was being primed to be the next Angie Martinez. The way that it works in radio is that you work for free for many years.

And then finally, you end up getting a show. And that's how it works. You got to work for all that you work for free for many years, and then finally you end up getting a show. And that's how it works. You got to work for all the DJs for free for many years. Hold tight, everyone. Let's take a quick break and hear from our sponsors. Young and profitors, do you have a brilliant business idea, but you don't know how to move forward with it? Going into debt for a four year degree isn't the only path to success.

Instead, learn everything you need to know about running a business for free by listening to the Millionaire University podcast. The Millionaire University podcast is a show that's changing the game for aspiring entrepreneurs. Hosted by Justin and Tara Williams, it's the ultimate resource for those who want to run a successful business and graduate rich, not broke. Justin and Tara started from Square One, just like you and me. They faced lows and dug themselves out of huge debt. Now they're financially free and they're sharing

their hard-earned lessons with all of us. That's right, millionaire university will teach you everything you need to know about starting and growing a successful business. No degrees required. In each episode, you'll gain invaluable insights from seasoned entrepreneurs and mentors who truly understand what it takes to succeed. From topics like how to start a software business without creating your own software, to more broad discussions such as eight businesses

you can start tomorrow to make 10K plus a month, this podcast has it all. So don't wait, now is the time to turn your business idea into a reality by listening to the Millionaire University podcast. New episodes drop Mondays and Thursdays. Find the Millionaire University podcast on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Your dog is an important part of your family. Don't settle when it comes to their health. Make the switch to fresh food made with real ingredients that are backed by science with nom nom. Nom nom delivers fresh dog food that is personalized to your dog's individual needs each portion is tailored to ensure your dog gets the nutrition they need so you can watch them thrive

nom nom's ingredients are cooked individually and then mixed together because science tells us that every protein, carb and veggie has different cooking times and methods this packs in all the vitamins and minerals your dog needs, so they truly get the most out of every single bite. And Nom Nom is completely free of additives, fillers, and mystery ingredients that contribute to bloating and low energy. Your dog deserves only the best, and Nom Nom delivers just that. Their nutrient packed recipes are crafted by board certified veterinary nutritionists, made fresh and shipped to your door.

Absolutely free. Nom-nom meals started just $2.40, and every meal is cooked in company-owned kitchens right here in the US, and they've already delivered over 40 million meals, inspiring clean bowls and wagging tails everywhere. Ever since I started feeding my dog Nom- Nom, he's been so much more energetic, and he's getting older, he's a senior dog, but now we've been going on longer walks, and he's much more playful. He used to be pretty sluggish and sleeping all the time, but I've definitely noticed a major improvement since I started feeding him Nom Nom. And the best part, they offer

a money back guarantee. If your dog's tail isn't wagging within 30 days, they'll refund your first order. No fillers, no nonsense, just nom nom. Go right now for 50% off your no risk two week trial at trinom.com slash app. That's trinom.nom.com slash app for 50% off. trinom.com slash app. So at the same time, I was feeling a lot of pressure because all of my siblings and cousins were on the medical track. And to all the outside world, even though I was learning so many new skills and even though

I was doing so many cool things, I was like a party girl to everybody else. And they thought I was throwing my life away, you know, dropped out of college. And I'd go to Thanksgiving and I was like the black sheep, the embarrassment of the family. My dad always believed in me, but everybody else really looked down on me at this point in my life. And I was starting to feel a lot of pressure because I was like, man, like I've been working here for three

years. They haven't given me a job yet. Like am I ever going to even get paid minimum wage? Like I feel like an embarrassment. And so finally, a position opened up at Haunt 97. The associate, sorry, the producer of the show, and I was doing his job for about a year, and they ended up firing him because he was like a deadbeat,

and I was already doing his job for over a year. And so I was like, okay, finally, I'm gonna get the producer role, and everything's gonna be okay. And then I come to find out that they gave the job to somebody who worked in the video department who never spent a day on the show. And the worst part about it

is that they expected me to train him. And so, yeah, I was not young and profiting at this point. I was young and pissed. So, on the first day of his work, his name was Drew Ski, and we were actually really good friends. While I was working at Hot 97, I also had online radio shows on the side with all the up-and-coming DJs.

Many of these DJs are super famous on the radio now, and I still host little radio shows with them pretending to be Angie Martinez. And so we were actually good friends, and I was young, stupid, whatever you want to say, upset. And I texted him and I said, I don't feel good today if you want to learn how to be producer, learn it on your own.

And he showed that text to Angie because he had to explain why he wasn't getting training today. And she fired me on the spot. And she cut my key cards. And not only that, she didn't let me say goodbye to anybody. All my friends and mentors for three years. I dropped out of college for this lady. She didn't let me pack up my stuff. And worst of all, she told everyone, you'll be fired if you talk to Holly. And she blackballed me from the industry. And she thought that I would triple and die probably. So, yeah, oops.

And so, at the time, I felt like I had died. My identity was taken away from me. Everybody knew me as Hala from Hot 97. It was extremely embarrassing. Like all my social media, saying Hala Hot 97, everything was Hot 97. I had my whole life was wrapped in this brand. And so I was so embarrassed

and I literally felt like somebody died. It was one of the worst moments in my life, but I was so used to rejection, right? And so it's kind of funny. I was fired on a Thursday by Sunday I had a new idea. And I decided I was gonna create something called the sorority of hip hop. And I was going to recruit all the girls in the hip hop

entertainment industry who worked for IHurt Radio, VH1, you name it. And we'd all band together and I'd create a blog site, blogs were super hot at the time. And we would band together and become more powerful and have a platform. And so I started working on this idea. I was fired on Thursday.

I started working on my website and learning how to code websites on Sunday. By the end of two weeks, I recruited 14 girls off of Twitter and Craigslist, and we formed with the sorority of hip hop and I was the president and we started a blog site. I went back to school to finish my undergrad and make my parents proud. And at the same time, I was building this website. Within three months, we were one of the most popular hip hop and R&B stations, uh, blog sites in the world. Within, I was building this website. Within three months, we were one of the most popular hip-hop and R&B stations, blog sites in the world. Within, I also had about 50 girls at that time. I had 150 girls outside of the organization over about three years.

So we got all this notoriety because I figured out how to hack Twitter. I got all these celebrities to retweet us and we blew up that way. So three months into it, MTV scouts us. We did a little pilot, nothing really came out of it, but we didn't care. We were like, this is three months in,

what's gonna happen six months from now? Who cares, right? So we keep building and building, we have online radio shows, interviewing celebrities, we're hosting concerts and events, we have this blog site that's going viral all the time. Everything's good, we're not really monetizing that much because I didn't really figure out the business aspect of it, but we are making a little bit of money.

And finally, MTV reaches back out. And at the time, I was getting scouted for multiple reality TV shows. Love and hip-hop wanted me to be on their show. Oxygen wanted me to have a show. And MTV was like, listen, Holly. We just had Jersey Shore. We're going to make you a star. Choose us.

And so I did. I chose them. And I was going gonna be the lead. I was getting paid three times as much as everybody else. And so they filmed us all summer. We were broke girls, caddy girls. It was fun time, and they got us a studio on Broadway. And it was had neon signs, it was hooked up with all this

furniture, we got our hair and makeup done every day, we were mic'd up and filmed on the street. They filmed us in restaurants at my parents' house. They filmed us all summer. We had a concert. It was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, when it was about to air two weeks before, my producer gives me a call. And she's like, I'm sorry, but we decided to move in another direction. And again, it was one of those moments where I was like, oh my god, like again? I did all the work, I did everything right. I made the right choices, I worked my butt off.

How is this happening again? And they didn't give me a reason why they didn't choose the show, but they decided not to air it. And that was a moment in my life where I feel like my thought that life was limitless, really fizzled out. And I thought, you know what, Hala, you're really unrealistic. And life is not this easy.

Your parents are right, your family is right. You should just be normal and get a real job. And it's time to just be normal. So I thought I'd never get back on a mic. I shut down the group. I had 50 girls that were extremely mad at me. But I shut down a mic. I shut down the group. I had 50 girls that were extremely mad at me. But I shut down the group. I shut down the blog.

And I decided that I was going to go get my MBA. And that I was going to be a normal person and get a normal job in corporate. And that was that. I was time to be a normal person. So I ended up wanting to get my MBA. Unfortunately, I had a 2.3 undergrad GPA. So it was really difficult to get into school. So I decided that I was going to use my networking skills.

It's one of my strongest skills. And I decided I was going to target my alma mater, the director of Alumni Association at NJIT, and I would beg her to get into the MBA program. And so I emailed her every other day for like a month and I just wouldn't leave her alone. And I was like, can I get you a coffee? Can I buy you lunch?

Can I come there? And finally she agreed to take a meeting with me. And I explained to her my whole story, how I had the story of hip-hop, how I worked at Hanay 7 and how even though on paper, I looked like a schlub, I really was a hard worker. And she believed in me and I told her, if you let me in this program, I promised I'll get a schlub. I really was a hard worker. And she believed in me and I told her, if you let me in this program,

I promise I'll get a 4.0 and I'll get straight A's. And she said, Holly, if you keep that promise, I'll let you in the program. And she let me in the program. I ended up getting a 4.0, graduating with straight A's, number one in my class.

And it really set off my corporate career. At the same time, I got my MBA. I leveraged that to get an internship at ULIC Packard, and I was making 70 grand a year. And to me, that was like a lot of money, and I was finally making it. And I did that. And at the same time at HP, I started something called the Young Employee Network. So the Young Employee Network is an employee resource group at ULIP Packard. ULIP Packard actually has like an amazing company culture. And so in my office though, there was no culture. Nobody talked to each other outside of departments. Like it was super boring and bland. And I being like the little entrepreneur

inside the organization was like, oh no, like we've got to change this. So I got everybody to sign a petition and we started a young employee network at the office. And I ended up launching their first holiday party, their first company picnic, all of their charity events. And I infused the whole office with culture. And so at the same time, I was doing amazing in my career. I thought I was going to be so behind everybody else

because I started my corporate career so late. But that wasn't true at all. I had learned outside of an organization, and so I was so tech savvy, and I was like the digital whiz kid. I got promoted from role to role. I had every single job on the marketing team, and I was like the C-suite pet,

especially because I was doing all this cultural stuff, and I was interviewing the CEOs, the CEO, and the CMO all the time, and I was really the face, the CEO and the CMO all the time, and I was really the face of the young employees at HULIP Packard. So I did this presidency of the young employee network for two years at HULIP Packard, and then I finally thought,

you know what, let me set my sights even higher, I wanna be the president of the global young employee network. And so I was on the recruitment chair of that organization, and I paid my dues. I created something called HPE Spirit Week. At the time, there was 300,000 employees across the organization, and I launched a week-long event with daily themes around the world

where I was emailing the entire organization every day as if I was the CEO. And they still do this event to this day. And I created it. It was like a week-long event called HPE Spirit Week. So I thought I for sure was a shoe-in to be the president of the Global Young Employee Network. But of course, I was wrong.

The HR director for some reason didn't like me. She didn't give me the position. She gave it to a guy who never was even involved in the organization. And they didn't even keep me on the board. They kicked me out. And I was, again, like, what did I do? I just worked for free.

I basically had a side hustle inside of this organization and they just stopped me out. And by the way, that HR director left one month later. I left too. I went to Disney Streaming Services. And at the same time, I started Young & Profiting Podcast. And I decided that if I couldn't lead the 7,000 young employees all over the world

at you, LaPackard, that I would lead 7 million young professionals across the world instead. And I'd start my own thing, young and profiting. So I started a young and profiting podcast in April of 2018. I'm going to fast forward to 2020 now. 2020 was both the best year and the worst year of my life. 2020 was the year that my life changed forever and I feel like that's the most pivotal year of my whole life. So I'll start off with January. So at the time, I was with my ex boyfriend and we were living in Brooklyn and he was super paranoid about COVID. We had some friends overseas who were telling us it was pretty bad. And in America and in New York, nobody cared, right? It was just business as usual.

But it was his birthday and that morning we decided we were gonna go to the pharmacy and we were gonna try to get some masks and alcohol on gloves and just play it safe. And so we go to one pharmacy, we go to the aisle, nothing's there. Okay, this is weird. We go to the next one, nothing's there.

We go to 10 different pharmacies, we cannot find any alcohol, any masks, any gloves. At this time, nobody knew about COVID, and we're like, everybody, like a lot of people know something that we don't know, and things are about to get real. I remember wearing a mask on the train, and I was the only one on the train where you mask,

everybody looking at me like I was crazy, but I was trying to be ultra protective of my father, because at the time, my father had diabetes, and he had to get his toe amputated, and in January in February, he was in and out of the hospital. And so I remember working at Disney Streaming Services, at the time I had my podcast, and so my days were like this, I'd wake up at 6am, work on my podcast, on the train, I'd do my LinkedIn post, I was growing my LinkedIn following, I'd go to work. During lunch time, I'd be interviewing people like Brian Scudamore in the phone booth.

And then I'd finish work, go home. My boyfriend at the time was a music producer. He worked nights, and so I was able to work on my podcast at night. And I do my engagement on social media. And I literally just worked all day all night. And all weekend, too. And I did that for many years.

Around February, March, lockdown happens. So this was actually in March. Lockdown happens. Disney tells everybody to start working from home. We're in lockdown. Nobody knows anything about COVID. I don't know anybody who had COVID, all we hear about is just the crazy stories. I'm definitely afraid of getting COVID. I am the most protective person and I was for months about not getting COVID. I remember being on LinkedIn and telling everybody how to wash their hands properly and how to go grocery shopping in the right way and trying to be like a role model about how to not get COVID.

And so March hits a week into lockdown. My sister gives me a call. A little bit of a backstory here. My dad was getting hyperbaric oxygen treatments for his toe, because he got his toe amputated. And me and my sister and my brothers were begging them, like mom and dad, stop going and getting the treatments, but it was the only way that my dad was gonna get better

and they really wanted the treatments. I actually spent $20,000 to buy my dad hyperbaric oxygen machine at home, but it was too late. And so my sister gives me a call and she says, Hala, mom and dad have COVID. Your brother's home, he has COVID, and your aunt and uncle down the street have COVID too. I didn't have a car at the time I was living the city.

I'm going to pick you up and like, if you want to come, I'm going to pick you up in like an hour. You have an hour to decide if you want to come home. Being the like considering my parents gave me everything in life, I was like, of course, I have to go home. I don't, if I'm going to get COVID, I'm going to get COVID, but of course, I have to go home. So my sister picks me up and we go home and she's a doctor. So we have like full hazmat suits on. We have an N95 mask, we have sunglasses, gloves, and I remember walking into the house, and my house usually smells lovely, of food, or flowers.

It smelled so bad of sickness, and I was like, oh boy, like this is crazy. And me and my sister were so paranoid, we thought we were going to die. Because at the time nobody, it was so scary, we didn't know anybody who had COVID. We were the first family impacted out of everybody. And so we were like, are we going to die? Is everybody going to, like, is everybody going to die? Like, what is happening? And my sister played the role of doctor. And I went from like top-podcaster and, you know, business executive at Disney to janitor. That was my job.

And so I was just focusing on cleaning the house, cooking, making sure everybody was okay. And for two weeks, we would be in full gear. And the only time we would eat would be at like 10 or 11 p.m. Once we were done taking care of everybody, all we had was like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We were living on the couch. We had like old blankets. once we were done taking care of everybody. All we had was like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We were living on the couch. We had like old blankets from when we were kids because we didn't know anything about the disease.

So we assumed everything upstairs which was just like contaminated and had COVID all over it. So everybody started to get better except for my dad. My dad started to deteriorate even worse. And so at a certain point me and my sister were like, you know what, eff it. We're gonna get COVID, it's obvious. Like who are we kidding? And I stopped wearing even a mask and I just concentrated on being with my dad. And so we were feeding

him, he was like coughing in our faces, we didn't care. And so we just were like trying to take care of our dad. And then a point came where we felt like we had to send him to the hospital. And we didn't want to send him to the hospital because at that time, the hospitals were totally packed. And we knew that he had really bad eyesight and that it would be really difficult for him to be alone in that hospital setting. And we knew we wouldn't be allowed to visit him. But it came to a point where we had to make that difficult decision.

And I remember when we had to take him, that was the last time I spoke to my dad when he was alert. And he said, if you guys send had to take him, that was the last time I spoke to my dad when he was alert. And he said, if you guys send me to the hospital, you're never gonna see me again. But we had to make that decision because we were trying to save his life. And he was right, that was the last time I ever saw him alert. And so, I remember that time being so difficult.

I was working from home. I remember working at HP, I'd be working at HP and have my dad on Zoom next to me with, he was traked, he had tubes in his nose, he always looked super uncomfortable, like he didn't look peaceful, he looked very suffering, you know. And so that was super hard and I still had to go to work and figure that all out. And the thing, the biggest regret is that we weren't able to actually visit him in the hospital. We weren't allowed to go visit him. And actually, I didn't see him until he died. And so that was super difficult, but they allowed me to be on Zoom.

And my dad couldn't see well, but I thought that he could hear my voice. And so I spent most of my time during the month that he was in that hospital. I didn't do anything really other than work and then sing to my father on Zoom and try to make it as peaceful as possible for him. And so he passed away May 15th. That's actually the same day as the Nupke day that is commemorated. And he passed away on May 15th, and he had like the shittiest funeral ever. They buried him with his shoes, with his cell phone. Only six people were allowed at the funeral,

and it was really hard for me. And you would think that that would break anyone. You would think that that would just, I would just sign off for the year and that, okay, this year is over, worst year of my life, but it wasn't, it was actually the best year of my life, because that was the first half of 2020, and the second half of 2020 ended up being the best year of my life. So at the time when my dad was in the hospital, I met this lady named Heather Monahan. Heather Monahan is a huge linkedahan is a huge influencer on LinkedIn.

I interviewed her for my show and she kind of wouldn't leave me alone after. I had a team of volunteers since I started Young & Profiting podcast. By episode two, I had my first volunteer, he's now my business partner. By episode eight, I had 10 volunteers in a Slack channel helping me work on my show. I knew everything about podcasting. So I teach one guy in Estonia, I had to build websites and run that for me. I teach one guy in Atlanta how to do my videos.

I taught one person how to do my social. And I would just teach all these interns and volunteers how to work on my show and we created a Slack channel. And that was basically like our office. And Heather was like, your videos are so good in different hollow, like, can you do this for me on LinkedIn? And I was like, no, I am really busy. Like my dad's in the hospital. Like, it's not the right time. I just have a volunteer group. Like, I don't, I can't do this for you. We can only do it for me.

And she wouldn't let up. And then, and I was interested in her being my mentor. So she asked me for a call so that I could teach her how to make those videos. And I was like, sure, I'll teach you how to make these videos. So I take a call with Heather, and I show her my Slack channel. I'm showing her all our processes and our templates. And she's like, Hala, I just had a call with VaynerMedia. Your stuff is better than theirs. I have to be your first client.

You have to start a business. Just trust me. And I was like, all right, I'll do your videos. And so she paid us like 600 bucks a month to do her videos. Like it was nothing. But then it ended up being, I took over her whole LinkedIn. Then I took over her whole podcast. Our second client was like a $30,000 retainer. And it was a very powerful billionaire client that we got. And then everything changed. I was able to hire all my volunteer team. I was able to expand my team and continue to grow this side hustle.

Let's hold that thought and take a quick break with our sponsors. Hear that sound, young and profitors? You should know that sound by now. But in case you don't, that's the sound of another sale on Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform that's revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Whether you sell edgy t-shirts or offer an educational course like me, Shopify simplifies selling online and in person so you can focus on successfully growing your business. Shopify is packed with industry-leading tools that are ready to ignite your growth, giving

you complete control over your business and brand without having to learn any new skills in design or code, and Shopify grows with you no matter how big your business gets. Thanks to an endless list of integrations and third party apps, anything you can think of from on demand printing to accounting to chatbots, Shopify has everything you need to revolutionize your business. If you're a regular listener, you probably know that I use Shopify to sell my LinkedIn secrets masterclass. Setting up my Shopify store just took me a few days. I didn't have to worry about my website and how I was going to collect payments and how

I was going to trigger abandoned cart emails and all these things that Shopify does for me with just a click of a button, even setting up my chat bot was just a click of a button. It was so easy to do. Like I said, I just took a click of a button. It was so easy to do. Like I said, just took a couple of days. And so it just allowed me to focus on my actual product and making sure my LinkedIn masterclass was the best it could be. And I was able to focus on my marketing. So Shopify really, really helped me make sure that my masterclass was going to be a success right off the bat and enabled focus. And focus is everything when it comes to entrepreneurship. With Shopify single dashboard, I can manage my orders and my payments from anywhere in the world.

And like I said, it's one of my favorite things to do every day is check my Shopify dashboard. It is a rush of dopamine to see all those blinking lights around the world showing me where everybody is logging on on the site. I love it. I highly recommend it. Shopify is a platform that I use every single day and it can take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com.sas. Profiting again, go to Shopify.com.sas. Profiting all lower case to take your business to the next level today.

Again, that Shopify.com.sas. Profiting shopfly.com slash profiting all lower case. This is possibility powered by Shopify. Yeah, fam, if you're ready to take your business to new heights, break through to the six or seven figure mark or learn from the world's most successful people, look no further because the Kelly Roach show has got you covered. Kelly Roach is a bestling author, a top-ranked podcast host and an extremely talented marketer. She's the owner of Not One, but six thriving companies,

and now she's ready to share her knowledge and experience with you on the Kelly Roach show. Kelly is an inspirational entrepreneur, and I highly respect her. She's been a guest on YAP. She was a former social client. She's a podcast client. And I remember when she came on Young and Profiting and she talked about her conviction marketing framework, it was like mind blowing to me. I remember immediately implementing what she taught me in the interview in my company and the marketing efforts that we were doing.

And as a marketer, I really, really respect all Kelly has done, all Kelly has built. In the corporate world, Kelly secured seven promotions in just eight years, but she didn't just stop there. She was working in nine to five. And at the same time, she built her eight-figure company as a side hustle and eventually took it and made it her full-time hustle. And her strategic business goals led her to win the prestigious Inc. 500 award for the fastest-growing business in the United States. She's built an empire. She's earned a life-changing wealth. And on top of all that, she maintains a happy marriage and a healthy home life.

On the Kelly Road Show, you'll learn that it's possible to have it all. Tune into the Kelly Road Show as she unveils her secrets for growing your business. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out in your career or if you're already a seasoned entrepreneur. In each episode, Kelly shares the truth about what it takes to create rapid, exponential growth. Unlock your potential, unleash your success, and start living your dream life today. Tune into the Kelly Road Show,

available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, ya fam! As you may know, I've been a full-time entrepreneur for three years now. Yet media blew up so fast, it was really hard to keep everything under control,

but things have settled a bit and I'm really focused on revamping and improving our company culture. I have 16 employees, so it's a lot of people to try to rally and motivate, and I recently had best-selling author Kim Scott on the show. And after previewing her content in our conversation, I just knew I had to take her class on masterclass,

tackle the hard conversations with RadicalCander to really absorb all she has to offer. And now I'm using her RadicalCander method every day with my team to give in solicit feedback, to cultivate a more inclusive culture, and to empower them with my honesty. And I can see my team feeling more motivated and energized already. They are really receptive to this framework, and I'm so happy because I really needed this class. With masterclass, you can learn from the best to become your best anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace.

And we all know that profiting in life doesn't just mean thriving in business. With masterclass, you can brush up on your art skills or your cooking skills, or even your modeling skills. With over 180 classes from a range of world class instructors, that thing you've always wanted to do better is just a few clicks away. On masterclass, you'll find courses from many app all-star guests like Chris Voss and Daniel Pink. I've been taking their sales and negotiation classes and I've been feeling like a real shark lately. I've totally leveled up my sales skills. How much would it cost you to take a one-on-one class from the world's best? A lot.

But with masterclass annual memberships, it just cost you $10 a month. I have to say the most surprising thing about Masterclass since I started this incredible journey on the platform is the value. For the quality of classes, instructors, the platform itself is beautiful, the videos are super high quality, you can't beat it. Gain new skills and as little as 10 minutes on your phone, your computer, tablet, smart TV, and my personal favorite way to learn is their audio mode to listen on the go. That way I can multitask while I learn. Get unlimited access to every class and right now as the app listener, you can get 15%

off when you go to masterclass.com slash profiting. That's masterclass.com slash profiting for 15% off an annual membership. Masterclass.com slash profiting. So one thing leads to another and I end up where I am today. I am full-time entrepreneur. I quit my job at Disney. I ended up being able to reinvest in my podcast

and grow it very large to be the number one education show across all podcasts. I got the cover of Podcast Magazine, January of 2021. I learned that I was gonna be interviewing Matthew McConaughey at the cover of Podcast Magazine January of 2021. I learned that I was going to be interviewing Matthew McConaughey at the end of 2020. And so my whole year turned around. And in my podcast, I always ask one question at the end of the show

and Brian and Daria's both know this. I always say, what is your secret to profiting in life? And so I always interview all these people who are mega successful. And I never ever thought that I had value to actually contribute to that question. What is your secret to profiting in life? And then after 2020 was the first time

that I actually felt like I could help answer that question with my secrets to profiting in life. And so I'd love to go over that with you guys next. And I hope you're enjoying this conversation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So secret number one, create your own lane. When a gatekeeper is telling you no, instead of going and trying to beg that gatekeeper,

instead of looking for other similar gatekeepers, create your own path, because I found that creating my own path was always a fast-tracked success. When I was fired from hot 97, I started strawberrybunt.com and the story of hip hop, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. It didn't end the way I quite imagined,

but I learned a lot of skills and it was still one of the best experiences of my life. When I didn't get MTV, I ended up owning my own life going back to school. When I didn't get the young employee network, I started Young and Profiting Podcast and thank God for those knows. Because if it wasn't for those knows,

I wouldn't be where I am today. And then in terms of creating your own path, there's some ways to turbocharge that, having a team, which I always had, and having a team believe in you, and then also having somebody other than yourself believe in you. So I felt like my father also turbocharged my destiny because he always believed in me, whether anybody else did or not. And then the second secret to profiting in life is finding your talent stack.

So I actually learned this from Scott Adams. He's the creator of Dilbert. So that's a very famous cartoon. It's syndicated in all the newspapers. And it's basically like a funny cartoon about this guy who's in business. And so Scott Adams really taught me about this idea of talent stacking.

So for him, he was a decent writer, he was a decent drawer, and he was funny, and he knew a bit about business and computer and the IT world. So he put that all together and he created Dilbert, and it was a massive success. Now he wasn't the best in all of these things, he wasn't the best drawer, the funny sky in the world,

he was just decently good at all of it, he put it all together, and he had a unique offering that he could share to the world. I think that my story is very similar. I was a great podcaster in my show took off right away because I had the experiences to build my talent stack to make me the best podcaster, and eventually the best

CEO of Yat Media. I had radio experience, I had blogging experience, I had ran multiple social media channels for Fortune 500 companies and I put all these things together and knew how to build teams and recruit teams. I put all those skills together and created the podcast and then eventually, yeah, media. So find your talent stack. And the next one is that life is limitless. When my father was dying, I never felt so much fire in my belly. I wanted to take over the world. Heather Monahan gave me a kick in the butt.

And after that, I was ready to take over the world because I realized that life was limitless. Like, my father loved to live. He still was writing a book. He wasn't finished with life. And I felt like, man, like life can just end at any moment. You never know. And not only that, I felt like I was playing small. To the outside world, it probably seemed like I had made it.

I had a great executive career. Disney, I was running all their email and mobile marketing. I had a top podcast. You would think, oh, this girl's got it all. But to me, I was actually playing small. My whole life, I wanted to be a star. I wanted to be famous. And to make a huge impact on the world.

And so I realized I was playing too, too small. And so I finally got back to that 19-year-old Hala who is obsessed with the law of attraction and who really believed that you could create your dream life. And I got that fire back in my belly. And Robert Green, who I also interviewed on my show, he's the author of the Laws of Human Nature and the 50th Laws of Power, a huge author.

And he taught me about the law of death denial. So in the law of death denial, it says that most people are actually scared to confront the idea of death. They don't even think about it. They avoid the thought of death. Now, Robert suggested instead of doing that, you should embrace the idea of death, think about your death so that it actually motivates you to a life of purpose and fulfillment. And so my ask to everybody here today is not to wait until you're on your deathbed, not to wait until somebody you love is on their deathbed to feel that fire in your belly

and realize that life is limitless. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Guys, we have time for questions. I did want to give you your present. Thank you.

You're amazing. Thank you. That was really good. Thanks. Yeah, we have some time for questions. So I have a mic. So let's go to Brighton. Yeah, thanks, Hala. Good to get to know your personal story rather than just, you know, you and I have interacted on Zoom and a few side conversations, but it's great to hear the personal side. So thanks for sharing. Are you on a quest or a path? A quest or a path. You know, right now I feel like I don't know what my ultimate vision is, but I know that I'm focused on making a huge positive impact with the world.

And one of the things that I recently did was launch my podcast network, which I'm super excited about. But I feel like there's another element to my life's purpose that I haven't discovered yet. And I think it probably has to do with Palestine, but I feel like to be honest, I'm not ready yet to do that. So, because I know you'd always think big and execute big, if you could think five years into the future, what would you manifest? You want me to answer that question? Well, I think, yeah, media is going to be a thousand person company, 100%.

I think I'm going to have the biggest podcast network in the world and we're probably going to be bought by Spotify or something like that. And I think that at that point, I'll be so secure in my career that I can start really giving back and help educating people about some of the oppression and occupation and issues that are going on in Palestine that in this very juncture today,

I can't do yet because I'm not successful enough to do that. From your perspective as the youngest person in the room, what is the future of marketing? The future of marketing. So I don't think obviously social media is going away. I do think that platforms like Instagram and Twitter are definitely going to fizzle out. They're already losing their organic growth.

I believe that social audio still hasn't found its footing and I believe that social audio will find its footing, and that's going to be huge. In terms of podcasting, I think it's going to turn into VR and more of a VR experience, and that's definitely the future of podcasting. And in general, I just think the metaverse is going to be the future of marketing and social media,

making sure that you're relevant in the metaverse, and companies will have real estate in the real world and the metaverse. Social audio. Social audio. So social audio, it's, it's, so there's these apps like Clubhouse and Greenroom. And basically it's a type of technology or social app where it's just audio only, but it's very engaging. And so there's usually a stage where there's panelists, and then you can kind of bring up audience members.

And it's basically like an interactive podcast. It's not you can think of it. The foundation that your dad was, and what he did for everyone, how's the family now? And how's your mom? How's everybody doing? How's everybody come together? Wait, now that your dad's passed.

Our family is doing amazing because I feel like my dad left with such a strong foundation. So my mom's doing great. My brothers and sisters, our old doctors, super successful. We're super blessed. So everybody's doing great.

Thanks for asking. I'm a little nervous to ask this question, so let me see if I can get it out. OK. Your 12-year-old little girl was being attacked by a country for being who you were. And there are children in states right now that are trans children that are being attacked

for being who they are. What do you wish rooms like this would have done for you when you were a little girl, when you were under attack? That's a good question. Wow, that's a good question. So, like, let's just face it, I'm just gonna call it how it is. Most of the people in this room are white, right?

White men. So I remember being a little Palestinian girl, thinking I was just a regular American girl, and I remember having parents, friends, they'd ask me, what's your heritage, how are you guys from? And I'd say, I'm from Palestine. And literally multiple times I've had parents say,

Palestine doesn't exist. Imagine being a little girl and being told that like your whole life is a lie and you don't even exist, right? So one of the things that I would say is educate yourself. Have some compassion, educate yourself about what's really going on. And the other thing that I would say is for me,

I'm in a really tricky place because I've seen things with my own eyes, I feel a very certain way about it, but I've been canceled. I didn't tell you guys every story of my life. You know, I've been canceled multiple times for talking about Palestine. And so I'm like, you could ask Darius, I wasn't even gonna mention it today.

And he was like, he was like, you better mention it. I took it out of my speech because I was like, I don't wanna get canceled. Like my career's taken off. I don't wanna anybody to hate me. Like I love people. Like, and I try to stay out of it because I understand that I'm not powerful enough to talk about it yet.

But maybe some of you guys in this room are. And so I want to wait until I've got so much foundation that nobody can tear me down because I've been torn down before. I've been shadow band on Instagram. I literally, one of the reasons why I blew up on LinkedIn is because Instagram shadow band me for so many years and nobody saw my stuff. And so I know what it's like to be canceled. And so what I'd ask is that, open your mind.

Don't just look at the media. Don't listen to the same stories that everybody told you. There's stuff going on in the world that you need to learn about and do research about, and listen to the people who are going through it, and then be an advocate and stand up for them if you have the power, and if you have the foundation where no one's going to tear you down. But there are people like me and people who are transgender or Palestinian or whatever it is, whatever the minority group is,

who don't have the power to stand up for themselves and who will be canceled and their life will be way more impacted than if used it up for them. And I know it's a hard thing to ask because people are scared to speak out because everybody's trying to protect their livelihood. But at some point, people need to stand up for what's right

and equal human rights across the board for everyone. Thank you. Thank you. APPLAUSE Yeah, so I have a question. Thank you for your presentation, and as one of the non-weight male guys here wearing my fucking NFT shirt Actually a serious question. Have you ever thought of like You know having your voice on the blockchain where it is actually sensorless

Like you can't be canceled. So you can actually have your voice over there Yeah, I mean, I've started to dabble in NFTs and getting involved, but I haven't figured out my master plan there yet, but I think that's a great opportunity for me to kind of speak out and not have as many as the risks as I would if I did it on like Instagram or LinkedIn. So yeah, that sounds like a great idea. I just got something. Say Happy Birthday. Thank you. It was yesterday.

We can do a belated Happy Birthday. It was just. Yeah, we got stingy though. We're going to say you a belated Happy Birthday. Come on everybody, get on. Yeah. On three, one, two, three. Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, Hala. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Oh, we got to see you. Thank you. All right. Is there any other questions for Hala?

Oh, let's go for it. Sure. You know, being counsel is not all over and over again. You were quits. People quit on you and fired you. What was that thing that kept you going and believing in yourself? Honestly, it was my dad. It was knowing that my dad got out of poverty

when all the odds were stacked against him. Like, he was literally, like like his dad didn't even have a first grade education and he went off to become like chief of surgery of multiple hospitals. Like, and so for me, I always felt like I had zero excuse to not be even 10 times more successful than he was. And so really, it was always my dad thinking about like everything that he sacrificed

because all he did was study his whole life and all he did was give back his whole life. His whole life was like for his family and dedicated for his family. So for me, that was always a driving factor to make sure that nothing he did was in vain and that I would help build my family's generational wealth and 10X it, hopefully.

Any other questions? We'll work. I just don't say you sent me a LinkedIn message about 15 minutes ago. Congratulations, I didn't see you that way. I'm so glad you didn't see it. You did that one. I have a good team. She G-offends the whole room and you all have invites too. That's so funny.

Thank you guys. All right. Thank you. You got your lesson. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Are you looking for ways to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative? I'm Gretchen Ruben, the number one best-selling author of the Happiness Project. And every week, we share ideas and practical solutions on the Happier with Gretchen Ruben podcast. My co-host and Happiness Guinea Pig is my sister Elizabeth Kraft. That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, TV writer and producer in Hollywood. Join us as we explore fresh insights from cutting edge science,

ancient wisdom, pop culture, and our own experiences about cultivating happiness and good habits. Every week we offer a try this at home tip you can use to boost your happiness without spending a lot of time energy or money Suggestions such as follow the one minute rule choose a one word theme for the year or design your summer We also feature segments like know yourself better where we discuss questions like are you an over buyer or an under buyer Morning person or night person abundance lever or simplicity, and every episode includes a happiness hack, a quick, easy shortcut to more happiness.

Listen and follow the podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Whether you're doing intense to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby. Or counting your breaths on the subway. We are inhaling and long exhale. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are, whenever we need it. Download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier or paid description starting at 12.99 per month.

starting at 12.99 per month.