Benny Pough - Music Executive, Entrepreneur & Author | Leading Def Jam & Roc Nation

The most important moment that's happened to me in my life was the near-death car accident, where our Literature is 90 miles an hour as the pastor Ladies and gentlemen, Vinnie Pugh! He's a kingmaker in the music business Helping along to the careers of someone today's biggest superstars, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Travis Scott, and I'm just naming a few I Coming out of that accident, what do you think that taught you? I realized Impact will stop telling me It's not for you to change your life. Do you think that other people can maybe change the way you change without having such a horrible event? So Let's talk about the hustle paper boy to to CEO to president Paperboy was um my first job Welcome to success story. I'm your host, Scott Clary. The success story podcast is part of the HubSpot podcast network Now the HubSpot podcast network has incredible podcasts like my first million hosted by Sam Parr and Sean Perri They interview some of the most incredible business leaders Alex Ramozi, Sophia Amaruso, Hassan, Minhaj, who shared their journey to success And how they made their first million on a recent episode They featured the acquired podcast host Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal to discuss how they scaled their multi-million dollar podcasts Don't sleep on my first million if you want to get inspired if you want to learn from the best You got to tune into my first million wherever you listen to your podcast Today my guest is veteran music industry executive Benny Pugh having held executive roles at major record labels like Motown deaf jam and mca records Including his tenure as a former executive vice president of epic records and the former president of rock nation music Benny has been instrumental in positioning the sound and culture of music worldwide by breaking radio hits for superstar artists such as Jay-Z Rihanna Kanye West DJ Khaled the roots Travis Scott future Yogadi 21 Savage and more Oh Well, thank you scoff at having me on the show and Just speaking with you off camera, you know, you're an amazing spirit and soul man So I can I see why you get the amount of downloads you do because you're you're a special heart man So thank you once again, you know what thinking the most important and most traumatic and fulfilling moment that's happened to me in my life Was the near-depth car accident where I'm hit a tree at 90 miles an hour as a passenger The stain a level two concussion. That's when you black out between one and five minutes L3L4 vertebrae fracture bulging disc in my back lacerated liver that led me to lose half my blood supply and we hit the tree so hard that it severed two feet of my small intestine And in that moment god put a book inside of me called on impact And impact is an acronym for intuition mastery pivot authenticity connection and team work And it takes the reader through my journey from 11 years old delivering newspapers To modern day with an undercurrent of music since I spent the majority of my professional career in the music business And at the end of each chapter I've put together what I've called a hit list Which are takeaways from the chapter that people can now apply to their lives And pretty much say if Benning can do it I can do it too because I've gone from Paperboy to president and intern to CEO That's a lot to unpack man. Okay, look this is gonna set the tone for the rest of the show You just you just fucking went through everything that we're gonna talk about in like two seconds that could have been there already there Yeah It's all right, so you let's talk about this accident So we're gonna talk about the accident then we're gonna talk about We can go back to the origin story and what knocks obvious that's super Super important as well, but Coming out of that accident. What do you think that taught you what did the you know? Why did you did you feel anger? Did you feel hate for the person driving? Did you feel nothing but gratitude? What was it that came out of that? so None of the above in the negative perspective and I realized that that was The impact was God telling me, you know, it's time for you to change your life And that was the inflection point for me to really now become very Self-aware and also understanding what my mission and my purpose You know in life is it's not about how much money I make it's not about the people of influence that I know It's not about how much I've traveled. It's not about the things that don't matter How do you really now take all that's been given to you and share to as many people as possible? So he was only Honestly just the driver right for literally I needed to go so no no feelings no ill feelings none of that And who and who were you before who were you before that accident? Man, I was a Consumant professional, you know sales guy Just like probably most folks in a in America and in around the world, you know you just Driven on the day-to-day grind And when you're on only thinking about making ends meet or experiencing a great life because you figured out the code You forget about the real value of how important a day is How important it is telling people you love them how important it is just giving someone a call and giving them You know a positive aspiration you forget about like who you are true to yourself and what is the purpose For your for your day-to-day and your existence You know you forget as a parent like you know your children really depend on you not just to be a figure You know they need that input on a on a day-to-day if you have a mate or you know someone significant You know it's more than just we're a couple It's like y'all I want to really make sure that we are all the way in tune and tied together Because if we're going to take a journey together We need to be locked in and in lockstep and you can only do that with commitment and time so Unfortunately, I realized although I had success. I really had nothing You feel like you were like you didn't have balance is that exact or less? Exactly exactly and balance Oh definitely was une... well wasn't balanced uneven on the paradigm of life for me I was very highly driven in the music business and prior to that of business as a whole and realizing that you know how important my career was Is was was actually the point that I negated who I was And okay, so now you have this this is life-changing moment. It's sad because a lot of people Don't have a moment that wakes them up like that and I'm actually curious do you think that You think there would have been a point in your life that you would have Actually changed it sounds like change for the better. I don't want to make assumptions But it sounds like change for the better after this event You think that this is a moment that you needed and do you think that other people can maybe Change the way you change without having such a horrible life-altering event So Yes, it's yes and no So it's it's an individual individual choice But you have to realize when the signs are prevalent So it's not necessarily you have to hit a tree to change your life You have to really take a step back and understand what the value of life is right from From from the from the date of birth To the day that you die What do you truly want your middle to be is it only about hustle and And paying bills and buying you know the next Gucci Louis Vuitton Mercedes-Benz Right those things or is it really about like guess what how am I going to Make a difference and make a change every day in my life to impact someone's life because if you impact someone's life And you're the genesis of that now you you have begun a train that will truly live on forever Because of what you've done right and and ideally I think a lot of us get trapped in you know Life is as is what it is meaning you know the day-to-day grind and don't Understand the value of a minimalist lifestyle right like you don't need everything You don't have to spend $125 a hundred and fifty three hundred dollars a night on dinners. You don't have to do that You don't have to drink the best champagne every night or you know cognac or smokes the guards But it's okay if you can But if you if that's not what your situation dictates then enjoy what you can do And then you will start to begin a life that's fulfilling and rewarding for yourself You know what now we're all fucked up because This is what happens right you came from you came from paper out and then you worked and you hustled and you hustled and you hustled And then you hustled so much that you start to make money and you start to succeed and then you're like shit Okay, now I'm making it and you start benchmarking yourself against people that have made it a little bit more than you And made a little bit more money than you and social media fucks us all up right and I'm sure you I'm sure this is what happened to you to happen to me happen to anybody who I know Even people that haven't made money. It's happened to so I'm just it's not even a question. It's just like it's like this Maybe just a comment on that society as a whole just pushes all these These ideals and these thoughts and these values on money and wealth and success and It's keeping up with the Jones is that like this insane scale that is never achievable It's just a wild world. We live in and I want to try and teach people over in this particular show at least The massive amount of success that you had in that hustle mentality because bro You were like an executive at pretty much almost every single record label that I know But like That is like any So that's not that's not like not successful that's you hustled for that shit and then all of a sudden you're like Okay, you had I don't know what the best word is like come to Jesus moment. I don't know You just live changing moment and you're like shit. Okay, I've done this I've I and And you're in this flywheel when you're building yourself up when you come from paperboy and you keep going to the next job next job next job next job next job It's like how do you stop because that's all you know now 30 years of your life you trained yourself. I mean, that's a great That's a great question and it's it's ideally for me It was that moment and you asked the question earlier had that not happen What do you think the outcome would have been? I think I probably would have had a heart attack at some point, you know With the with the level of Of Commitment that I was at, you know, you don't even understand the stress That that you put your body through you put the moments um and and working In a high output Environment especially when you're an earner and you're responsible Um for folks and and in doing so You carve off the back end of your life, right? Like you commit, you know, it's just like it's just like a boxer You can take heavy punches in your youth if you know what you protect your head But you're still beating up your body, right? Yeah, I remember it like the other day I was talking with my son and you know Just even like certain things and workouts like lifting weights When I was young playing football, you know, I put 350 375 pounds on my back to squat right but guess what my back is messed up now in this age or even somebody said Hey, listen, you're gonna pay for it in the end Like well, you can do it now so you don't really think about it later because you can do it now so ultimately It's important to not only see the data the days that you're in but each day builds into your future So you have to find that spot that you're happy every day Because the future's not promised the accident happened literally Getting in a car Driving out of a driveway making a right onto a roadway in the pass in the driver pass out With his foot on the accelerator. I couldn't plan for that Right, I couldn't and just think about it at that point I'm still until that very moment. I'm still this guy that's on the hamster wheel So everything that I've acquired everything that I've done everything that I've gone didn't matter Because my life was about to end in that moment so when your life is about to end in that point You have and deaf really does happen in slow motion you have to say wow What a wonderful life it was or you like Y'all didn't do everything I want But it's happening So which life do you want to live when the end does come What a wonderful life or I didn't do everything I wanted and everything you want is in is is in the grasp of your hand Understanding the value of each day It's beautiful um Tell me something when you hit that tree You probably out cold for a bit. I think you're probably passed out or yeah, when you what when you woke up Did you immediately immediately think I'm gonna change my life or did you immediately think Fuck him in the hospital. I'm gonna miss emails and I have meetings next week and I'm gonna miss those So there's a couple things When I realized the driver was passed out because literally we came down his gate He made it right. We got on the roadway Tulane roadway in rural New Jersey I heard a thump on the accelerator and the car shot off And I picked up my phone. It's about to make a call and I'm like what is he doing Like we're too old to be show-bought and with a new car So I looked at the odometer cut my eyes and the odometer was 75 miles an hour I turned my head and he was passed out with his foot on the accelerator So in that moment, I do what I was always taught to do. I was speak to God And the first thing I said was Lord. I guess I'm not gonna see you See my family anymore because my wife and my daughter they were in in the house and I'd seen from my sister My father we celebrated his his 70th birthday that the day before my son took him to boarding school My daughter my eldest saw her just a week prior the second thing was Lord, I guess I'm gonna see you soon because this just can't end pretty like you know Cars run into a residential neighborhood on a Tulane roadway in 90 miles an hour. Can't be And the third thing I got mad with God because had I known I was gonna die today. I wouldn't want to the barbecue right out of this and And I thought about all the things I would miss you know there would be no more birthdays no more anniversaries no more celebrations, you know who would pull wisdom into my children, you know who would marry my girls and then at that moment as the car veered off the road we hit something and when flying into the tree and That's where I sustained all the the injuries I broke came to For a moment and what was really amazing is that this this person grabbed my hand and held my hand and that's when I really Understood the value of the human touch, you know like we get touched we caress we intimate But that life transfer was the first time I got that when in all of the pain that I was I was in it in the moment The you know you're hanging on between this world and the next and someone's literally holding on to my hand transfer and energy and at that moment when they hoist me into Into the ambulance he let go and that's when I blacked out. I don't want to spoil a book for you and and in that moment I realized the value of the human touch and how important it is That we give that good energy to people because you truly do feel it, you know verbally through motions through and and obviously Physically, so it's and it's a valuable Experience that I learned and through that I can now share the story through my book on impact life leadership And betting on yourself available at amazon and everywhere books is sold I'm gonna dress like I got you. I'm gonna drop all the links. Don't worry bro. I got Gotta get the plug in bro. I always give you shot the plug. I always give you shot the plug I'm not gonna do you like that. All right. Okay. Let's do let's do like pre let's do pre let's do pre Like now I'm gonna segment your life into two two parts. Okay chapter one is pre crash chapter two is post crash So let's talk about the comment. Let's talk about the hustle because the hustles real for a lot of people And then the lesson's gonna be you got to know when to shut off and you got to know when you have what's good and you have enough But hustle is mandatory to make it to somewhere and to support and to you know provide for a family and to provide for yourself and to give back to the world. So Paperboy to to CEO to president What like actually that's that's multi stage because it was it was not even this paperboy It was like paperboy to intern then intern to CEO. So why start as paperboy and then how did you do paperboy to intern and then we'll go from there Paperboy was um my first job And it and it actually came out of a very unconditional method mark. We used to travel to South Carolina every summer Up until I was 11 my father went in school and he would Take us to visit our grandparents on a farm in Orangeburg South Carolina. So school ended on a Monday We left that Friday at school and ended on Friday. We left Friday night and we dropped 12 and a half 13 hours To get to South Carolina for the summer. I realized um, I was definitely not A southern kind of guy. I was more of a metropolitan kid and it didn't didn't quite fit for me, right But I enjoyed the experience and all the lessons that I learned But when I got 11 I was like I don't want to do this one more and I'd actually Um obtained a paper route. So I had a conversation and negotiation with my dad if if I leave my paper route then I'm gonna lose that opportunity and he realized that at that point the opportunity did mean something to me And that was the genesis of my true work career and in doing What I learned from doing that at 11 was managing up managing down All right, because you know you're dealing with adults and you realize in life that everything's not easy and everyone's not a good person Because you know, just the real real general concept of you give someone a product and they have to pay you And if you're a child you should pay a child Adults don't necessarily just in No particular instances Follow the code. So I realized giving the paper that everyone's gonna pay now the paper company advanced you their product So since they advanced you you're on up for what they've given you they don't care What what you do with your business all they want is their return on what they've given you and that was An early introduction for me in the sales aspect in the business aspect of learning like okay Life is not gonna be easy, but they're rewards if you do it the right way and You know that was the opening moments for me Then I obviously worked several different jobs along the way my total career. I'm a mask a grand total of 60 Dan W-9 60 different W-9s this lifetime So I've done everything so it's it was it was an experience how I actually got into the music business came out of another unlikely Circumstance during college. I was a stand-up comic when I went to St. John's University and At the end of the show the woman who booked me worked for Motown records and she asked me you know what were my plans And I hadn't quite put together what the next steps were for me in life So she said why don't you come on down to Motown and be my intern Needless to say where we come from no one knows what an intern is, but since I was a sales guy. I was like yeah I can be your intern. All right, but forget that I will get there So when I got to Motown, you know prior to that You know historically what I've done was was sales. So I showed up at a record company with a three-piece suit on fsh case and wingtips and everybody looked at me like is he You know the FBI I just want to take a second and thank the sponsor of today's episode have spot now companies are under pressure right now Pressure to get more leads close deals faster get better insights to create the best experience for their customers See a CRM can help, but not just any CRM one that is easy to set up intuitive to use and customizable to the way you do business Now that's where HubSpot comes in HubSpot CRM is an easy for everyone to use on day one solution It helps teams be more productive you can drag and drop your way to attention grabbing emails and landing pages You can set up marketing automation to give every contact the white glove treatment plus AI power tools like content assistant Mean less time spent on tedious manual tasks and more time for what matters your customers HubSpot CRM has all the tools you need to wow prospects Lock-in deals and improve customer service response times get started today for free at HubSpot.com What's going on here? The auditor and somebody you know obviously on the wrong floor because Record companies are equivalent to like tech companies then and now meaning you know very free spirited You know dress down cool Fly sexy Creativity. Yeah, no one does that. So yeah, but that was my discipline So okay, so then you start working in in the music industry and and how do you move up like there's a lot I feel like you're very self-aware of the stuff that You needed to know to succeed because you you spoke about managing a book of business managing sales Like you're very aware of like the lessons that you took to the next level So as you go through the different Roles that you had at all these different record labels. What are those key things that are like this is this is Necessary to make it in life make it in the career make it to the next level get the next promotion So wherever you work, whatever you do you have to become a student of the game 101 It's just 101 if you saw the job you need to know that particular job and that company in and out information is powered That's what's going to move you forward You know smiles are good, you know, obviously You know for those who like to kiss ass. I don't know that but you know that can move you So whatever these different means of Will move people up fairly and unfairly the business is going to be paramount So those who are really truly successful or people who have a handle on the business of the business that they're working in too Always for me as I move into management was assembling great teams. It's never about you Right unless you're doing something that's only about you which in business. It's very rare that it's only about you. So Finding you know successors And also great mentees that you can pour yourself into to that Ultimately will alleviate a lot of work on your plate If you're giving people the opportunity to the grow inside the organization and that they believe in trusting And when you so when you start to move up then what's walk me through like as an executive at Or actually Tell me why you moved from Motown to deaf jam to mca and then you were epic and you were rock nation So you're jumping around too. So you're knowing the game But like you're playing the game a little bit too. I'm not sure if that's the case But I'm wondering why you switched labels was it so in my experience at least is because sometimes Sometimes a business or an organization It's harder to move up in an organization than to move into a higher role in other organization Is that the case or was it just pure right time right place right opportunity? I think it's a gumbo of all of that but for me There are a couple reasons My mother worked and loved the United States also because she lived she worked her whole career Until she retired there almost 40 years and she enjoyed that job For me I never had the desire I mean, I mean, I stated in the beginning I worked 60 jobs So I never had for me once I've matched all that I can get or all that I can give Then I got to move on Because I need to make room for others to grow and also for myself to grow So it's always about amassing the information Education and also moving on to what's next had I stated any of those companies One day longer I would never be at this point in my life to have this interview because everything would have changed So I always I'm very self So very self-aware both personally in business when my time has expired And when it's time to move on and what it is that fits into my goals of what I ultimately want to achieve So I think it's kind of like a divine order thing, you know being very You know And in tune and and understanding the frequency that I'm that I'm connected with you are you are very self-aware You're very conscious of what you're working on and what you're I think it's probably probably manifested a little bit more after Happers is car crash But I think didn't know it's funny like hindsight's always 2020 now you see threads in your life of This is what happened this is what happened then this would happen, you know This is why it happened and everything starts to make a lot more sense looking back. It always makes a lot more sense looking back um Rock nation when when you meet Jay-Z when you What was that? I mean the first the first the first thing encountering was At depth jam when he was the president of the label So that was the first time I actually truly met him. Oh, that's before he spun out. Okay, gotcha Yeah, so he was the president of depth jam records during during During my time there and then we met again at At his company rock nation and then like let's talk about even like some of the work you did there So you have behind the scenes look at what it takes to make a like one of these incredible artists like you know I have these notes here you work with obviously Jay-Z Rihanna Kanye DJ Khaled Travis Scott future 21st that like insane talent so I'm sure now like you to your point. It's not just you. It's obviously a massive team of people that finds this talent But for people that are like huge into the music industry What does it actually take to find talent to to put out a hit to you actually market the shit out of it because that's That's what you're doing you're building this persona of this incredible talent and there's a lot of talent That's out there that's incredible doesn't make it so I'm super curious as to like the behind the scenes into what building a Building a star looks like So the behind the scene executive you know my my superpower was radio promotions So I made my bones growing in the business, you know the guy who you say I hate hearing that record on the radio over and over and over again Well, it's because of people like me right Yeah, we pitched in soul, you know the program director who was who's responsible for the records going into rotation and a very you know root root perspective um But what we do at record labels is identify a talent and we give the artist the the best opportunity to be exposed to the masses And obviously the talent is what really drives the business and the executives enhance You know the experience as well as push through all of the different gateways that are known to exploit You know the music or expose the music globally. So you know when you think about the artist that you mentioned that you know our team worked on and that you know I've worked with is that they were super talented individuals So they had to actually cut through to rise up to get to people like us that will Help them fulfill their destiny and their dreams and their goals What I look like even if you compare it to like pro pro athletes What's the percentage of people that actually make it in a music career? um There was a stat and don't quote me, but it's you got to you got to feel think it's far less than 5% and it is all This all records less. Yeah, yeah, it's all relative. It's all relative though on how you How you view success though, right there is the mega superstars, which are the very small percent Right, and then there are people who are making a living Actually in their their field of artistry and being able to sustain themselves So, you know, there's that you know, they're the superstars stars and then there kind of like people who are making living Um doing it and then there are people who are all you know, it's really like a hobby So it just depends on what you want from it, but you know the commercial end of it that's dictated by You know, the people who come and buy that's only way you can look at them the big selves big top Now I'm actually curious because even after working at all those labels um You started your own company diverse diverse media. So I'm curious. What was what was wrong in the industry? What were you trying to change? Like you've been in the industry for 30 years So what are things that aren't working? Is it the supporting talent like I know I don't want you to talk shit about the places you work Because you're working on a great vehicle and whatnot You'll put a hit on it. Yeah, I know 100% but there's there's things you're trying to solve for as what I'm saying Or else you wouldn't be doing this absolutely. So what's important for me at the 30 years of Being in the business is you realize that there's an unbalance of information. That's given right you see people come in and On both sides the executive and as well as the artisan they make millions of dollars and they can potentially You know a decade two decades be flat broke Just because they've never prepared and they haven't prepared is because no one is introduced them to different options On what they can do with their money looking at their career both in in the now and in the future And how you have to prepare yourself for that So if you think about a child or a kid or a young adult that now hits gets a hit record and you get a half a million dollars million dollars two million dollars Well, you might never even had a checkbook So what's important for you the day that You become successful is the team that you surround yourself with and unfortunately You may not have those resources or avenues or ideas. You only know what you know So what my goal is at this point is to provide as much information Is possible and that's why I created the it's your time conference which um, you know, I my inaugural Conference will hit and Martin Luther King Weekend and Charlotte North Carolina the 12th through the 15th. So we're going to give artists an opportunity audition Um, which will give somebody $10,000 to bet on themselves not some hoping brokey deal Like because you know what at the end of the day someone may need money to pay their engineer You know, they might need money to you know retain a attorney. They may need money to clean up their books So giving you a deal doesn't solve your problems giving an opportunity to bet on yourself in your art is more important And then we're going to have two days of panels which will give that information On how you can provide um and provide for yourself In your livelihood as an artist. So we'll do estate when we have a plan panel and estate planning We have a panel on um, you know, how to get hot and invest in real estate We have yeah, you know, panels on cryptos, you know, the the one-on-ones of if you're interested How do you get involved in a whole host and array of other different things that are educational Whether you're in music or not that's valuable for entrepreneurs Artists um, tastemakers influencers, etc Dude, I love that I I hear this so much and it's funny. Okay, so I'm gonna explain I've spoken to like all-star athletes. I've spoken to Financial advisors of all-star athletes and I've never spoken to somebody who's worked directly with Like the level of caliber of talent that you've worked with but it's all the same shit So these people get this massive check and you just hope that they align with the good well-meaning business manager But if they don't then they don't know any better and there's taxes and fees and agency fees and insurances and all this stuff and they have to rent out studio space or in case of an athlete They're you know putting money towards their nutrition or their gym or their trainer And there's all these different like vultures that come after these people that come into money real quick and I think that the issue is that It's embarrassing to note to say that you fucked up It's so embarrassing to say you fucked up or that somebody was skimming out of your bank account or something like that or somebody wasn't managing the money or I think Steve Harvey said you know and his accountant died There was like millions in unpaid taxes and his accountant was writing these checks but never caching them in his own account or something like that like it just wild so This is what you're doing you create a whole conference around it Um, how do we how do we better serve people like now the the owner has to be on the rock nations and the epic records and the of the world That when they're onboarding talent They're like they're setting them up with the right people or else the or else if you're if you're not if you're just if you're just a marketing house And that's you're just marketing and you're making money for somebody that may not be able to manage You know how to manage it or be aligned with the shitty manager or something like that So how do we sort of do better because this is a plaguing anybody who comes into money real quick So I mean you're a part of the process and and the solution You know, I hope to be that as well as we have to push the information out is also incumbent on the individual To do the work as we stated earlier in this interview like you have to become a student of the game Like you can't expect People to do for you more than you're willing to do for yourself And and I think that just becomes very naive If you're going for you know heart surgery you're going to have you know I would hope a minimum of Of two different opinions Depending on how bad it is, you know you if you got time get three But you don't just like go sit with the first doctor and go I Cool and never ask him how many heart surgeries if you done, right? Oh, that's my first That's my first Nah, that's not a good idea, you know what I'm going to I'm going to give myself this whole week I know you said it seven days. I'm going to give myself seven days because I can't really bank on you And you have to look at it, you know, that's in a light note But seriously you have to look at your career is serious as a heart attack Right? Yeah, you got to tell yourself right if your heart's not in good condition You want to make sure that you're getting the best care treatment and person that can work with you Because you can change it right you can change your outcome because now you already know the prognosis and the diagnosis So therefore it's incumbent on you So if you walk into a music business or any business Knowing what what what waits ahead and you choose to go down that road then who's fault is Everyone I just want to take a second to thank the sponsor of today's episode battle now who here remembers Those high school language classes that never really click doesn't matter if you're learning french or spanish whatever it is I tried to learn french in high school. I can't remember any of it I'm sure a lot of people try to try to learn french Spanish whatever it is the point is babble is solving for this So it offers quick 15-minute lessons that fit perfectly into your busy life And they focus on real world conversations about travel Relationships and business listen right now. I'm trying to relearn french I'm trying to learn spanish because I just moved down to the u.s And what really sets babble apart is that their lessons are crafted by over 100 language experts Not just AI and they're teaching the method is scientifically proven to be effective So you can choose from 14 languages Spanish French Italian German and a ton of others Their speech recognition technology helps you get your pronunciation and accent just right and babble doesn't just stop at lessons You can access podcasts games video stories even live classes and they have a 20-day money back guarantee So questions you are you ready to start your language journey with babble right now They're setting up a special offer for all success story podcast listeners when you buy a three-month subscription You get another three months free that's six months for the price of three So what you're going to do you're going to just head to babble.com and use promo code success story That's b-a-b-b-e-l.com code success story happy learning Agree we got to do we got to do a better so people got to take their own Take their careers to their own hands, but also I mean like something like it's your time and similar That should has to be way more prevalent. Yeah, because Yeah, we're in you know, it's funny even before we're talking you were you're saying like oh There's a lot of people that gate their content and gate their knowledge and charge these huge fees and then somebody's trying to learn So you know somebody's sitting at home who just has this manager saying hey, I'm gonna You know, I'm gonna cut you in on this deal. I'm gonna write you this check if you and this is gonna be your first You know It's gonna be your whatever the proper terminology is record or how to fucking know but it's gonna be the first thing You put out into the world like somebody doesn't know but they have to they have to go and they have to find that information They have to understand that not everybody in the world the business is a good person and you got to do your home Or can do your research and I think that stuff like this like it's your time and more free information It's kind of like what I'm trying to do with this literally with this show. It's not targeted towards one particular type of Professional, but the point is like upskill yourself like there's no in my opinion in 2022 and now almost 2023 We're gonna gonna make it so we're not dating ourselves too much It's gonna be 2023 in a couple days But bro, you gotta you gotta you gotta do your research and you gotta do your homework But they're also has to be people that have done it before that are teaching you and like opening up that yeah, I love that dude Okay, let's I I want to I want to now sort of pivot into the second half of your life Which is the post crash post 2014 um even on the book you wrote you broke it down into six different pieces So you did intuition mastery pivot authenticity connections and teamwork What does that mean why the why are those the the titles? What what is relevant for that is that Your life journey and all the different things you had to master or Walk me through that. Yeah, those are the pillars those are the pillars that I live and subscribe by You know, I'm not when I look at it um and The accident pulled it all together like littered literally and figuratively and it that Why say god put a book inside of me the title of the book is on impact And when I looked at my life when I decided That I was gonna move forward with this I thought about okay, what is life? What is the value been for me? What are the most important things that I can look at In a literal and symbolic way that says who I am And these are the the acronym then became that an impact in tuition Very intuitive mastery obviously that's important um in order to Advance and grow pivot is needed and under knowing when time to move Is important in whether it's business or professional authenticity Who you see now is who you saw yesterday and who you will see again with modifications right connections Have been a driving force in my life and is equally teamwork Which is not just the job, but also family and people that you depend on to help you grow as an individual That's how okay, I got it. Okay, that makes sense talk to me about betting on yourself I love the concept of betting on yourself. I think more people should bet on themselves But they're scared shitless to do it. So how did you figure out you can bet on yourself? It's it's you know, it's a overused term, but you know for me it's it's Driven me to getting to the next step of of my life is realizing I can't be held. I can't be restricted I can't be scared right ultimately. It's you know everyone Is not at that comfort level To understand how him it how important it is for you to have that freedom So what you have to do is take small steps to build your confidence so that you can realize that the value once you Take that step in believing in oneself believing in yourself did everything else is okay Everything else is okay and because of that I've made the preparation and even in instances when I wasn't prepared Realizing that I would be okay based on you know the choices I had to make both in good and bad situation. So um, and a lot of that is work It's no different than anything else like you can't just wake up one day and say I want to bet on myself But you're not prepared yourself, right? It's no different in this you probably had thousands interviews You can just go you can just go right because you're prepared So now if someone offered you and said hey listen, I want you to NBC You go like Maybe yes, go because yes, what at the end of the day Yo, man, you prepared yourself for it And that's what betting on yourself is is was what's akin to is is is preparing yourself for bigger and greater things That uh rest inside of you to move forward When did you when did you first feel you could do that that's not something that comes out of the gate like when you're maybe it is I don't know, but That's a learned experience that that conversation with my dad You know um showed me a lot because my father is a strong man um no nonsense And and when I was able to persuade him Right against what he wanted I realized like okay. There's a talent there, right? There's I have confidence and that's what that moment that's bark was that boosted confidence to realize like You know what it's okay and don't give up Because you know the first time I asked wasn't like Yes, it's the silent more Tell me more, right? So I could have just like I forget it But it's like no, this is what I have passion for And I realized at that point um selling was my thing at that point. I realized okay If I could give my father to change his mind Then yo, there's something I need to work continue to work on and obviously the paper the paper Business opened up like I was excited man like I was excited selling. I was exciting Being like yo, you're trying to beat me. You're not gonna get over on me, right? Like yeah I just I just I love the hunt right. I just love the hunt Do you do you take that excitement like when you're looking for the next thing because now you're in now you're in another phase If you're life where you you you wrote a book you're you putting together a conference you're putting together in the media company Do you look for excitement and things that you do is that kind of like your north star for this is my purpose This is what I should be working on right now Yeah, I'm definitely a change agent like for me. It's it's uh about growing companies growing Individuals and obviously growing myself to get the best out of of all of the above And I realized that through my journey and and corporate is that truly was my gift and superpower was Enabling people to find you know that essence in them and that comfort and that comfortability of like someone giving them a chance And surrounding them and protecting them as they're able to grow to be who they will Yeah, come I was I was watching like shows before we jumped on just doing my research as I always do And there was actually one question that one one host asked you and I've never asked anybody This on the show before but you you had a beautiful answer Um, and it was about masculinity and the reason why I think it's a great question Is because even when you know you've referenced your dad a few times you've referenced your family You got excited when you found out that I'm trying to start a family and shit like So I think that I want to hear your definition of what masculinity is and what being a father is and and because it all ties back to balance and it all ties back to everything You've gone through in your life So what does that mean to you because I feel like it's not really Discussed enough for people that are fathers and and trying to build a family and trying to support Um, it's it's really being able to embrace your vulnerabilities Right And especially in in the African-American culture it's better than it was But you know, you could show no weakness Like you grew up you just had to be hard like you know Everything was about defending yourself. Everything was about the fight. Everything was about push you down It's necessary to beat you down to show everyone not to mess with me. It's about toughness As I grew older I realized you know the value was actually hearing You know the sentiments and concerns are how people felt about me Meaning the people who I cared for and you know growing up in the household like my father Who he was and how he was he was disciplined You know emotions you didn't even share with your children Like so, you know, we're still at this point like my father's never audibly said I love you All right, he showed that he's you know his love and care but His generation could never save the words So you go through life Knowing that there's someone who love you With that those three words TV wonder right um Carries so much impact and power So like even when I was in the hospital, which was insane You know, and I never realized this which was another eye opener My parents when they found out I was in the accident my mother had Alzheimer's And they drove the 13 hours the same 13 hours coming up and I came out of the coma And when I looked up When they came I saw the weight and the gravity on my father's face And you when you realize When you're in a hospital bed, there's no mirrors so you have no idea the condition that you're in like no one's like hey look at you You're jacked up You only take it by the actions And what you see other people seeing looking at you and when I saw my father's face Then I saw the gravity and the thought that he Was looking at me as though he could lose his only son That's when I realized that you know when I was in a bad way And I couldn't take the energy. So I stopped everyone from visiting me and I had to Find deep inside of me to get better on my to get better on my own So with that, you know in the changes that I've made in life You know, although I might not have heard my father say I love you. I always tell people Who I love. I love them male female and different right so Breaking the cycle is the equally important and also cherishing the people that you share that they know exactly how you feel That's wrong answer Dude that was really no super powerful and you know it's because it means a lot to you I mean, I think that a lot of a lot of your journey has been Self-reflection and self-awareness and who you are in this world for not just yourself But the people closest to you people close to are usually your family and your friends and whatnot And then you're just okay. Those are the people that are closest to me Then what does it mean to be a father? What does it mean to be a male figure in a household and whatnot? And it's different for I mean You just mentioned it was prevalent in the African-American community and pretty sure I go back to my grandpa my great-grandpa. They weren't They weren't smiling and shit all the time either like it's there's definitely Cultural differences for sure, but I mean I think a lot of old people were hardest fuck They went through it. They went through it and empathy is definitely not on the menu Yeah, and that's not a good way to live Yeah, it's not But it's up to us to break the cycle All right, yeah, you want change then you have to change What's the one thing that you would teach over out of out of the things that you've learned in your life and the things that you've written about and the things that you experienced with You know your own upbringing. What's the one thing that you'd want to teach over to your kids on what to do different or it doesn't You have to be different. What's the one thing you want to teach over to your kids? The value of faith Right, that is that is faith is so important, you know believing in in the unseen And it's that's what's carried me, you know ultimately you spend more time with yourself than you do with anyone else So you have to believe in you and you have to you know, you have I am connected You know to the creator and for those who aren't or people who are still trying to find their way On believing in themselves or in a higher power it changes you When you have faith you you're you know, you believe you can and do anything and whatever the outcome is It's okay Because you know, that's my destiny. Whatever happens to me, man. I'm okay with It's it's okay. I'm uncomfortable Because one thing I I rest I rest assured with is that you know my time is limited here and and that's okay But while I am here, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a bang up job. I'm gonna give it my best and my kids and friends and everyone who I know I would definitely say the same for you. Just give it your best I love that man. Okay Let's close this out. I have one question asked everyone at the end, but before I pivot Flores yours anything that we didn't go into that you wanted to drop on the show for the listeners and also All the socials where should they go connect with you? Where should they get the book? I'm assuming M is on but anywhere else you want to send people I think was most important for for the audience and anyone listening to this interview is Realized that if I can do what you can do it to it only takes you know Just one spark inside of you to make a difference and make a change. So don't give up on you I you can find me at Benning Pew on all my socials and come see me at the conference It's your time conference.com and Charlotte North Carolina January 12th through the 15th and Most importantly, thank you again, Scott for this amazing opportunity. You're sharing with your audience Dude my pleasure, man. I'm really happy we did this. Okay last question. I ask everyone before we cut this What is six that you've had an incredible career? Obviously Between what you're working on with book Conference companies you're building out now previous life of all the executive roles you killed it So after all this after all this what is success mean to you? you Know what success is is really just being able to take a step outside each and every day man and be thankful about the moment that I'm in That my family's healthy my friends are healthy and most importantly that you know what the god I serve is giving me an opportunity to be a part of of something that's so precious and that's like That's how I measure success You