Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviews Stephen A. Smith. In the last five years, Stephen A. Smith has become a powerful media force in sports commentary, a regular on General Hospital, a social media influencer, a podcast and YouTube influencer, a television producer, the Host and Executive Producer of the Number #1 Sports Morning show in First Take and a New York Times Best Selling Author.
Talking Points –
New York Times Best Seller, Straight Shooter -- Paperback
You discussed overcoming the odds in your book, Straight Shooter. Stephen
- Smith, how dark did it get for you in 2009?
What started the comeback?
What role did your Mom play in this comeback?
In 2018, you approached me with a plan. Tell everybody about it.
What is your brand?
What are your goals?
Tell us about your upcoming Docu-Series, Up For Debate, co-produced with Tom Brady and Michael Strahan.
Are there any other TV projects you can share with us?
Why do you think your brand resonates with people, and what age group?
Why was it essential to build your broadcast studio?
What is the future for Stephen A. Smith? Will you still have time for General Hospital?
Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Money Making Conversations.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's the show that she is the secrets of success
experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
will know he's given me advice on many occasions. And
in case you didn't notice, I'm not broke.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's what he likes to do, it's what he likes
to share.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald
money Making Conversations.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here we go. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
My hosts the weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The
interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and
start living your own.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
My next guest is Steven A. Smith. In the last
five years, Steven A.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Smith has become one of the most powerful media voices
and sports commentary. He's also a popular actor on General Hospital.
He's a social media influencer, podcasting YouTuber, influencer, producer, the
host executive producer of the number one sports morning show
on TV, First Take, and The New York Times best
selling the author. We have a lot to talk about,
(01:09):
so please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass Show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Steven A. Smith. How you doing, my brother?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Man?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
How are you? How's everything? Man?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Excuse me for these big headphones that I have on
a mind. You know they're heavy, but you know, at
least it's the only way I can hear you. It's
the only way I can hear you. I appreciate them
having these headphones for you.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Well, I appreciate it taking you, taking the time, because
I know West coast, East coast where you at.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm in LA right now, just taking care of some
business out here at the film, some scenes for General Hospital.
Plus I've got some individual business ventures I've been working
on as well.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
So right, so we share Emmy award winning General Hospital huh.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, they wont about seven. That means I mean I
didn't want I didn't win one individually. I mean I'm
not on that level. I just make guest appearances. My
character's name is Brick. I'm a surveillance expert for the Mob,
but I come in and out. I'm not a regular
everyday cast member. So because of that, I wasn't I
wasn't able to apply for any of those categories to
(02:07):
win an Emmy, but who knows, one day I might.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Okay, Stephen a Sports Sports Sports.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
You're a regular, you know, recurring actor on General Hospital.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
How did you become a General Hospital fan?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, I've been a General Hospital fan since I was
a kid growing up with four older sisters and my
late brother, and we'd come home from school and you know,
we only had two TVs in the house, and if
you wanted to watch TV, it was on General Hospital.
It was either that or do your homework. And none
of us wanted to do homework after we had just
spent seven eight hours in school. So because of that,
(02:45):
we were like, hell with that, We'll watch General Hospital.
And I've been watching General Hospital since I was like
seven eight years old and I've never stopped since.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Wow, So that's kind of like a can we say
a childhood dream come true to be a regular?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I think so, because I mean I love the soap.
I've grown to love it throughout the years. Of One
of my pet peeves whenever I'm working is if somebody
bothers me between three and four pm, he's to standard time.
They better have a damn good reason for interrupting because
they know I watch a general hospital, so if they
bothering me, it's gonna be a problem. So in that
regard to grow up watching it and some of these characters,
(03:22):
like the start the show has been on the show
for nearly thirty years, and the go from watching him
and being a fan of his to literally working with him.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
It's just an.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Extreme, extreme honor that I can't I really really can't
put into words. It really is fascinating for me to
jump in there. And then not only that it's helped
me develop the acting bug because I didn't ask for it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I just want to make an appearance.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And executive producer Frank Valentini, who won obviously an Emmy,
and then you've got Maurice Bernard to start the show,
instantly said do you have time to do this? We
want to make this a recurring role for you. After
I made one appearance for them, and I've been on
the show now for seven years, and wow, they believe
I can act, and they believe that I should dedicate
more time to acting. The one thing that I will
(04:06):
acknowledge and will admit that I've become very, very fascinated
about with acting, you know it, but to actually perform
the craft and do it, you really, it really really
hits home for you. I love the fact that you're
allowed to be whatever the character allows. It's like, we
say that and we know that's the case looking at
what they do when they're working. But to actually be
(04:28):
on the job, having to perform and to be somebody
else at a particular moment in time, it's hard to
put in the words the feeling that you get when.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You pull that off. To pull it off like that
is something special.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Now, some people say that on first take, you plan
a character's steven A Smith, on first take steven A Smith,
or a commentary version of who you really are.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
No, no, no, it's me. It's me.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know when I'm on General Hospital, I'm acting, I'm
really acting. I'm on first take. All I'm doing is
showing different facets of my personality, right like you know,
I know sports, and you know on first take you
want to be informed. You want to articulate your positions.
You want to show the range that you have in
(05:17):
terms of being serious one minute, comical the next, et cetera,
et cetera. That's me that's who I am according to
my sisters. That's who I am according to my fifteen
nieces and nephews. It's who I was to my wonderful
mother who passed away in twenty seventeen, God rest her soul,
and my father passed away in twenty eighteen. I mean,
those those are the things that they know, what they've
(05:39):
always known about me. The facets of my personality, the
multitude of personalities that I have is what people see
on first take.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Right, here's up the interesting Stevid Amy watching your TV.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
There's a love, there's a passion that drives I'm sure,
what did you think your biggest asset, your voyage, your
intellect or your passion?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I can't separate the three.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
The aspiration, the desire to have a voice can't come
from not knowing anything. You have to be informed. When
you're informed, you have to have a passion and a
desire to express yourself to the masters. And the only
(06:35):
reason you should want to do that is because you
want to have an impact and you want to make
a difference. I'm executive producing and co producing as a
production company a documentaries called Up for Debate that's going
to be coming out probably around February or so, in
concert with Religion of Sports doing that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
What do I say in there? I talk about in
a voice.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Tinkering and touching and leaning towards that third rail and
making sure that you're positioning yourself to have an impact
and to make a difference of the people that I
have working with me and for me, people like yourself
or Sean McDonald, people like my guy Michael Anafree and
various others. It matters, you know, associating yourself with people
(07:22):
who share your vision, your passion, your zest, and a
willingness to be a voice. Knowing that puts you in
the lions. Then it puts you in the eye of
the proverbial storm. It's gonna make people come at you.
You got to be the kind of person that stands
up and says, Okay, I'm here for it. That's what
it is, That's what it's all about, and that's who
(07:43):
I am, and that's who I've always been, and that's
who I've always aspired to be. And that's why the
other day, when I was doing my show to Steven A.
Smith show, my podcast last show on YouTube, I ended
the show by paying tribute to Bryant gumble Right. Ryan
Gumbel is a pioneer. He's one of the greatest voices
(08:05):
and one of the greatest reputable journalists we've ever seen
in American history. And I felt it was compelled, considering
the years of excellence that he had put forth, that
I took time to recognize as a young black man,
what he meant to me, what he's meant to our people,
to our culture by tackling the issues that he's tackled
(08:29):
with the intellect, the knowledge, the substance, the passion that
comes with it. I owed that to him, and you know,
he reached back out to me and thanked me from
the bottom of his heart seeing what I said. And
I just said to him, what's to think? You know,
I should be thanking you. We all should. And that's
(08:50):
what I hope somebody, you know, a bunch of people
are able to look at me when my day comes
and able to say the same thing about me.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
There's another person that inspires you. He's not with us.
His name's Howard Cosel. Yeah, he's a person that many
times in conversations with you, you said I wanted to
be Howard Cosel when you look at Brian Gumbel and
Howard Cosell, what are the similarities. We know he was
an African American Brian gumble But what was the inspiration
(09:21):
with Howard Cosel.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Well, Howard Cosell was a voice.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
He was somebody who was incredibly opinionated, unapologetic about it,
and I think spawned and sparked debate television because no
matter what followed in the years to come, even though
he wasn't quote unquote debating, he was perceived as being
such a polarizing figure at time, a white Jewish individual
(09:47):
willing to stand by Muhammad Ali's side and say that
he had every right to want to be called Muhammad
Ali instead of cash Is Clay.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That's his name, That's what he wants to be called.
He deserves that respect.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It's not about what he did, it's about when he
did it, and when he did it is what crystallizes
the significance of what he did. And that is pointing
out that you got to be willing to stand up
in front of the storm and be willing to embrace
it and.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Absorb it because of what you believe is right.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
That was Howard Cosell, and he was the one that
showed us the way because he was the first one
to do it, and they gave a license to him
to do it. He profited off of it because obviously
he was being paid handsomely to do it. And then
he turned around and in the aftermath of doing all
of that, ultimately ESPN came along. And when ESPN came along,
(10:41):
you know, you usually would have the mentality, you know what,
Howard Coosell could do that, but none of us could.
But then when he ESPN came along, you said, yes,
we could, because the platform was available for us to
do those things. So in Howard Coosell, I'll give him
all the credit in the world for that. With Brian Gumbel,
he does that too, and he should be revered for
(11:02):
it because he did it with such intellectual brilliance that
you just can't deny how special of a talent Brian
Gumbel was all of these years. The difference, however, is
that Brian Gumbel was a host.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Howard Cosell was not.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Howard Cosell was a pundit and he was a commentator,
and obviously he did some reporting. Briant Gumbel did it
all okay, plus he executive produced, plus he led, plus
he pioneered in so many different other ways, and as
a black man to be able to do that from
the seventies up until right now, it's astronomical and incomparable
(11:41):
in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Wow, first tape, let's go back to first tape. Record numbers. Yeah,
I've read in the media over six hundred thousand. That's
an average, highest average in.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
The history.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Pre COVID numbers history. You brought two individuals onto your show.
You're executive producer up. First take mad Dog Russo. Why
did you bring mad Dog Russo on your show?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Because I wanted white America to know that I don't
just care about what black people say alone. I want
to care about what everybody says, and I want to
care about everybody's perspective. It's not just about black, it's
not just about white. It's not just about young. It's
also about middle aged and older folks. It's not just
about males. It's about females too.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I want to have the kind of show that everybody
knows they're invited, that everybody knows that they're included.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I remember when I had my show, quite.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Frankly on ESPN two from two thousand and five to
two thousand and seven. When I reflect on that show,
which was on the air for eighteen months, three hundred
and twenty seven shows, where I interviewed about seven hundred
and eighty guests, what I reflect upon most was the
fact that there were some people who felt left out
that I wasn't including them in the show, that the
(13:04):
show was with somebody else. That's not what you're in
this business for, you know. My roots are rooted in journalism. Yes,
how I've evolved and I've become a personality and a pundit.
I was this general sports columnist, so that gave me
a license to open and editorialize and give my opinions.
But my base, my foundation, evolves around the tenets of journalism.
(13:25):
And when you think like a journalist, you don't think
for or towards a monolithic audience. You think about everyone.
You might want one community to hear you more so
than others, because your message on a day to day basis,
depending on the subject, may be aimed towards them, but
(13:46):
the message is not just for them, it's for everybody.
It might be about them, but it's not for just them.
It's for everybody. And so when I was, you know,
on first take, the first order of business was to
make sure that I showed all the multitude, you know,
the multiple facets of my personality, so I could be
(14:06):
inclusionary and come across as inclusionary in that regard, you know, people,
you know. I could be comedic, I could be serious,
I could be straightforward, I could deviate. I could be rambunctious, petulant, comical,
the list goes on and on. You just never know
with me, and I definitely wanted to do that, but
(14:28):
then when I became the executive producer, it was an
obligation to make sure the show represented that, not just me.
And so that's what I've gone about the business of
doing Mad Dog. Russo being added, Shannon Shop being added,
Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears already being there, Minachimes, Kimberly Martin.
(14:51):
Of course, my partner in crime, Molly carm who does
a sensational job. I have no desire to do the
show without her. I love her to death, even though
I would never tell her, don't echo, don't that. I
don't want her to know how much love I have
for her because her head is big enough, it'll just
get bigger. But she's she's she's absolutely wonderful. And you know,
and then you see people like Monica McNutt, J J. Reddick,
(15:13):
Jay Williams, Kendrick Perkins. Can't forget my big bro, Kendrick Perkins.
You know when you look at Brian winterhors now makes
major contributions to the show.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
And I'm not finished.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I've got more parts and pieces that I intend to add,
things that I want to do, and as long as
I'm at ESPN and they give me the license to
do it, I'll do the best that I can.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I've been number one for.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Over twelve years, hopefully it'll be thirteen fourteen and beyond.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
When we talk about success and you're why, it's Stephen A.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Smith popular, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I mean, I don't wake up thinking about popularity.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
But you are popular.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yes, I accept that you got.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Nearly fourteen million followers on social media and you got
a YouTube channel that's nearly reached four hundred and fifty
thousand subscribers and nine months. I guess that equates to
popularity in this day and age. Okay, so be it,
but I ain't for more. I'm just getting started, and
I don't wake up thinking about my popularity. I wake
(16:22):
up thinking about being successful and how can I put
my head down and put forth the work that's going
to ensure my success. I think the thing that any employer,
whether it be present or perspective, or future employers, or
whatever the case may be. I think the one thing
(16:43):
that people talk about how I work hard. Yes, they
don't understand the discipline I exercise. You do because you've
known me for over twenty years, but most people don't.
They don't understand how I think about.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
The fruits of my labor. Person You know, you tell me.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
One of the popular statements you make to me all
the time is I am you have never seen Because
you called me a superstar. I never felt that way.
But you say you've never seen a superstar like me.
You really really think you're ordinary. I drive myself ninety
five percent of the times instead of using car service.
I walk through airports, you know, ninety five percent of
(17:29):
the times instead of flying private. You know, I it
is nothing, nothing, You know this. It is nothing for
people to just turn around one day and to see
me standing in a white Castle for McDonald's. You know,
I'm not sending somebody in it for me. I usually
do it myself. I mean, I don't care, you know,
unless it's my man Juvie or Somatra.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I mean, I'm usually doing that. You know.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's like people are shocked at how ordinary and you
to use your words regular I conduct myself, And it's
a very simple reason why I do.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That, because I don't think about all of that. I
think about the work.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I don't think about the success I intend to reap
from it. I expect that I expect to win. I
expect to be one of the best at whatever I
choose to do. I expect the rewards to be reaped
at some point. But it's not what I spend a
lot of time thinking about as it pertains to popularity
and what that ultimately can reap because in the end,
(18:31):
I believe, when you're married to the work.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
It will speak for itself.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And the phrase that I used to use is when
Kevin Garnett got one hundred and twenty six million dollar
contractor you know, or Kobe Bryant got his money and
stuff like that, I said, these brothers are filthy rich,
and they play like this starving. I work like I'm starving.
(18:57):
I work every day, and so when I think about
people who want to go up against me, who think
they could do what I can do and think they
can enjoy the same level of success and all of
that stuff, the number one reason I'm so confident is
because I just find it hard to believe that most
people are going to match my work ethic and my
commitment to being great at what I do, no matter
(19:20):
how much money I'm making or not making.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Cool stealing a twenty eighteen you're the plan, and you
invited me into the heart of that path. You said, Raseean,
I'm putting together a dream team. And in twenty eighteen,
you didn't have a TikTok account. In twenty eighteen, you
didn't have a LinkedIn account. You still debating your Instagram account,
(19:47):
your Facebook and Twitter was your biggest account, which is
X now right, What was the plan, if you can
reveal to people with that plan was back then, because
we see it being played out right now with your popularity,
with your organic with your show that you just said
four hundred and fifty thousand subscribers in nine months.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Oh, in twenty eighteen, it started with your plan.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, I think the mistake that a lot of people
make is they focus on the money.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
But not how you acquire it.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I working at ESPN on the number one show. In
total fairness to them, I'm paid a pretty handsome salary,
no question about it. But that was never going to
be enough for me and it never will be enough
(20:47):
for me because there I can honestly sit here and
tell you that, in my perfect world, if I could
work for ESPN and the walk Disney family for the
rest of my career, I would do it right, so
long as there's a separate part of my life that
(21:11):
has a level of independence that's completely not associated with
that right.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Because.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
There's this itch that you get in life when you've
spent your life producing for others, and most people that
I know, that itch is what am I capable of
(21:41):
without those others. Denzel is a phenomenal actor, right, He's directed,
he's produced.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Why that doesn't that's not acting? Why you do those
other things?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Because he had a desire to branch out in the
city what he's capable of. Antoine Fuqua has become a
dear friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
He's not just a director, he's a producer.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You've seen comedians, you've seen actors, you've seen musicians, you've
seen journalists, pundits, even with the executives themselves.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Well, you at ESPN, while you leave, You're at Disney.
While you leave, you at Warner Brothers Discovery. What you
will ead, what you go for?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You know you're an agent, you're going out on you
and you're starting your own business. Why you weren't making
enough money? Of course you were making money, it wasn't enough.
Not that the money, the dollars weren't enough. But there's
this itch to feed yourself, to fuel yourself, to inspire
you to get up every day and to feel refreshed.
(22:51):
It's like go into a sauna and have the temperature
up at one hundred and fifty degrees and.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Then walk out in the ninety eight. You're gonna feel different.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Get in a cold plunge and sit there and freeze
for ten minutes, and then get up and expose yourself
to that same temperature and see how you're going to feel.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
It's something different.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
That fuels and inspires you to get up and reach
for more. And when you see when you wake up
one day and you have achieved a level of success,
and you see that you've done all that you can
do on this level, You're wondering, what's at this level,
(23:43):
what's at this level, what's here? What's there that's your itch?
And it's just something that I have. And in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It was necessary.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It wasn't just because I lost my job in two
thousand and nine because I was unemployed with a daughter
and expecting another. It wasn't just that I didn't have
but so much money in the bank. It was that
I left myself at the mercy of one entity. I
didn't plan and coordinate a future without them, even though
(24:24):
I knew I didn't want a future without them. And
that's the difference between me then and in twenty eighteen,
when I put the wheels in motion to be exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What I am now.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
My YouTube channel is very important to me for one
reason and one reason only.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
It's all mine.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Masters RSS feed, you know, eye piece of everything, it's
all mine. Nobody has it, nobody owns it. It's mine
and it is what I make it. And to know
that I have the opportunity to position myself to not have.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
To depend on others is the fuel that I needed
to feel inspired.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
And that's why when people look at me now and
they say, yo, stephen A, what's going on with you?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Man?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You look like you lost some weight. You look great,
you look in great shape. Man, I'm not playing. I'm
fifty six and I haven't felt this better, this good
since my early thirties. The help that I'm in. I've
lost thirty pounds, I've lost fourteen points of body fat.
(25:37):
I eat better, I exercise a minimum of five days
a week. I take my vitamins and supplements. I'm focused
because I'm not interested in being alive.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I'm interested in living.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And you're not living when you're stagnant or you're deteriorating,
or you're not elevating. You're only living when you're working
on elevating, even if you're not elevating yet, Like there's
not tangible evidence to show Rashan that you're elevating right.
If you're working towards it, you feel alive because this purpose,
(26:16):
and that's where I'm at.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Cool as we close out the show, you have a book,
Straight Shooter New York Times Bestseller comes out, and it's
out in paperback.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
And that comes out. It's out in paperback why you
wrote it and why are you so proud of it?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Well, first of all, I love how you ask these
rhetorical questions, like you want to know when you're you
know you're the instigator for half make me sick. I mean,
I didn't want to write the damn book, to be
quite honest with you, I really really didn't do it,
you know. And then I said to you, yeah, I
want to write the book, but you know, if I'm
a writer book, there's only one book I can write.
It's my memoir. I don't feel like should write anything
(26:52):
before I write that. But you know, people were bugging
me since to thousand and nine when I lost my
job at he Is being to write a book. But
they wanted me to write some tell all book. They
just don't know me very well. I don't play that game.
I would never do that to any employee. I don't
play that nonsense. I would always defend myself against anybody.
(27:13):
But I'm not gonna be some tell all book.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that and that other. I'm too gifted, too skilled
to principle to.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Make my money that way, right, So when people came
to me and wanted me to do that, I said no,
And then they said, well, right about your memoir and
stuff like that, and talk to my mother about it.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
This was in twenty and ten.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Janie Smith, the greatest woman that I've ever known, greatest
human being I've ever known, who I loved dearly and
miss every day. She said to me, you absolutely positively
will not write a book while I'm alive, because she
knew how much I loved her, and she knew that
(27:54):
if I wrote a book, it would be dedicated to her.
That's why it's entitled straight Shooter. It's a dedication to
my mom. And she knew that if I dedicated a
book to her, I would have to talk about her greatness.
And the only way to talk about her greatness is
to talk about and highlight what she overcame, which would
(28:18):
involve my father. And my mother did not want me
to do that, and so she made me promise that
I would never ever write my memoir until she passed away.
And when she passed away in twenty seventeen, I didn't
think about it for about a year year and a half,
(28:39):
and then people started bringing it up. And then somebody,
I don't know who, the hellless person was, rolled up
on Rashan McDonald and was like, you.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Need to get Stephen Aate to write a book.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
And then this dude, Rashan McDonald proceeded to bug the
living hell out of me every damn day for about
a year until I finally.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Said, okay, okay, okay, I'll do it. And then when
I started writing.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It, it took me about four four and a half months.
I wrote every word myself, had an editor, not a ghostwriter.
Had you helped me edit as well. But when I
wrote the book the first thing, you know, it took
me four and a half months, but it took me
(29:35):
about two and a half to three months to get
through two chapters. And you know what those two chapters were.
It was revisiting my childhood, my situation with my father,
the things he put my mother and my family through,
and when that happened.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
That was.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
That made it very very difficult because was the first
two weeks I didn't even finish the book. I just
sent the excerpts to my sisters and they didn't speak
to me for.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Two weeks, all.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Four of them. I thought they were mad at me,
but they weren't mad. They were just going through it
themselves because the things that I had mentioned were what
they forgot about, and for a long time I had
forgotten about, right, And so to bring those things up
to the surface forced us to relive the hell that
(30:30):
we had gone through when we were younger. And it
was really really painful, to say the least, but necessary
and cathartic in.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Its own ways.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
And then ultimately I finished the book in law and
behold it's a New York Times bestseller for nine weeks,
both paperback I'm sorry, in hardcover, I'm sorry, and audio,
and I can't tell you. I still get stopped on
the streets.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
The book's been out for almost a year, and I
guess out on the streets all the time.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
People loved my book.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I got to give major, major thanks to Howard Stern
because the interview he did with me about my book.
There has not been a city that I have traveled
to since that interview that somebody hasn't brought up that
interview with Howard Stern. Many, many people have interviewed me
and profiled the book and given me a lot of
(31:24):
love and a lot of praise. They thought it was
going to be a sports book. It's not a sports book,
and they gave me a lot of praise and a
lot of props for.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That, But that Howard Stern interview is what.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I can't tell you how many people have come up
to me and said I've had people coming to me
and say they read the book again because they said,
we read it once, but then after the Howard Stern interview,
we read it again because we were like, wait a minute,
where did he say that?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I missed that?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
But let me go back to that and so and
now Simon and hused to put it in paper and
it's expected to be a success.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Again.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
I think we've sold over four hundred thousand copies or
so some way around there.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Whatever. Again, it's been a New York Times bestseller. That's
the krem.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Dela Kreme doesn't get me hired in that. And for
me to think about the kid that got left back
in fourth grade because I had a first grade reading level,
I had undiagnosed dyslexia.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
For me to be a.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Professional journalist in my career and now a writer who's
a New York Times best selling author, I mean, damn,
I mean, how can we possibly say this is in
a high power looking over us. The Lord has truly,
truly blessed me, and I apologize for saying damn.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Preceding that statement, Steven Ah, he's my friend and somebody trust,
somebody who's been there in my downtimes. Thank you for
coming on money making comings as your master class show.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
You're brilliant. Brother. I wish you much good luck.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I appreciate the kind words, but you know you could
have stretched it a little bit longer.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
I mean it was really quick with the kind words.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I mean, you know, I mean he spent about you know,
twenty seconds on the kind words and stuff like that.
When I when I praised with Sean McDonald, I'm lengthy
with it.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
You know what I'm saying. I mean, I put it
out there, I make it, I let it marinate it.
Stay out there for what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
You moment you're getting out.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Twenty seconds, all right?
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I love you, brother, Stay strong man. I mean, like
I said, Stevid A, you're one of a kind brother.
You are a guy that let me just tell you,
he said it. I've never in my life made a
superstar like you, brother.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
Not so much your work, but your heart, man, your
heart is incredibly passionate, loyal and honest because you've had
some honest conversations with me and I appreciate you and
I need it.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
And that's that's that's that's good time. See that's all right, Stevid, Bye.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Bye, Thank you for joining us for this edition of
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with rough
Shan McDonald is produced by thirty eight fifteen Media Inc.
More information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. Is available
at thirty eight fifteen media dot com. And always remember
(34:28):
to lead with your gifts
Welcome to Money Making Conversations.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's the show that she is the secrets of success
experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
will know he's given me advice on many occasions. And
in case you didn't notice, I'm not broke.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's what he likes to do, it's what he likes
to share.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald
money Making Conversations.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here we go. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
My hosts the weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The
interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and
start living your own.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
My next guest is Steven A. Smith. In the last
five years, Steven A.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Smith has become one of the most powerful media voices
and sports commentary. He's also a popular actor on General Hospital.
He's a social media influencer, podcasting YouTuber, influencer, producer, the
host executive producer of the number one sports morning show
on TV, First Take, and The New York Times best
selling the author. We have a lot to talk about,
(01:09):
so please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass Show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Steven A. Smith. How you doing, my brother?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Man?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
How are you? How's everything? Man?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Excuse me for these big headphones that I have on
a mind. You know they're heavy, but you know, at
least it's the only way I can hear you. It's
the only way I can hear you. I appreciate them
having these headphones for you.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Well, I appreciate it taking you, taking the time, because
I know West coast, East coast where you at.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm in LA right now, just taking care of some
business out here at the film, some scenes for General Hospital.
Plus I've got some individual business ventures I've been working
on as well.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
So right, so we share Emmy award winning General Hospital huh.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, they wont about seven. That means I mean I
didn't want I didn't win one individually. I mean I'm
not on that level. I just make guest appearances. My
character's name is Brick. I'm a surveillance expert for the Mob,
but I come in and out. I'm not a regular
everyday cast member. So because of that, I wasn't I
wasn't able to apply for any of those categories to
(02:07):
win an Emmy, but who knows, one day I might.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Okay, Stephen a Sports Sports Sports.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
You're a regular, you know, recurring actor on General Hospital.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
How did you become a General Hospital fan?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, I've been a General Hospital fan since I was
a kid growing up with four older sisters and my
late brother, and we'd come home from school and you know,
we only had two TVs in the house, and if
you wanted to watch TV, it was on General Hospital.
It was either that or do your homework. And none
of us wanted to do homework after we had just
spent seven eight hours in school. So because of that,
(02:45):
we were like, hell with that, We'll watch General Hospital.
And I've been watching General Hospital since I was like
seven eight years old and I've never stopped since.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Wow, So that's kind of like a can we say
a childhood dream come true to be a regular?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I think so, because I mean I love the soap.
I've grown to love it throughout the years. Of One
of my pet peeves whenever I'm working is if somebody
bothers me between three and four pm, he's to standard time.
They better have a damn good reason for interrupting because
they know I watch a general hospital, so if they
bothering me, it's gonna be a problem. So in that
regard to grow up watching it and some of these characters,
(03:22):
like the start the show has been on the show
for nearly thirty years, and the go from watching him
and being a fan of his to literally working with him.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
It's just an.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Extreme, extreme honor that I can't I really really can't
put into words. It really is fascinating for me to
jump in there. And then not only that it's helped
me develop the acting bug because I didn't ask for it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I just want to make an appearance.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And executive producer Frank Valentini, who won obviously an Emmy,
and then you've got Maurice Bernard to start the show,
instantly said do you have time to do this? We
want to make this a recurring role for you. After
I made one appearance for them, and I've been on
the show now for seven years, and wow, they believe
I can act, and they believe that I should dedicate
more time to acting. The one thing that I will
(04:06):
acknowledge and will admit that I've become very, very fascinated
about with acting, you know it, but to actually perform
the craft and do it, you really, it really really
hits home for you. I love the fact that you're
allowed to be whatever the character allows. It's like, we
say that and we know that's the case looking at
what they do when they're working. But to actually be
(04:28):
on the job, having to perform and to be somebody
else at a particular moment in time, it's hard to
put in the words the feeling that you get when.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You pull that off. To pull it off like that
is something special.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Now, some people say that on first take, you plan
a character's steven A Smith, on first take steven A Smith,
or a commentary version of who you really are.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
No, no, no, it's me. It's me.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know when I'm on General Hospital, I'm acting, I'm
really acting. I'm on first take. All I'm doing is
showing different facets of my personality, right like you know,
I know sports, and you know on first take you
want to be informed. You want to articulate your positions.
You want to show the range that you have in
(05:17):
terms of being serious one minute, comical the next, et cetera,
et cetera. That's me that's who I am according to
my sisters. That's who I am according to my fifteen
nieces and nephews. It's who I was to my wonderful
mother who passed away in twenty seventeen, God rest her soul,
and my father passed away in twenty eighteen. I mean,
those those are the things that they know, what they've
(05:39):
always known about me. The facets of my personality, the
multitude of personalities that I have is what people see
on first take.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Right, here's up the interesting Stevid Amy watching your TV.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
There's a love, there's a passion that drives I'm sure,
what did you think your biggest asset, your voyage, your
intellect or your passion?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I can't separate the three.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
The aspiration, the desire to have a voice can't come
from not knowing anything. You have to be informed. When
you're informed, you have to have a passion and a
desire to express yourself to the masters. And the only
(06:35):
reason you should want to do that is because you
want to have an impact and you want to make
a difference. I'm executive producing and co producing as a
production company a documentaries called Up for Debate that's going
to be coming out probably around February or so, in
concert with Religion of Sports doing that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
What do I say in there? I talk about in
a voice.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Tinkering and touching and leaning towards that third rail and
making sure that you're positioning yourself to have an impact
and to make a difference of the people that I
have working with me and for me, people like yourself
or Sean McDonald, people like my guy Michael Anafree and
various others. It matters, you know, associating yourself with people
(07:22):
who share your vision, your passion, your zest, and a
willingness to be a voice. Knowing that puts you in
the lions. Then it puts you in the eye of
the proverbial storm. It's gonna make people come at you.
You got to be the kind of person that stands
up and says, Okay, I'm here for it. That's what
it is, That's what it's all about, and that's who
(07:43):
I am, and that's who I've always been, and that's
who I've always aspired to be. And that's why the
other day, when I was doing my show to Steven A.
Smith show, my podcast last show on YouTube, I ended
the show by paying tribute to Bryant gumble Right. Ryan
Gumbel is a pioneer. He's one of the greatest voices
(08:05):
and one of the greatest reputable journalists we've ever seen
in American history. And I felt it was compelled, considering
the years of excellence that he had put forth, that
I took time to recognize as a young black man,
what he meant to me, what he's meant to our people,
to our culture by tackling the issues that he's tackled
(08:29):
with the intellect, the knowledge, the substance, the passion that
comes with it. I owed that to him, and you know,
he reached back out to me and thanked me from
the bottom of his heart seeing what I said. And
I just said to him, what's to think? You know,
I should be thanking you. We all should. And that's
(08:50):
what I hope somebody, you know, a bunch of people
are able to look at me when my day comes
and able to say the same thing about me.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
There's another person that inspires you. He's not with us.
His name's Howard Cosel. Yeah, he's a person that many
times in conversations with you, you said I wanted to
be Howard Cosel when you look at Brian Gumbel and
Howard Cosell, what are the similarities. We know he was
an African American Brian gumble But what was the inspiration
(09:21):
with Howard Cosel.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Well, Howard Cosell was a voice.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
He was somebody who was incredibly opinionated, unapologetic about it,
and I think spawned and sparked debate television because no
matter what followed in the years to come, even though
he wasn't quote unquote debating, he was perceived as being
such a polarizing figure at time, a white Jewish individual
(09:47):
willing to stand by Muhammad Ali's side and say that
he had every right to want to be called Muhammad
Ali instead of cash Is Clay.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That's his name, That's what he wants to be called.
He deserves that respect.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It's not about what he did, it's about when he
did it, and when he did it is what crystallizes
the significance of what he did. And that is pointing
out that you got to be willing to stand up
in front of the storm and be willing to embrace
it and.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Absorb it because of what you believe is right.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
That was Howard Cosell, and he was the one that
showed us the way because he was the first one
to do it, and they gave a license to him
to do it. He profited off of it because obviously
he was being paid handsomely to do it. And then
he turned around and in the aftermath of doing all
of that, ultimately ESPN came along. And when ESPN came along,
(10:41):
you know, you usually would have the mentality, you know what,
Howard Coosell could do that, but none of us could.
But then when he ESPN came along, you said, yes,
we could, because the platform was available for us to
do those things. So in Howard Coosell, I'll give him
all the credit in the world for that. With Brian Gumbel,
he does that too, and he should be revered for
(11:02):
it because he did it with such intellectual brilliance that
you just can't deny how special of a talent Brian
Gumbel was all of these years. The difference, however, is
that Brian Gumbel was a host.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Howard Cosell was not.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Howard Cosell was a pundit and he was a commentator,
and obviously he did some reporting. Briant Gumbel did it
all okay, plus he executive produced, plus he led, plus
he pioneered in so many different other ways, and as
a black man to be able to do that from
the seventies up until right now, it's astronomical and incomparable
(11:41):
in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Wow, first tape, let's go back to first tape. Record numbers. Yeah,
I've read in the media over six hundred thousand. That's
an average, highest average in.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
The history.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Pre COVID numbers history. You brought two individuals onto your show.
You're executive producer up. First take mad Dog Russo. Why
did you bring mad Dog Russo on your show?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Because I wanted white America to know that I don't
just care about what black people say alone. I want
to care about what everybody says, and I want to
care about everybody's perspective. It's not just about black, it's
not just about white. It's not just about young. It's
also about middle aged and older folks. It's not just
about males. It's about females too.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I want to have the kind of show that everybody
knows they're invited, that everybody knows that they're included.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I remember when I had my show, quite.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Frankly on ESPN two from two thousand and five to
two thousand and seven. When I reflect on that show,
which was on the air for eighteen months, three hundred
and twenty seven shows, where I interviewed about seven hundred
and eighty guests, what I reflect upon most was the
fact that there were some people who felt left out
that I wasn't including them in the show, that the
(13:04):
show was with somebody else. That's not what you're in
this business for, you know. My roots are rooted in journalism. Yes,
how I've evolved and I've become a personality and a pundit.
I was this general sports columnist, so that gave me
a license to open and editorialize and give my opinions.
But my base, my foundation, evolves around the tenets of journalism.
(13:25):
And when you think like a journalist, you don't think
for or towards a monolithic audience. You think about everyone.
You might want one community to hear you more so
than others, because your message on a day to day basis,
depending on the subject, may be aimed towards them, but
(13:46):
the message is not just for them, it's for everybody.
It might be about them, but it's not for just them.
It's for everybody. And so when I was, you know,
on first take, the first order of business was to
make sure that I showed all the multitude, you know,
the multiple facets of my personality, so I could be
(14:06):
inclusionary and come across as inclusionary in that regard, you know, people,
you know. I could be comedic, I could be serious,
I could be straightforward, I could deviate. I could be rambunctious, petulant, comical,
the list goes on and on. You just never know
with me, and I definitely wanted to do that, but
(14:28):
then when I became the executive producer, it was an
obligation to make sure the show represented that, not just me.
And so that's what I've gone about the business of
doing Mad Dog. Russo being added, Shannon Shop being added,
Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears already being there, Minachimes, Kimberly Martin.
(14:51):
Of course, my partner in crime, Molly carm who does
a sensational job. I have no desire to do the
show without her. I love her to death, even though
I would never tell her, don't echo, don't that. I
don't want her to know how much love I have
for her because her head is big enough, it'll just
get bigger. But she's she's she's absolutely wonderful. And you know,
and then you see people like Monica McNutt, J J. Reddick,
(15:13):
Jay Williams, Kendrick Perkins. Can't forget my big bro, Kendrick Perkins.
You know when you look at Brian winterhors now makes
major contributions to the show.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
And I'm not finished.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I've got more parts and pieces that I intend to add,
things that I want to do, and as long as
I'm at ESPN and they give me the license to
do it, I'll do the best that I can.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I've been number one for.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Over twelve years, hopefully it'll be thirteen fourteen and beyond.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
When we talk about success and you're why, it's Stephen A.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Smith popular, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I mean, I don't wake up thinking about popularity.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
But you are popular.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yes, I accept that you got.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Nearly fourteen million followers on social media and you got
a YouTube channel that's nearly reached four hundred and fifty
thousand subscribers and nine months. I guess that equates to
popularity in this day and age. Okay, so be it,
but I ain't for more. I'm just getting started, and
I don't wake up thinking about my popularity. I wake
(16:22):
up thinking about being successful and how can I put
my head down and put forth the work that's going
to ensure my success. I think the thing that any employer,
whether it be present or perspective, or future employers, or
whatever the case may be. I think the one thing
(16:43):
that people talk about how I work hard. Yes, they
don't understand the discipline I exercise. You do because you've
known me for over twenty years, but most people don't.
They don't understand how I think about.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
The fruits of my labor. Person You know, you tell me.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
One of the popular statements you make to me all
the time is I am you have never seen Because
you called me a superstar. I never felt that way.
But you say you've never seen a superstar like me.
You really really think you're ordinary. I drive myself ninety
five percent of the times instead of using car service.
I walk through airports, you know, ninety five percent of
(17:29):
the times instead of flying private. You know, I it
is nothing, nothing, You know this. It is nothing for
people to just turn around one day and to see
me standing in a white Castle for McDonald's. You know,
I'm not sending somebody in it for me. I usually
do it myself. I mean, I don't care, you know,
unless it's my man Juvie or Somatra.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I mean, I'm usually doing that. You know.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's like people are shocked at how ordinary and you
to use your words regular I conduct myself, And it's
a very simple reason why I do.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That, because I don't think about all of that. I
think about the work.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I don't think about the success I intend to reap
from it. I expect that I expect to win. I
expect to be one of the best at whatever I
choose to do. I expect the rewards to be reaped
at some point. But it's not what I spend a
lot of time thinking about as it pertains to popularity
and what that ultimately can reap because in the end,
(18:31):
I believe, when you're married to the work.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
It will speak for itself.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And the phrase that I used to use is when
Kevin Garnett got one hundred and twenty six million dollar
contractor you know, or Kobe Bryant got his money and
stuff like that, I said, these brothers are filthy rich,
and they play like this starving. I work like I'm starving.
(18:57):
I work every day, and so when I think about
people who want to go up against me, who think
they could do what I can do and think they
can enjoy the same level of success and all of
that stuff, the number one reason I'm so confident is
because I just find it hard to believe that most
people are going to match my work ethic and my
commitment to being great at what I do, no matter
(19:20):
how much money I'm making or not making.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Cool stealing a twenty eighteen you're the plan, and you
invited me into the heart of that path. You said, Raseean,
I'm putting together a dream team. And in twenty eighteen,
you didn't have a TikTok account. In twenty eighteen, you
didn't have a LinkedIn account. You still debating your Instagram account,
(19:47):
your Facebook and Twitter was your biggest account, which is
X now right, What was the plan, if you can
reveal to people with that plan was back then, because
we see it being played out right now with your popularity,
with your organic with your show that you just said
four hundred and fifty thousand subscribers in nine months.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Oh, in twenty eighteen, it started with your plan.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, I think the mistake that a lot of people
make is they focus on the money.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
But not how you acquire it.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I working at ESPN on the number one show. In
total fairness to them, I'm paid a pretty handsome salary,
no question about it. But that was never going to
be enough for me and it never will be enough
(20:47):
for me because there I can honestly sit here and
tell you that, in my perfect world, if I could
work for ESPN and the walk Disney family for the
rest of my career, I would do it right, so
long as there's a separate part of my life that
(21:11):
has a level of independence that's completely not associated with
that right.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Because.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
There's this itch that you get in life when you've
spent your life producing for others, and most people that
I know, that itch is what am I capable of
(21:41):
without those others. Denzel is a phenomenal actor, right, He's directed,
he's produced.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Why that doesn't that's not acting? Why you do those
other things?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Because he had a desire to branch out in the
city what he's capable of. Antoine Fuqua has become a
dear friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
He's not just a director, he's a producer.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You've seen comedians, you've seen actors, you've seen musicians, you've
seen journalists, pundits, even with the executives themselves.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Well, you at ESPN, while you leave, You're at Disney.
While you leave, you at Warner Brothers Discovery. What you
will ead, what you go for?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You know you're an agent, you're going out on you
and you're starting your own business. Why you weren't making
enough money? Of course you were making money, it wasn't enough.
Not that the money, the dollars weren't enough. But there's
this itch to feed yourself, to fuel yourself, to inspire
you to get up every day and to feel refreshed.
(22:51):
It's like go into a sauna and have the temperature
up at one hundred and fifty degrees and.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Then walk out in the ninety eight. You're gonna feel different.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Get in a cold plunge and sit there and freeze
for ten minutes, and then get up and expose yourself
to that same temperature and see how you're going to feel.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
It's something different.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
That fuels and inspires you to get up and reach
for more. And when you see when you wake up
one day and you have achieved a level of success,
and you see that you've done all that you can
do on this level, You're wondering, what's at this level,
(23:43):
what's at this level, what's here? What's there that's your itch?
And it's just something that I have. And in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It was necessary.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It wasn't just because I lost my job in two
thousand and nine because I was unemployed with a daughter
and expecting another. It wasn't just that I didn't have
but so much money in the bank. It was that
I left myself at the mercy of one entity. I
didn't plan and coordinate a future without them, even though
(24:24):
I knew I didn't want a future without them. And
that's the difference between me then and in twenty eighteen,
when I put the wheels in motion to be exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What I am now.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
My YouTube channel is very important to me for one
reason and one reason only.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
It's all mine.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Masters RSS feed, you know, eye piece of everything, it's
all mine. Nobody has it, nobody owns it. It's mine
and it is what I make it. And to know
that I have the opportunity to position myself to not have.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
To depend on others is the fuel that I needed
to feel inspired.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
And that's why when people look at me now and
they say, yo, stephen A, what's going on with you?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Man?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You look like you lost some weight. You look great,
you look in great shape. Man, I'm not playing. I'm
fifty six and I haven't felt this better, this good
since my early thirties. The help that I'm in. I've
lost thirty pounds, I've lost fourteen points of body fat.
(25:37):
I eat better, I exercise a minimum of five days
a week. I take my vitamins and supplements. I'm focused
because I'm not interested in being alive.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I'm interested in living.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And you're not living when you're stagnant or you're deteriorating,
or you're not elevating. You're only living when you're working
on elevating, even if you're not elevating yet, Like there's
not tangible evidence to show Rashan that you're elevating right.
If you're working towards it, you feel alive because this purpose,
(26:16):
and that's where I'm at.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Cool as we close out the show, you have a book,
Straight Shooter New York Times Bestseller comes out, and it's
out in paperback.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
And that comes out. It's out in paperback why you
wrote it and why are you so proud of it?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Well, first of all, I love how you ask these
rhetorical questions, like you want to know when you're you
know you're the instigator for half make me sick. I mean,
I didn't want to write the damn book, to be
quite honest with you, I really really didn't do it,
you know. And then I said to you, yeah, I
want to write the book, but you know, if I'm
a writer book, there's only one book I can write.
It's my memoir. I don't feel like should write anything
(26:52):
before I write that. But you know, people were bugging
me since to thousand and nine when I lost my
job at he Is being to write a book. But
they wanted me to write some tell all book. They
just don't know me very well. I don't play that game.
I would never do that to any employee. I don't
play that nonsense. I would always defend myself against anybody.
(27:13):
But I'm not gonna be some tell all book.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that and that other. I'm too gifted, too skilled
to principle to.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Make my money that way, right, So when people came
to me and wanted me to do that, I said no,
And then they said, well, right about your memoir and
stuff like that, and talk to my mother about it.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
This was in twenty and ten.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Janie Smith, the greatest woman that I've ever known, greatest
human being I've ever known, who I loved dearly and
miss every day. She said to me, you absolutely positively
will not write a book while I'm alive, because she
knew how much I loved her, and she knew that
(27:54):
if I wrote a book, it would be dedicated to her.
That's why it's entitled straight Shooter. It's a dedication to
my mom. And she knew that if I dedicated a
book to her, I would have to talk about her greatness.
And the only way to talk about her greatness is
to talk about and highlight what she overcame, which would
(28:18):
involve my father. And my mother did not want me
to do that, and so she made me promise that
I would never ever write my memoir until she passed away.
And when she passed away in twenty seventeen, I didn't
think about it for about a year year and a half,
(28:39):
and then people started bringing it up. And then somebody,
I don't know who, the hellless person was, rolled up
on Rashan McDonald and was like, you.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Need to get Stephen Aate to write a book.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
And then this dude, Rashan McDonald proceeded to bug the
living hell out of me every damn day for about
a year until I finally.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Said, okay, okay, okay, I'll do it. And then when
I started writing.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It, it took me about four four and a half months.
I wrote every word myself, had an editor, not a ghostwriter.
Had you helped me edit as well. But when I
wrote the book the first thing, you know, it took
me four and a half months, but it took me
(29:35):
about two and a half to three months to get
through two chapters. And you know what those two chapters were.
It was revisiting my childhood, my situation with my father,
the things he put my mother and my family through,
and when that happened.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
That was.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
That made it very very difficult because was the first
two weeks I didn't even finish the book. I just
sent the excerpts to my sisters and they didn't speak
to me for.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Two weeks, all.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Four of them. I thought they were mad at me,
but they weren't mad. They were just going through it
themselves because the things that I had mentioned were what
they forgot about, and for a long time I had
forgotten about, right, And so to bring those things up
to the surface forced us to relive the hell that
(30:30):
we had gone through when we were younger. And it
was really really painful, to say the least, but necessary
and cathartic in.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Its own ways.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
And then ultimately I finished the book in law and
behold it's a New York Times bestseller for nine weeks,
both paperback I'm sorry, in hardcover, I'm sorry, and audio,
and I can't tell you. I still get stopped on
the streets.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
The book's been out for almost a year, and I
guess out on the streets all the time.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
People loved my book.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I got to give major, major thanks to Howard Stern
because the interview he did with me about my book.
There has not been a city that I have traveled
to since that interview that somebody hasn't brought up that
interview with Howard Stern. Many, many people have interviewed me
and profiled the book and given me a lot of
(31:24):
love and a lot of praise. They thought it was
going to be a sports book. It's not a sports book,
and they gave me a lot of praise and a
lot of props for.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That, But that Howard Stern interview is what.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I can't tell you how many people have come up
to me and said I've had people coming to me
and say they read the book again because they said,
we read it once, but then after the Howard Stern interview,
we read it again because we were like, wait a minute,
where did he say that?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I missed that?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
But let me go back to that and so and
now Simon and hused to put it in paper and
it's expected to be a success.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Again.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
I think we've sold over four hundred thousand copies or
so some way around there.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Whatever. Again, it's been a New York Times bestseller. That's
the krem.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Dela Kreme doesn't get me hired in that. And for
me to think about the kid that got left back
in fourth grade because I had a first grade reading level,
I had undiagnosed dyslexia.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
For me to be a.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Professional journalist in my career and now a writer who's
a New York Times best selling author, I mean, damn,
I mean, how can we possibly say this is in
a high power looking over us. The Lord has truly,
truly blessed me, and I apologize for saying damn.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Preceding that statement, Steven Ah, he's my friend and somebody trust,
somebody who's been there in my downtimes. Thank you for
coming on money making comings as your master class show.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
You're brilliant. Brother. I wish you much good luck.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
I appreciate the kind words, but you know you could
have stretched it a little bit longer.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
I mean it was really quick with the kind words.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I mean, you know, I mean he spent about you know,
twenty seconds on the kind words and stuff like that.
When I when I praised with Sean McDonald, I'm lengthy
with it.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
You know what I'm saying. I mean, I put it
out there, I make it, I let it marinate it.
Stay out there for what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
You moment you're getting out.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Twenty seconds, all right?
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I love you, brother, Stay strong man. I mean, like
I said, Stevid A, you're one of a kind brother.
You are a guy that let me just tell you,
he said it. I've never in my life made a
superstar like you, brother.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
Not so much your work, but your heart, man, your
heart is incredibly passionate, loyal and honest because you've had
some honest conversations with me and I appreciate you and
I need it.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
And that's that's that's that's good time. See that's all right, Stevid, Bye.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Bye, Thank you for joining us for this edition of
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with rough
Shan McDonald is produced by thirty eight fifteen Media Inc.
More information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. Is available
at thirty eight fifteen media dot com. And always remember
(34:28):
to lead with your gifts
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