June 5, 2023 • 17 mins
On this week’s “Podversations”, Shark Tank's, Daymond John, host of his new podcast "That Moment with Daymond John" dives into why he decided to take the plunge and launch a podcast that gives access to the conversations he has with inspiring thought leaders, legendary entertainers, business superstars, and everyone in between.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
iHeartRadio presents Conversations, a weekly discussion with the biggest names
and influencers in podcasting. I want to learn the secret
psycho rituals scrubstars Zach Braff and Donald Beson used before
Every Fake Doctor's Real Friends taping how Vice News parachutes
into war zones to rescue journalists from life threatening situations.
For why Kegan, Michael ke and Blumhouse believe three D
(00:27):
audio is the future of storytelling. Whether you're a newbie
trying to break into the podcast game or an exec
trying to refine your playbook, Conversations is the easiest way
to keep your pulse on the industry.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hello and welcome back to the iHeart Podcast Speakers series.
I'm Will Pearson, President of iHeart Podcast. As you know,
every week we like to get together with one of
our favorite podcasters, creators, producers talk about the industry to talk
about a new show. I'm super excited about today's conversation,
you know. Damon John is the founder and CEO Fubou,
(01:06):
much celebrated global lifestyle brand done over six billion dollars
in product sales over the years. Of course, he's won
countless awards, including brand Week's Marketer of the Year best
selling author. Actually, I have a couple of both books
on my bookshelf over there, including Powership, the latest one
that I have bought from him. And then you know,
fourteenth season of the business show Shark Tank. It's an
(01:28):
incredible show. It's actually one of my favorite shows to watch.
We were talking about it just before this. We may
have a few questions about Shark Tank as well, but damon,
thanks for spending a few minutes with us today.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh man, thank you, And I did note that you
went out and supported the books. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And I hope they have been useful to you or
family members or friends or anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Incredibly incredibly, I would suggest him for anybody, not just
those that are interested in startups in the entrepreneurial space,
but just the sort of how to organize your thinking
and guidance. Will probably get to some of that as well. We'll,
of course get to that moment, which is the reason
that we have here today. That moment is the name
of your new podcast. We've been talking to you and
your team for quite some time about starting this. Thrilled
(02:07):
to finally be launching it. But before we get to
that I love origin stories of super successful people, and
I love your origin story in terms of jumping into
the entrepreneurial world and the founding of Fuhu. And for
those that don't know that story, would you mind just
taking us back a little bit and telling us how
you did get your start as an entrepreneur because I
(02:28):
love reading about this story.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I mean, you know there's a fifty four year story,
so how can I put it in two minutes? Basically,
you know, kid growing up in New York City, loving fashion,
loving hip hop, you know, raised by a single mother,
couldn't really you know, rap or sing to be in
that industry that I loved in that capacity, but you know,
put two things together, I love fashion hip hop, didn't
(02:50):
use the lack of funds as an excuse.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I would stand out on the corner.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
In nineteen eighty nine with a bunch of hats that
I had made on Eastern Good Friday eight and nine,
with a bunch of home I made the night previously before,
and I would sell eight hundred dollars worth of pass
of an hour, and that would start me on the
long journey of officially coming an entrepreneur, which was opening
and closing that company three times, ran out of cash,
working at red lobster at night, doing pool in the daytime,
(03:15):
mortgaging my mother's house, burning furniture to move sewing machines
in there and sleeping sleeping bag next to.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It, and almost going bankrupt two times when I was broke.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
And then all of a sudden nineteen ninety eight, you know,
having a product that's globally recognized and millions and millions
and millions of dollars in the bank and celebrity and friends,
and almost go bankrupt, lose my wife. The business obviously,
like all of the business, goes down and earns the
pivot and finds other business to invest.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
In other things.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
All of a sudden, I want to show called Shark Tank,
and I'm investing in other people. And fourteen years in,
going on my fifteenth season, dealing with everything from cancer
to the bores, to ups the highest, up, the lowest lows,
traveling the world with presidents, speaking on stages.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Losing it all, gaining it back. I'm here with you today.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's as simple as that. So you captured it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
It's really simple. It's really simple.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Just do all those things and you two can have
a billion dollar empire. So yeah, it's pretty terrific. Well,
let's talk about shark tank for a second. I'm curious.
I mean the hundreds, maybe at this point even thousands
of people that you've seen come in front of you
pitching the ideas there when you're there, you have this Really,
it's it's sort of an instant that they're you know,
pitching something to you. Guys, what are those few things
(04:25):
that you're looking for that help you make a decision
so quickly as to whether you feel like this is
something you would potentially want to jump into.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
It's not as quick as you may think.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
We don't have any information on them they come in,
but an average fish could be.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
An hour long. Well, not as quick as the eight
minutes you end up seeing. Right.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Well, you know, it's not the company. It almost is
never the company. The company is a good entry into
the door way or the idea, but it's the person,
end of the day. It's the fact that you really
gel with this person. You like what they're doing, you
think they're solving something. But then you got to look
at everything else, the numbers, right, the person's history. You
want to work with the person, this size of the
market where you can add value. You know, I may
(05:03):
not be able without value if you are super geeky
and in the tech world where Robert and Cuban are
very big in So it's a combination of a bunch
of those things. But no matter what at the end
of the day, and I would like to talk about
whether it's or shark that or not. You know, when
you have two people that want to join cources and
they want to solve something together, you can't stop them.
(05:24):
You know, the business could be this and that will
figure it out. You know, it's really two people that
want to solve things right. So it's almost like in
your personal relationship or or anything else.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
When you have two people that are working towards a
common goal, I'm excited about it. They will figure a
way out. If you don't have two people that.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Understand each other, respect each other, respect the goal, willing
to communicate, they will not figure it out.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
You mentioned it's the person. Are there times where you're
seeing a pitch and you realize this isn't the idea,
but this is the person and you sort of pull
them aside and say, like, let's stay in touch because
I do believe in you as an individual.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Well, you know, that's a good point. I can't stay
in touch with them because of the show. Got it
all right, So I can't know them prior, and I
cannot stay in touch with them if I don't do
a deal, because then there's no show.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes there's yeah, you know what, I'll come back tomorrow.
I want to come back tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
You know, there's gotta be stakes, and then, you know,
being on a show like that, being who I am,
I have been so fortunate enough to know that we've
see an average of one hundred and fifty people a year.
There's one time we've seen two hundred a year. We're
going on fifteen seasons, so you can average that out too.
I don't know how many of that right around two thousand,
you know, almost two thousand people, right, It's something in
that nature. So anyway, I know somebody else is coming
(06:30):
to the door again right after that person leaves, So
you know, I'm making caught up in it in a moment,
but then all of a sudden another friend comes in.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Then they have it all together.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah that makes sense. Well, let's talk about the podcast.
It's called that moment. And actually, even in telling your
(06:59):
words and stories an entrepreneur, you mentioned several of these
moments and experiences and things that you go through. We'd
love to hear you talk about the idea of the show,
because you know, this idea of that moment isn't always
about that successful moment. It's not always about that tipping point.
It's not always about those great things that happen. It's
those downturns, it's those learnings, it's all of these things.
(07:21):
But we'd love to hear you talk about what your
vision is for that moment.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah. You know, a lot of the people that you
will see on podcasts or hear on podcasts or even
on interviews, we get used to if they're public facing people.
We get used to knowing our sound bites what works.
It doesn't mean we say it forever, right, but this
two weeks. If there's a topic in the news, I
can highlight that topic, right, And we want to obviously
add value to who's listening and say, you know, our
(07:45):
opinion on what is happening currently. But you know, it
becomes really like speaking points that are valuable. But you know,
I want to know from some of the world's most
interesting people whether they are celebrities or athletes, or somebody
who created some science you have no idea about. I
want to know about certain moments in their life and
where were they mentally, So like me when I'm thinking
(08:05):
about moments in my life. You know, we can talk
about the Damon John and that story. I previously told
you about all those things, But when you start digging deep,
how did I feel when I was going bankrupt the
first time?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
What was the song that was playing? You know?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Kind of like you know they say some of the
most powerful moments in a movie is not when the
person's saying anything. When the person is you're just reflecting
their eyes and something going on. And I remember when
I was going bankrupt and on my first shot at
this I remember standing outside the club and the song
Rising to the Top by Kenny Burke was playing. It
was a very famous song and still is, but it's
a song about aspiration and rises up. And I remember
(08:40):
standing outside the club because I couldn't get in. I
first of all, didn't have the money get in, and
also it was a rough club. It was the only
club I knew my neighborhood, and all the really well
known drug deals were going on in a club, So
I didn't want to go into that club for various reasons.
A lot of my friends were there and they had
moved to that side. I said I was never going
to sell drugs, so I didn't want to be inducted
to that and pressure. I didn't whant to get beat
(09:02):
up because I wasn't part of that scene.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
But I want to hear some music.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And then all of a sudden, I see these drug deals.
These famis, they get off these motorcycles. They have the
big all the gold, They look like Miss the Tea.
All the women are screaming over them. The bikes are
shining really glossy. I'm in my little beat up car
listening to riding at the top, saying to myself, I
will be that person one day, but I will do
this legally.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It was a very dark moment in my life in
one sense, but it was.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
A very bright moment in my life and how I
felt that moment, and in that interview of that moment,
I will go deeper towards what happened when I went home.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Then I did I have a girlfriend in my life?
That's somebody special?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Was my mother thinking of me as somebody she was
proud of or the fact that I took that one
year of a high school and never went back and
we're all my fears. And so when I get deeper
into that with other people, I think the people are
going to find that it's very very insightful on how
some of your favorite people, of people you never knew
that you respect, what did they do with those moments
of their life. And we will go over several of
(09:58):
those moments and dig really deep into it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
And I feel like it's even though you know people
don't have identical experiences those moments, I think people can
identify with either similar experiences or something that they may
be going through right now to say I'm going through
a moment and didn't even fully realize it. I'm hearing
damon or I'm hearing you Know.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
You will be able, we will all be able to
relate to.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know, you've gotten to a point in this country
where everything is either totally leftla totally right. We're not
meeting people in the middle. And I honestly believe the
ninety percent of us have more in common than we
have a part. But every one of us can relate
to that moment. Whether you are a white, Black, Jewish woman, veteran,
you know, rich or poor, we can all resonate with
a moment when we were somewhat discriminated against for various reasons.
(10:44):
So I can be talking to somebody wealthy and I
can say, what was the moment when your parents' wealth
hurt you because you walked into room and people thought
you would just gifted those things?
Speaker 3 (10:52):
How did you feel?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
But today, I think that black people may think that
white people have it made, and white people may think
that black people doing this for this reason, and Jewish people.
When I start going into those moments people, we will
find the finding moments that we all can relate to.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, you know, you know, I think that's that's super interesting. Well,
let's talk about the format of the podcast. You've, you know,
obviously been an incredibly successful author, You've been on Shark
Tank for a long time, You're a regular speaker, You've
done several other things. We're jumping into podcasting. I'm curious
what is attractive to you about the podcast space that
made you want to do this.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, I had a podcast a long time. I put
up one six months or one year thing weight Down.
I think in like six years ago and it was
in collaboration with zip Recruiter, and it it went to
like number three or number one on the business podcast
list and quick amount of time, I realized that there's
some free flowing conversations that people rather hear, and they
people absorb podcasts way different than people may absorb my
(11:49):
books or on Shark Tank. And there's so many other
facets of my life that I can pull out of
other people. And when we're hearing those moments in that person,
I'm sure there's and I know it already because that
they've been homes that I related to that didn't hear.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Things from me. And I like that kind of chilling
on the stoop.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
We're going to kick it type of thing, and I
think it's easily that people can absorb. I'm a huge
fan of podcasts because I'm dyslexic. I don't have time
to sit down and knock out books, and you know
what podcasts are something you can do, of course, you know,
while simultaneously on the treadmill or doing verius of the things.
So I figured this was a platform that I can
really be in touch with the people that follow me,
(12:25):
people don't follow me and get really in depth because
you know, we just kind of wash over things when
we talk about interviews that are always three minutes five minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
You can't go deep into it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Curious to hear about what else you're up to, anything
that we should be looking forward to coming in the
near future from you.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
So men, the new season of Shark Tank. I have
my Black Entrepreneur's Day that I do annually. You know,
we want several waysfore where you know, by the time
you know we've given away we're going to go on
our fourth year, we do with a reporter a million
dollars away through small African American businesses that need it
in brant and I think this year we'll be breaking
the one million dollar marked of giving away money and
(13:01):
lead to very similar to what we're doing on that moment.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
We interview really.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Great subjects at the Apollo Theater. People have been on
in the past have been Kevin R. Shaquille O'Neill, being
at Williams, Spike Lee, Iced T L F J, Bob Johnson.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So we interview these people to talk.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
About their failures and how did they maintain, you know,
access and overcome those things, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And I figure you're going to ask me, and I
don't put.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
On my top half because I also am going down
the journey again of education, and I have a book.
This book didn't not only hit New York Times bestsellers
list for three or four weeks, but it also became
Amazon's top book for about two days.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
That means the top book of all books, not children,
but all books.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I mean, that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Did you I say all all books in the country,
you know, for about about a day or so. That
means almost even the books the pamples that come with
any device you buy. And this is actually the only
book out now that I've ever seen that not only
has financial intelligence, but it talks about how to think
like an entrepreneur at a very young age, which allows
kids to process money and not almost go bankrupt three
times like the author of this book.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And this is really great. I mean, I'm loving it.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
You know. The beautiful thing about that I get on
any kind of podcast or interview, nobody cares about politics
or religion when we are talking about children. And this
is going to be my legacy of creating a conversation
in this country that everybody will now start hopefully making
books and or materials for kids by to fifteen years
old to start giving them an understanding of financial intelligence,
(14:30):
so they're not at seventeen years old acquiring five hundred
thousand dollars worth of student debt for career.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
They're not even sure they want that. They won't pay
up until they're sixty.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I love it too, because you know you're you're reaching
an audience, probably many of whom have the skills and
the drive and the willingness to become a great entrepreneur.
Some of them don't always know that though, don't always
know that they have the tools and the ability and
to you know, inspire them to say, go do this,
you can do this. Here's some of the tools for thattand.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
But you know, it's also very entrepreneur because you know,
it's hard working within the system, and if you have
the mentality of an entrepreneur, that will separate you from
the rest of the team. A lot of people like, yeah,
I waiting from my check every week every month. If
you have this idea or the mentality of an entrepreneur,
you can work on your day job.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Maybe you can be on more value there, maybe you
become a partner in the company or you get rewardered
over that.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
So it's really about all just a thought process of
that and actually, you know what's going on, how to
utilize money in very very simple ways. You know that
I wish somebody had taught me when I was twenty
years old.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Absolutely well, I appreciate what you do to teach all
of us. These are skills that we could all use,
and coming from somebody who's actually experienced the highs the
lows euntionally you know more of the highs. But it's
been fantastic to watch. We're incredibly excited about this podcast.
Any other thoughts on what we should be looking forward
to with the podcast before I let you go?
Speaker 4 (15:49):
So we're going to go deep on some of these things,
and we're just going to talk about everything. You never
know where that rabbit hole leads. So when you start
asking somebody, you know, questions, you know. I remember when
my first book was out and I was sitting with
Goalless writer and I said, yeah, you know, so I
fall up when I was temp some mom and I
and he said, you can't just say that. The reader
needs to know how you feel at the moment. So
(16:09):
what do you mean how I feel? He said, well,
how are you guys?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
That was cool? Well, how do you feel you falled
the level? That was fine?
Speaker 4 (16:14):
How do you know so all of a sudden, right,
you're still going down a rabbit hole, right?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I think that is the most fascinating.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I'm so excited about it because I'm literally going to
be trying to a lot of think that I want
to know, and you'll ask I tee some questions.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Who You're going to get some very very colorful answers.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I can't wait, I really can't. It's going to be
a fantastic podcast. It's called That Moment. It's out now. Damon,
thanks so much for spending some time with us.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you, thanks for having.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And thank you guys for joining us. We'll be back
again with another great conversation next week. Take Care.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Conversations is a production of iHeartRadio. You can find more
from the biggest names in podcasting on iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
iHeartRadio presents Conversations, a weekly discussion with the biggest names
and influencers in podcasting. I want to learn the secret
psycho rituals scrubstars Zach Braff and Donald Beson used before
Every Fake Doctor's Real Friends taping how Vice News parachutes
into war zones to rescue journalists from life threatening situations.
For why Kegan, Michael ke and Blumhouse believe three D
(00:27):
audio is the future of storytelling. Whether you're a newbie
trying to break into the podcast game or an exec
trying to refine your playbook, Conversations is the easiest way
to keep your pulse on the industry.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hello and welcome back to the iHeart Podcast Speakers series.
I'm Will Pearson, President of iHeart Podcast. As you know,
every week we like to get together with one of
our favorite podcasters, creators, producers talk about the industry to talk
about a new show. I'm super excited about today's conversation,
you know. Damon John is the founder and CEO Fubou,
(01:06):
much celebrated global lifestyle brand done over six billion dollars
in product sales over the years. Of course, he's won
countless awards, including brand Week's Marketer of the Year best
selling author. Actually, I have a couple of both books
on my bookshelf over there, including Powership, the latest one
that I have bought from him. And then you know,
fourteenth season of the business show Shark Tank. It's an
(01:28):
incredible show. It's actually one of my favorite shows to watch.
We were talking about it just before this. We may
have a few questions about Shark Tank as well, but damon,
thanks for spending a few minutes with us today.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh man, thank you, And I did note that you
went out and supported the books. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And I hope they have been useful to you or
family members or friends or anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Incredibly incredibly, I would suggest him for anybody, not just
those that are interested in startups in the entrepreneurial space,
but just the sort of how to organize your thinking
and guidance. Will probably get to some of that as well. We'll,
of course get to that moment, which is the reason
that we have here today. That moment is the name
of your new podcast. We've been talking to you and
your team for quite some time about starting this. Thrilled
(02:07):
to finally be launching it. But before we get to
that I love origin stories of super successful people, and
I love your origin story in terms of jumping into
the entrepreneurial world and the founding of Fuhu. And for
those that don't know that story, would you mind just
taking us back a little bit and telling us how
you did get your start as an entrepreneur because I
(02:28):
love reading about this story.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I mean, you know there's a fifty four year story,
so how can I put it in two minutes? Basically,
you know, kid growing up in New York City, loving fashion,
loving hip hop, you know, raised by a single mother,
couldn't really you know, rap or sing to be in
that industry that I loved in that capacity, but you know,
put two things together, I love fashion hip hop, didn't
(02:50):
use the lack of funds as an excuse.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I would stand out on the corner.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
In nineteen eighty nine with a bunch of hats that
I had made on Eastern Good Friday eight and nine,
with a bunch of home I made the night previously before,
and I would sell eight hundred dollars worth of pass
of an hour, and that would start me on the
long journey of officially coming an entrepreneur, which was opening
and closing that company three times, ran out of cash,
working at red lobster at night, doing pool in the daytime,
(03:15):
mortgaging my mother's house, burning furniture to move sewing machines
in there and sleeping sleeping bag next to.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It, and almost going bankrupt two times when I was broke.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
And then all of a sudden nineteen ninety eight, you know,
having a product that's globally recognized and millions and millions
and millions of dollars in the bank and celebrity and friends,
and almost go bankrupt, lose my wife. The business obviously,
like all of the business, goes down and earns the
pivot and finds other business to invest.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
In other things.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
All of a sudden, I want to show called Shark Tank,
and I'm investing in other people. And fourteen years in,
going on my fifteenth season, dealing with everything from cancer
to the bores, to ups the highest, up, the lowest lows,
traveling the world with presidents, speaking on stages.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Losing it all, gaining it back. I'm here with you today.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's as simple as that. So you captured it.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
It's really simple. It's really simple.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Just do all those things and you two can have
a billion dollar empire. So yeah, it's pretty terrific. Well,
let's talk about shark tank for a second. I'm curious.
I mean the hundreds, maybe at this point even thousands
of people that you've seen come in front of you
pitching the ideas there when you're there, you have this Really,
it's it's sort of an instant that they're you know,
pitching something to you. Guys, what are those few things
(04:25):
that you're looking for that help you make a decision
so quickly as to whether you feel like this is
something you would potentially want to jump into.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
It's not as quick as you may think.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
We don't have any information on them they come in,
but an average fish could be.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
An hour long. Well, not as quick as the eight
minutes you end up seeing. Right.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Well, you know, it's not the company. It almost is
never the company. The company is a good entry into
the door way or the idea, but it's the person,
end of the day. It's the fact that you really
gel with this person. You like what they're doing, you
think they're solving something. But then you got to look
at everything else, the numbers, right, the person's history. You
want to work with the person, this size of the
market where you can add value. You know, I may
(05:03):
not be able without value if you are super geeky
and in the tech world where Robert and Cuban are
very big in So it's a combination of a bunch
of those things. But no matter what at the end
of the day, and I would like to talk about
whether it's or shark that or not. You know, when
you have two people that want to join cources and
they want to solve something together, you can't stop them.
(05:24):
You know, the business could be this and that will
figure it out. You know, it's really two people that
want to solve things right. So it's almost like in
your personal relationship or or anything else.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
When you have two people that are working towards a
common goal, I'm excited about it. They will figure a
way out. If you don't have two people that.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Understand each other, respect each other, respect the goal, willing
to communicate, they will not figure it out.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
You mentioned it's the person. Are there times where you're
seeing a pitch and you realize this isn't the idea,
but this is the person and you sort of pull
them aside and say, like, let's stay in touch because
I do believe in you as an individual.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Well, you know, that's a good point. I can't stay
in touch with them because of the show. Got it
all right, So I can't know them prior, and I
cannot stay in touch with them if I don't do
a deal, because then there's no show.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes there's yeah, you know what, I'll come back tomorrow.
I want to come back tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
You know, there's gotta be stakes, and then, you know,
being on a show like that, being who I am,
I have been so fortunate enough to know that we've
see an average of one hundred and fifty people a year.
There's one time we've seen two hundred a year. We're
going on fifteen seasons, so you can average that out too.
I don't know how many of that right around two thousand,
you know, almost two thousand people, right, It's something in
that nature. So anyway, I know somebody else is coming
(06:30):
to the door again right after that person leaves, So
you know, I'm making caught up in it in a moment,
but then all of a sudden another friend comes in.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Then they have it all together.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah that makes sense. Well, let's talk about the podcast.
It's called that moment. And actually, even in telling your
(06:59):
words and stories an entrepreneur, you mentioned several of these
moments and experiences and things that you go through. We'd
love to hear you talk about the idea of the show,
because you know, this idea of that moment isn't always
about that successful moment. It's not always about that tipping point.
It's not always about those great things that happen. It's
those downturns, it's those learnings, it's all of these things.
(07:21):
But we'd love to hear you talk about what your
vision is for that moment.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah. You know, a lot of the people that you
will see on podcasts or hear on podcasts or even
on interviews, we get used to if they're public facing people.
We get used to knowing our sound bites what works.
It doesn't mean we say it forever, right, but this
two weeks. If there's a topic in the news, I
can highlight that topic, right, And we want to obviously
add value to who's listening and say, you know, our
(07:45):
opinion on what is happening currently. But you know, it
becomes really like speaking points that are valuable. But you know,
I want to know from some of the world's most
interesting people whether they are celebrities or athletes, or somebody
who created some science you have no idea about. I
want to know about certain moments in their life and
where were they mentally, So like me when I'm thinking
(08:05):
about moments in my life. You know, we can talk
about the Damon John and that story. I previously told
you about all those things, But when you start digging deep,
how did I feel when I was going bankrupt the
first time?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
What was the song that was playing? You know?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Kind of like you know they say some of the
most powerful moments in a movie is not when the
person's saying anything. When the person is you're just reflecting
their eyes and something going on. And I remember when
I was going bankrupt and on my first shot at
this I remember standing outside the club and the song
Rising to the Top by Kenny Burke was playing. It
was a very famous song and still is, but it's
a song about aspiration and rises up. And I remember
(08:40):
standing outside the club because I couldn't get in. I
first of all, didn't have the money get in, and
also it was a rough club. It was the only
club I knew my neighborhood, and all the really well
known drug deals were going on in a club, So
I didn't want to go into that club for various reasons.
A lot of my friends were there and they had
moved to that side. I said I was never going
to sell drugs, so I didn't want to be inducted
to that and pressure. I didn't whant to get beat
(09:02):
up because I wasn't part of that scene.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
But I want to hear some music.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And then all of a sudden, I see these drug deals.
These famis, they get off these motorcycles. They have the
big all the gold, They look like Miss the Tea.
All the women are screaming over them. The bikes are
shining really glossy. I'm in my little beat up car
listening to riding at the top, saying to myself, I
will be that person one day, but I will do
this legally.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It was a very dark moment in my life in
one sense, but it was.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
A very bright moment in my life and how I
felt that moment, and in that interview of that moment,
I will go deeper towards what happened when I went home.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Then I did I have a girlfriend in my life?
That's somebody special?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Was my mother thinking of me as somebody she was
proud of or the fact that I took that one
year of a high school and never went back and
we're all my fears. And so when I get deeper
into that with other people, I think the people are
going to find that it's very very insightful on how
some of your favorite people, of people you never knew
that you respect, what did they do with those moments
of their life. And we will go over several of
(09:58):
those moments and dig really deep into it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
And I feel like it's even though you know people
don't have identical experiences those moments, I think people can
identify with either similar experiences or something that they may
be going through right now to say I'm going through
a moment and didn't even fully realize it. I'm hearing
damon or I'm hearing you Know.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
You will be able, we will all be able to
relate to.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know, you've gotten to a point in this country
where everything is either totally leftla totally right. We're not
meeting people in the middle. And I honestly believe the
ninety percent of us have more in common than we
have a part. But every one of us can relate
to that moment. Whether you are a white, Black, Jewish woman, veteran,
you know, rich or poor, we can all resonate with
a moment when we were somewhat discriminated against for various reasons.
(10:44):
So I can be talking to somebody wealthy and I
can say, what was the moment when your parents' wealth
hurt you because you walked into room and people thought
you would just gifted those things?
Speaker 3 (10:52):
How did you feel?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
But today, I think that black people may think that
white people have it made, and white people may think
that black people doing this for this reason, and Jewish people.
When I start going into those moments people, we will
find the finding moments that we all can relate to.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, you know, you know, I think that's that's super interesting. Well,
let's talk about the format of the podcast. You've, you know,
obviously been an incredibly successful author, You've been on Shark
Tank for a long time, You're a regular speaker, You've
done several other things. We're jumping into podcasting. I'm curious
what is attractive to you about the podcast space that
made you want to do this.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, I had a podcast a long time. I put
up one six months or one year thing weight Down.
I think in like six years ago and it was
in collaboration with zip Recruiter, and it it went to
like number three or number one on the business podcast
list and quick amount of time, I realized that there's
some free flowing conversations that people rather hear, and they
people absorb podcasts way different than people may absorb my
(11:49):
books or on Shark Tank. And there's so many other
facets of my life that I can pull out of
other people. And when we're hearing those moments in that person,
I'm sure there's and I know it already because that
they've been homes that I related to that didn't hear.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Things from me. And I like that kind of chilling
on the stoop.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
We're going to kick it type of thing, and I
think it's easily that people can absorb. I'm a huge
fan of podcasts because I'm dyslexic. I don't have time
to sit down and knock out books, and you know
what podcasts are something you can do, of course, you know,
while simultaneously on the treadmill or doing verius of the things.
So I figured this was a platform that I can
really be in touch with the people that follow me,
(12:25):
people don't follow me and get really in depth because
you know, we just kind of wash over things when
we talk about interviews that are always three minutes five minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
You can't go deep into it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Curious to hear about what else you're up to, anything
that we should be looking forward to coming in the
near future from you.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
So men, the new season of Shark Tank. I have
my Black Entrepreneur's Day that I do annually. You know,
we want several waysfore where you know, by the time
you know we've given away we're going to go on
our fourth year, we do with a reporter a million
dollars away through small African American businesses that need it
in brant and I think this year we'll be breaking
the one million dollar marked of giving away money and
(13:01):
lead to very similar to what we're doing on that moment.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
We interview really.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Great subjects at the Apollo Theater. People have been on
in the past have been Kevin R. Shaquille O'Neill, being
at Williams, Spike Lee, Iced T L F J, Bob Johnson.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So we interview these people to talk.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
About their failures and how did they maintain, you know,
access and overcome those things, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And I figure you're going to ask me, and I
don't put.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
On my top half because I also am going down
the journey again of education, and I have a book.
This book didn't not only hit New York Times bestsellers
list for three or four weeks, but it also became
Amazon's top book for about two days.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
That means the top book of all books, not children,
but all books.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I mean, that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Did you I say all all books in the country,
you know, for about about a day or so. That
means almost even the books the pamples that come with
any device you buy. And this is actually the only
book out now that I've ever seen that not only
has financial intelligence, but it talks about how to think
like an entrepreneur at a very young age, which allows
kids to process money and not almost go bankrupt three
times like the author of this book.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And this is really great. I mean, I'm loving it.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
You know. The beautiful thing about that I get on
any kind of podcast or interview, nobody cares about politics
or religion when we are talking about children. And this
is going to be my legacy of creating a conversation
in this country that everybody will now start hopefully making
books and or materials for kids by to fifteen years
old to start giving them an understanding of financial intelligence,
(14:30):
so they're not at seventeen years old acquiring five hundred
thousand dollars worth of student debt for career.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
They're not even sure they want that. They won't pay
up until they're sixty.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I love it too, because you know you're you're reaching
an audience, probably many of whom have the skills and
the drive and the willingness to become a great entrepreneur.
Some of them don't always know that though, don't always
know that they have the tools and the ability and
to you know, inspire them to say, go do this,
you can do this. Here's some of the tools for thattand.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
But you know, it's also very entrepreneur because you know,
it's hard working within the system, and if you have
the mentality of an entrepreneur, that will separate you from
the rest of the team. A lot of people like, yeah,
I waiting from my check every week every month. If
you have this idea or the mentality of an entrepreneur,
you can work on your day job.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Maybe you can be on more value there, maybe you
become a partner in the company or you get rewardered
over that.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
So it's really about all just a thought process of
that and actually, you know what's going on, how to
utilize money in very very simple ways. You know that
I wish somebody had taught me when I was twenty
years old.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Absolutely well, I appreciate what you do to teach all
of us. These are skills that we could all use,
and coming from somebody who's actually experienced the highs the
lows euntionally you know more of the highs. But it's
been fantastic to watch. We're incredibly excited about this podcast.
Any other thoughts on what we should be looking forward
to with the podcast before I let you go?
Speaker 4 (15:49):
So we're going to go deep on some of these things,
and we're just going to talk about everything. You never
know where that rabbit hole leads. So when you start
asking somebody, you know, questions, you know. I remember when
my first book was out and I was sitting with
Goalless writer and I said, yeah, you know, so I
fall up when I was temp some mom and I
and he said, you can't just say that. The reader
needs to know how you feel at the moment. So
(16:09):
what do you mean how I feel? He said, well,
how are you guys?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
That was cool? Well, how do you feel you falled
the level? That was fine?
Speaker 4 (16:14):
How do you know so all of a sudden, right,
you're still going down a rabbit hole, right?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I think that is the most fascinating.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I'm so excited about it because I'm literally going to
be trying to a lot of think that I want
to know, and you'll ask I tee some questions.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Who You're going to get some very very colorful answers.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I can't wait, I really can't. It's going to be
a fantastic podcast. It's called That Moment. It's out now. Damon,
thanks so much for spending some time with us.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you, thanks for having.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And thank you guys for joining us. We'll be back
again with another great conversation next week. Take Care.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Conversations is a production of iHeartRadio. You can find more
from the biggest names in podcasting on iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Conal Byrne
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