September 25, 2023 • 22 mins
Are you ready to hear a tale of extraordinary resilience? Meet Clifford Harrison, a former Foundation Year student and now an esteemed professional at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Juggling the demands of early parenthood while striving academically, Clifford's narrative is an inspiring testament to the power of sheer will and determination. This episode also explores the value of networking and seizing every opportunity, providing listeners with real-life insights into achieving success.
We'll delve into Clifford's journey, where he cleverly navigated his way to success. He'll recount how surrounding himself with smarter individuals and learning vital life skills from his basketball coach spurred him on. Clifford emphasizes the significance of mentorship, community service, and staying true to your purpose - all ingredients of his recipe for success. As a cherry on top, he'll impart the wisdom he would share with his seven-year-old self about the life ahead, a conversation not to miss. Tune in today and discover the extraordinary leader within you.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to another exciting edition of the Leader
Brew, where we catch up withformer students and learn about
their journey from the classroomto the real world.
And I have to say that I amvery excited with today's guest,
a former student fromFoundation Year, we think, about
10 years ago, give or take andthat's Clifford Harrison, who is
(00:33):
currently working at theMassachusetts Biotechnology
Council in Cambridge, commonlyreferred to, I think, in the
media quite a bit as mass bio.
So you know, I have to sayfirst of all, welcome and it's
so good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yes, it's a pleasure Dr Rick you have.
I was thinking about this introfor you and I said Dr Rick is
one of the more influentialprofessors that I met at
Northeastern during my time atFoundation Year.
There was one thing that yousaid to me on your way out of
the door and it was network yourass off.
And I said okay.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Oh, doesn't that sound familiar?
And I'm sure for the studentswho are listening to this now,
this episode, they're certainlybeing reminded of that, because
I do think that's, you know,that's really important.
And I recall, finally, my timein Foundation Year.
I recall you and so many otherstudents and you know you just
(01:30):
had this thing about you and Ihave actually followed you over
the past decade or so, so I'llsee some of your journey.
Mostly it's been, you know,through LinkedIn post.
It's been really exciting tosee someone who is, you know.
You just seem to be taking onlife and you seem to be doing it
(01:52):
with such joy and purpose andpassion.
I'm kind of curious what is itlike in those early days in that
Foundation Year program for you?
What was kind of going throughyour mind?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, you know, to be honest, you may or may not know
or remember, but I wasn't yourtraditional student, freshman
student, foundation Year student.
I came into the program with anewborn daughter and I was
competing with daddy duties andclassroom responsibilities every
(02:30):
day and it had its rewards, youknow.
Obviously.
You know, being a young parentit grows you up very, very fast.
You know, the flip side of thatwas I wasn't able to attend
certain gatherings with my peersand because I was always casted
in a leadership role if youremember Carla Kent, who's no
(02:53):
longer at, or with Foundationhere or with a Northeastern
University she was constantlyputting me in leadership
opportunities, speakingengagements and it that also
grew me up very, very fast.
So you know, I kind of hit theground running and that's just
been the trajectory of myprofessional and personal career
(03:15):
.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You know, when you were in that sort of beginning
stage of Foundation here, wheredid you think life was going to
take you?
Oh gosh, I was at more abouthow am I going to get the money
to pay for the diapers of mychild, and who's going to be
said.
You know what was kind of goingon in your mind at that point.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, one of the questions that I had was is this
program like?
Can I get a stipend fromFoundation here for attending?
How quickly can I get a job,work, study?
I think was also one of the topof mind inquiries Just not
typical questions coming from a,you know, a freshman student
(03:56):
that is just looking to, youknow, go through a program that
is very rewarding.
Having taken place on theNortheastern campus, I didn't
have too many expectations.
To be completely honest withyou, this was an opportunity
that I said this is probably mylast opportunity and if I don't
(04:18):
take advantage of this, I don'tknow what else is out there for
me.
And I for sure didn't want tobe statistic to you know, just
to be completely transparent,young black in the community,
kid out of marriage, you know,no job, really just trying to
figure things out.
And I said this is myopportunity and it was, and I
(04:41):
treated it as such.
So that you know there reallywas no expectation and I think,
as we go through this interview,a lot of what I am doing today
is still very much unscripted.
I don't know, I truly don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, it's so true, because in doing these leader
group podcasts I truly don'tknow either, and I think that's
the beauty of them, it's just.
And actually when I go into theclassroom I will sometimes
admit I truly don't know, eventhen, because I really do enjoy
that opportunity for people tojust be organic.
You know, as you were talkingabout essentially, you know
(05:21):
seizing the day, carpe Diem.
What sort of advice would yougive someone out there now that
you know in front of them is theopportunity?
But sometimes you knowrecognizing it is relatively
easy.
It's not until you actuallyacknowledge it and you say, hey,
this is my time.
(05:42):
Like how do you pull that outof someone other than just sort
of shaking them?
You know how do you do that.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, you know I only like to speak for myself and
you know, when it comes toadvice, I say the best advice is
to just not take advice.
It's your life, they're yourexperiences and you are going to
handle them as you see fit.
You know, of course you will bementored along the way.
You'll be coached if you arecoachable.
But you know to your wise words.
When you know I was anunfamiliar, unsuspecting student
(06:13):
going through foundation year,you pulled me aside and said
network your ass off.
And that.
Nothing more, nothing less.
And I just said, yeah, you know, you are like a blonde demigod
that just fell out the sky andis like.
You gave me some of the bestadvice that I still hold on to
to this day.
And you know, outside of justnetworking, you never know what
(06:36):
an opportunity or how far anopportunity is going to take you
and I really do think it is upto you to take it as far as you
want to take it.
And you know, if you feel likeyou have squeezed it to a point
where there's nothing left togain or give, another door may
open for you, or you go andfigure out where the next door
(06:58):
is and then you just start thatwhole process all over again.
I've always disliked I won'tsay hated, but I've always
disliked when you know.
I was told growing up you needto know where you want to go and
what you want to do.
That's not how life works and Ithink that I'm a prime example
of you know unscripted is agreat way to figure out who you
(07:21):
are, why you are and when youare.
Because if you, if you, moveaccording to what someone is
saying you, how you should moveand where you should go, there's
not a lot of room for discoveryand curiosity and creativity.
And I really try to live mylife based off of that
unscripted nature, because Iwant to be the best that I can
be at the end of the day, andthe only way to do that is to do
(07:44):
uncommon things.
You know, go places that you'venever been before, experience
you know new landscapes, meetnew people, and I just think
that that is probably the bestadvice that I can give to, again
, unsuspecting, unknowingstudents that are just trying to
live their lives, and I thinkthat's what we're trying to do
(08:07):
is just live life.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I think you're absolutely right.
You know, when we talk aboutthis whole concept of networking
and I'll say to students,listen, you can have as many
LinkedIn connections as you'dlike, but there's a couple of
parts of that.
One is you need to build thoserelationships, sustain the
relationships and then, you know, really get engaged with them.
(08:30):
And sometimes what I'll seewith some students is this
resistance, this hesitation.
Swiss psychologist, carl Jung,said it perfectly you know, what
we resist persists and I think,in terms of that networking
concept, that's exactly it.
You know, to some extentperhaps we are afraid to reach
(08:53):
out to someone within ourLinkedIn database because and we
come up with a multitude ofexcuses because we haven't
talked to them in years, wehaven't had any communication
with them, and so all of theseissues really pop up.
I'm curious to know how you'venavigated building and really
(09:13):
sustaining those relationshipsover the years.
I mean so my advice to you wasget out there and network,
network, network.
But there's the next evolutionto that, which is how do you
balance keeping thoserelationships lively and timely
and current?
And even if you've not been intouch with someone for 10 years,
(09:34):
how do you get over thatanxiety of reaching out to them?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right to again to your wise words network your ass
off.
I mean, as you said, you havebeen following me throughout the
course of, say, eight to 10years since my time at
Northeastern, and I believe thatthat was because of the
impression that we both made oneach other and it's like I took
(10:00):
a like into this kid.
Let me see what he's up to.
And I can't say for everyperson in my network I have a
strong relationship with for themost part professionally you
have to.
I work in the world of businessdevelopment.
So much of my world is to makethose LinkedIn connections and
see if I can get someone'sattention.
(10:23):
There is a skill to that.
But for the most part, I takemy brand seriously and I try not
to burn bridges.
And you never know who you aregoing to come into contact with
five, 10 years from now.
It could be the person that yousaid, hey, yeah, I've tried not
to swear.
Hey, you know, puff, you knowthat.
(10:43):
However, many years ago, andnow that you are launching your
career or launching yourpersonal brand, those people may
come right back to you fullcircle and they will remember
that.
And my wife early on, when wewere kids, she was wise beyond
her years.
She said to me don't burnbridges, don't ever burn bridges
(11:04):
.
And for that reason it has madethe world of social media,
specifically LinkedIn, becausethat's the only social media
that I have it's madefunctioning in that world a lot
easier.
The worst thing, the last thingI'll say, dr Wiggins, the worst
thing someone can say is no, andif you're getting no online via
(11:28):
LinkedIn messenger, who cares?
That shouldn't ruin your day orput you in a bad headspace of
man.
That person doesn't like me,they don't like what I'm selling
.
So companies are, there's ahierarchy within every company
and if one person says no,chances are the next person
(11:51):
that's also on that same teamwill either say yes or be
interested enough to take ameeting, and that's all it is.
I've had people C-suite levelemployees tell me no and their
assistant on the same team willcome and say yeah, we'll take
the meeting and they're like allright, perfect, really
(12:13):
appreciate that and we'll gofrom there.
But that's how I try tointerpret those LinkedIn cold
outreaches.
The worst thing that anyone cansay is no, but keep knocking.
Eventually the door's gonnaopen.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I love that.
You know, as I'm listening toyou, there is an absolute
authenticity that's comingthrough, that's passion, and you
know this excitement for lifeand I'm telling you that's one
of the things I remember aboutyou after years and it's still
there.
It's meant to be getting bigger.
Let's talk about your work inthe community, because that's
(12:52):
certainly a major part of yourplatform, whether it's on the
scholarship committee, ev kidsor Nativity Preparatory School.
So tell me about how you madethat transition into high
nonprofits.
I'd love to help you.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I actually started as a resume building tool, you
know, just inquiring on how tojoin boards.
And you know, believe it or not, I faked a lot of my experience
as I was growing up in myprofessional career.
And when I say fake, you know Iwould lead the people that I'm
trying to get a meeting with tosay, yeah, I can do that,
(13:29):
believe me.
And you know, whether or not itwas my presentation or my
speech, they believed it.
And because they believed it, Ibelieved it as well.
And I never wanted to fall flaton my face and sometimes it
worked, but most times, I mean,sometimes it didn't work, but
most times it did work, becauseI was just driven to succeed and
(13:50):
I truly did not want to failand I say, if I had the
opportunity to walk into a room,I belong there and no one's
gonna tell me, no, you don'tbelong there.
And you know, given enough time, I will figure it out.
And that's really how I treatedearly on in my career how to
get from point A to point B.
And then it became oh, you know, cliff does have the experience
(14:13):
, cliff can speak to thesethings, cliff can lead in these
areas.
You don't need to be an expertat any one thing or everything
you know.
You surround yourself withpeople that are smarter than you
so that you look like you knowwhat you are doing and you know
you obviously contribute in anyway that you can.
But it's always been importantto me to give back to my
(14:36):
community and you know one ofthe ways that I enjoy doing that
is on, you know, serving onboards.
Ev kids close to my heart,nativity Prep, my alma mater
middle school that I went to,and the experience and the
opportunities that come justfrom, you know, serving on a
board are so gratifying.
(14:58):
You get to, and at least with me, I think I feel like my skill
set has been in that world ofmentorship and just trying to
connect young talent to jobopportunities, job placement.
I think you know Professor Rajwas another influential
character in my life where sheliked to refer to me as a social
glue.
You know, cliff, you alwaysseem to be at the center of
(15:21):
something happening.
There's something there and youneed to figure out what that is
and I, you know, I'm confident10 years later to say I know
exactly what she saw, becauseI'm thriving in that now and the
glue for me now is to give backto my community and again just
to connect people with resources.
So that's always been high onmy list.
(15:43):
I have a voice and I have achoice to you know keep the door
open and also help others gothrough that door.
You know, it's not enough tojust walk through the door
yourself, because that in turnis actually closing off other
people from going through thatdoor.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So I hear you as certainly being this cohesive
force for others around you.
You know a connector, someonewho's really out there with a
full commitment to make theircommunity better, a father, a
husband, I mean the list goes onand on.
(16:20):
My question would be how do youor do you have that balance,
sort of that quiet time that youcan be reflective and just be
about Cliff?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
It's a good question.
My wife absolutely hates thefact that I can't turn it off.
I cannot turn it off, but Ithink it's that that keeps me
going, and when you live in yourpurpose, you're doing exactly
what you're supposed to be doing.
There's nothing to turn off.
There's nothing to turn on.
You are doing exactly what youare supposed to be doing, and
(16:59):
for me, that's everything.
For me, that is coded in my DNA, that's my genetic makeup.
If I'm not giving back to mycommunity, if I'm not putting a
smile on someone's face, if I'mnot having a meaningful
conversation or meeting someonenew, doing something new,
learning something new, at thosepoints I don't feel fulfilled,
(17:20):
I don't feel a sense of purpose,and that's when I will make
time to myself to sit in mychair and say, all right, well,
what am I doing wrong?
What am I supposed to be doingthat I'm not doing?
That I really need to be doing?
Those are the questions that Iask myself.
But I'd rather be than not be,if that makes sense.
(17:41):
I'd rather be doing everythingthat I am supposed to be doing
every day, even if it is tiring.
I'm exhausted at the end of theday.
That's not even just from aprofessional standpoint.
I love the relationship that Ihave with my kids and my wife.
That also is high on thepriority list of things that
Cliff needs to be doing.
(18:02):
It's living in my Jell-O.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I love that that might be the title of our
podcast Living in my Jell-O.
This is absolutely wonderful.
One of the questions that welike to ask all of our guests on
this show is what would youtell the seven-year-old what's
ahead in life?
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I tell him definitely not basketball.
I had hoop dreams and a lot ofpeople in my corner thought that
I was going to go all the wayand if you were to talk to the
seventh grade cliff, he wouldtell you everything about the
game of basketball.
But what I would tell that kidis everything that you have
(18:49):
learned on the court is what isgoing to transfer off the court.
It's not how you dribble thebasketball, it is how you
listened and was coached on howto dribble the basketball.
That's what translates intolife.
You know just a quick, quickstory about that.
Basketball was taken away fromme and, as a result, I had to
(19:12):
pivot from the game ofbasketball, the thing that I
love the most.
I mean, you couldn't tell me.
My own mother couldn't tell methat I wasn't going to play
basketball.
I said I am playing basketball,I am going to the NBA.
You know, you couldn't tell meanything.
But all of the time and theenergy that I put into learning
(19:33):
the game, little did I know itwasn't to actually play the game
, it was to perform off thecourt in life.
Take those leadership skills,take those team building skills,
you know, take the work ethicand the competitive edge.
Apply all of those things intowhat I am doing today and trying
to grow in, even as a youngprofessional, young dad, young
(19:57):
husband, friend, mentor, all ofthat.
You know all of those things,those skillsets that I learned
on the court, that's what is nowbeing used at a very, very high
level.
But would my seventh grade yearold self listen?
Hell, no, he would not.
He'd still say, yeah, I'mplaying basketball, I'm playing
(20:18):
basketball.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Listen, that is absolutely wonderful.
I have to say honestly, thishas been an amazingly awesome
catch up.
I can't wait to catch up withso many other students along the
way, particularly my foundationyear students, and I'm just so
grateful to have been a smallpart of your life and anytime
(20:41):
you ever need me, you know whereI'm at, definitely.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I appreciate the time Walker.
It's been awesome, awesome,awesome.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
All right, terrific.
My very best to you, so thankyou.
This has been another wonderfuledition, I think, of the leader
Rue, and we look forward tohearing your stories from the
classroom to the real world.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Take care From the classroom to the real world.
(21:33):
We hope that today's Leader-Prupodcast ignited the
extraordinary leader within you.
Welcome to another exciting edition of the Leader
Brew, where we catch up withformer students and learn about
their journey from the classroomto the real world.
And I have to say that I amvery excited with today's guest,
a former student fromFoundation Year, we think, about
10 years ago, give or take andthat's Clifford Harrison, who is
(00:33):
currently working at theMassachusetts Biotechnology
Council in Cambridge, commonlyreferred to, I think, in the
media quite a bit as mass bio.
So you know, I have to sayfirst of all, welcome and it's
so good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yes, it's a pleasure Dr Rick you have.
I was thinking about this introfor you and I said Dr Rick is
one of the more influentialprofessors that I met at
Northeastern during my time atFoundation Year.
There was one thing that yousaid to me on your way out of
the door and it was network yourass off.
And I said okay.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Oh, doesn't that sound familiar?
And I'm sure for the studentswho are listening to this now,
this episode, they're certainlybeing reminded of that, because
I do think that's, you know,that's really important.
And I recall, finally, my timein Foundation Year.
I recall you and so many otherstudents and you know you just
(01:30):
had this thing about you and Ihave actually followed you over
the past decade or so, so I'llsee some of your journey.
Mostly it's been, you know,through LinkedIn post.
It's been really exciting tosee someone who is, you know.
You just seem to be taking onlife and you seem to be doing it
(01:52):
with such joy and purpose andpassion.
I'm kind of curious what is itlike in those early days in that
Foundation Year program for you?
What was kind of going throughyour mind?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, you know, to be honest, you may or may not know
or remember, but I wasn't yourtraditional student, freshman
student, foundation Year student.
I came into the program with anewborn daughter and I was
competing with daddy duties andclassroom responsibilities every
(02:30):
day and it had its rewards, youknow.
Obviously.
You know, being a young parentit grows you up very, very fast.
You know, the flip side of thatwas I wasn't able to attend
certain gatherings with my peersand because I was always casted
in a leadership role if youremember Carla Kent, who's no
(02:53):
longer at, or with Foundationhere or with a Northeastern
University she was constantlyputting me in leadership
opportunities, speakingengagements and it that also
grew me up very, very fast.
So you know, I kind of hit theground running and that's just
been the trajectory of myprofessional and personal career
(03:15):
.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You know, when you were in that sort of beginning
stage of Foundation here, wheredid you think life was going to
take you?
Oh gosh, I was at more abouthow am I going to get the money
to pay for the diapers of mychild, and who's going to be
said.
You know what was kind of goingon in your mind at that point.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, one of the questions that I had was is this
program like?
Can I get a stipend fromFoundation here for attending?
How quickly can I get a job,work, study?
I think was also one of the topof mind inquiries Just not
typical questions coming from a,you know, a freshman student
(03:56):
that is just looking to, youknow, go through a program that
is very rewarding.
Having taken place on theNortheastern campus, I didn't
have too many expectations.
To be completely honest withyou, this was an opportunity
that I said this is probably mylast opportunity and if I don't
(04:18):
take advantage of this, I don'tknow what else is out there for
me.
And I for sure didn't want tobe statistic to you know, just
to be completely transparent,young black in the community,
kid out of marriage, you know,no job, really just trying to
figure things out.
And I said this is myopportunity and it was, and I
(04:41):
treated it as such.
So that you know there reallywas no expectation and I think,
as we go through this interview,a lot of what I am doing today
is still very much unscripted.
I don't know, I truly don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, it's so true, because in doing these leader
group podcasts I truly don'tknow either, and I think that's
the beauty of them, it's just.
And actually when I go into theclassroom I will sometimes
admit I truly don't know, eventhen, because I really do enjoy
that opportunity for people tojust be organic.
You know, as you were talkingabout essentially, you know
(05:21):
seizing the day, carpe Diem.
What sort of advice would yougive someone out there now that
you know in front of them is theopportunity?
But sometimes you knowrecognizing it is relatively
easy.
It's not until you actuallyacknowledge it and you say, hey,
this is my time.
(05:42):
Like how do you pull that outof someone other than just sort
of shaking them?
You know how do you do that.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, you know I only like to speak for myself and
you know, when it comes toadvice, I say the best advice is
to just not take advice.
It's your life, they're yourexperiences and you are going to
handle them as you see fit.
You know, of course you will bementored along the way.
You'll be coached if you arecoachable.
But you know to your wise words.
When you know I was anunfamiliar, unsuspecting student
(06:13):
going through foundation year,you pulled me aside and said
network your ass off.
And that.
Nothing more, nothing less.
And I just said, yeah, you know, you are like a blonde demigod
that just fell out the sky andis like.
You gave me some of the bestadvice that I still hold on to
to this day.
And you know, outside of justnetworking, you never know what
(06:36):
an opportunity or how far anopportunity is going to take you
and I really do think it is upto you to take it as far as you
want to take it.
And you know, if you feel likeyou have squeezed it to a point
where there's nothing left togain or give, another door may
open for you, or you go andfigure out where the next door
(06:58):
is and then you just start thatwhole process all over again.
I've always disliked I won'tsay hated, but I've always
disliked when you know.
I was told growing up you needto know where you want to go and
what you want to do.
That's not how life works and Ithink that I'm a prime example
of you know unscripted is agreat way to figure out who you
(07:21):
are, why you are and when youare.
Because if you, if you, moveaccording to what someone is
saying you, how you should moveand where you should go, there's
not a lot of room for discoveryand curiosity and creativity.
And I really try to live mylife based off of that
unscripted nature, because Iwant to be the best that I can
be at the end of the day, andthe only way to do that is to do
(07:44):
uncommon things.
You know, go places that you'venever been before, experience
you know new landscapes, meetnew people, and I just think
that that is probably the bestadvice that I can give to, again
, unsuspecting, unknowingstudents that are just trying to
live their lives, and I thinkthat's what we're trying to do
(08:07):
is just live life.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I think you're absolutely right.
You know, when we talk aboutthis whole concept of networking
and I'll say to students,listen, you can have as many
LinkedIn connections as you'dlike, but there's a couple of
parts of that.
One is you need to build thoserelationships, sustain the
relationships and then, you know, really get engaged with them.
(08:30):
And sometimes what I'll seewith some students is this
resistance, this hesitation.
Swiss psychologist, carl Jung,said it perfectly you know, what
we resist persists and I think,in terms of that networking
concept, that's exactly it.
You know, to some extentperhaps we are afraid to reach
(08:53):
out to someone within ourLinkedIn database because and we
come up with a multitude ofexcuses because we haven't
talked to them in years, wehaven't had any communication
with them, and so all of theseissues really pop up.
I'm curious to know how you'venavigated building and really
(09:13):
sustaining those relationshipsover the years.
I mean so my advice to you wasget out there and network,
network, network.
But there's the next evolutionto that, which is how do you
balance keeping thoserelationships lively and timely
and current?
And even if you've not been intouch with someone for 10 years,
(09:34):
how do you get over thatanxiety of reaching out to them?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right to again to your wise words network your ass
off.
I mean, as you said, you havebeen following me throughout the
course of, say, eight to 10years since my time at
Northeastern, and I believe thatthat was because of the
impression that we both made oneach other and it's like I took
(10:00):
a like into this kid.
Let me see what he's up to.
And I can't say for everyperson in my network I have a
strong relationship with for themost part professionally you
have to.
I work in the world of businessdevelopment.
So much of my world is to makethose LinkedIn connections and
see if I can get someone'sattention.
(10:23):
There is a skill to that.
But for the most part, I takemy brand seriously and I try not
to burn bridges.
And you never know who you aregoing to come into contact with
five, 10 years from now.
It could be the person that yousaid, hey, yeah, I've tried not
to swear.
Hey, you know, puff, you knowthat.
(10:43):
However, many years ago, andnow that you are launching your
career or launching yourpersonal brand, those people may
come right back to you fullcircle and they will remember
that.
And my wife early on, when wewere kids, she was wise beyond
her years.
She said to me don't burnbridges, don't ever burn bridges
(11:04):
.
And for that reason it has madethe world of social media,
specifically LinkedIn, becausethat's the only social media
that I have it's madefunctioning in that world a lot
easier.
The worst thing, the last thingI'll say, dr Wiggins, the worst
thing someone can say is no, andif you're getting no online via
(11:28):
LinkedIn messenger, who cares?
That shouldn't ruin your day orput you in a bad headspace of
man.
That person doesn't like me,they don't like what I'm selling
.
So companies are, there's ahierarchy within every company
and if one person says no,chances are the next person
(11:51):
that's also on that same teamwill either say yes or be
interested enough to take ameeting, and that's all it is.
I've had people C-suite levelemployees tell me no and their
assistant on the same team willcome and say yeah, we'll take
the meeting and they're like allright, perfect, really
(12:13):
appreciate that and we'll gofrom there.
But that's how I try tointerpret those LinkedIn cold
outreaches.
The worst thing that anyone cansay is no, but keep knocking.
Eventually the door's gonnaopen.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I love that.
You know, as I'm listening toyou, there is an absolute
authenticity that's comingthrough, that's passion, and you
know this excitement for lifeand I'm telling you that's one
of the things I remember aboutyou after years and it's still
there.
It's meant to be getting bigger.
Let's talk about your work inthe community, because that's
(12:52):
certainly a major part of yourplatform, whether it's on the
scholarship committee, ev kidsor Nativity Preparatory School.
So tell me about how you madethat transition into high
nonprofits.
I'd love to help you.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I actually started as a resume building tool, you
know, just inquiring on how tojoin boards.
And you know, believe it or not, I faked a lot of my experience
as I was growing up in myprofessional career.
And when I say fake, you know Iwould lead the people that I'm
trying to get a meeting with tosay, yeah, I can do that,
(13:29):
believe me.
And you know, whether or not itwas my presentation or my
speech, they believed it.
And because they believed it, Ibelieved it as well.
And I never wanted to fall flaton my face and sometimes it
worked, but most times, I mean,sometimes it didn't work, but
most times it did work, becauseI was just driven to succeed and
(13:50):
I truly did not want to failand I say, if I had the
opportunity to walk into a room,I belong there and no one's
gonna tell me, no, you don'tbelong there.
And you know, given enough time, I will figure it out.
And that's really how I treatedearly on in my career how to
get from point A to point B.
And then it became oh, you know, cliff does have the experience
(14:13):
, cliff can speak to thesethings, cliff can lead in these
areas.
You don't need to be an expertat any one thing or everything
you know.
You surround yourself withpeople that are smarter than you
so that you look like you knowwhat you are doing and you know
you obviously contribute in anyway that you can.
But it's always been importantto me to give back to my
(14:36):
community and you know one ofthe ways that I enjoy doing that
is on, you know, serving onboards.
Ev kids close to my heart,nativity Prep, my alma mater
middle school that I went to,and the experience and the
opportunities that come justfrom, you know, serving on a
board are so gratifying.
(14:58):
You get to, and at least with me, I think I feel like my skill
set has been in that world ofmentorship and just trying to
connect young talent to jobopportunities, job placement.
I think you know Professor Rajwas another influential
character in my life where sheliked to refer to me as a social
glue.
You know, cliff, you alwaysseem to be at the center of
(15:21):
something happening.
There's something there and youneed to figure out what that is
and I, you know, I'm confident10 years later to say I know
exactly what she saw, becauseI'm thriving in that now and the
glue for me now is to give backto my community and again just
to connect people with resources.
So that's always been high onmy list.
(15:43):
I have a voice and I have achoice to you know keep the door
open and also help others gothrough that door.
You know, it's not enough tojust walk through the door
yourself, because that in turnis actually closing off other
people from going through thatdoor.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So I hear you as certainly being this cohesive
force for others around you.
You know a connector, someonewho's really out there with a
full commitment to make theircommunity better, a father, a
husband, I mean the list goes onand on.
(16:20):
My question would be how do youor do you have that balance,
sort of that quiet time that youcan be reflective and just be
about Cliff?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
It's a good question.
My wife absolutely hates thefact that I can't turn it off.
I cannot turn it off, but Ithink it's that that keeps me
going, and when you live in yourpurpose, you're doing exactly
what you're supposed to be doing.
There's nothing to turn off.
There's nothing to turn on.
You are doing exactly what youare supposed to be doing, and
(16:59):
for me, that's everything.
For me, that is coded in my DNA, that's my genetic makeup.
If I'm not giving back to mycommunity, if I'm not putting a
smile on someone's face, if I'mnot having a meaningful
conversation or meeting someonenew, doing something new,
learning something new, at thosepoints I don't feel fulfilled,
(17:20):
I don't feel a sense of purpose,and that's when I will make
time to myself to sit in mychair and say, all right, well,
what am I doing wrong?
What am I supposed to be doingthat I'm not doing?
That I really need to be doing?
Those are the questions that Iask myself.
But I'd rather be than not be,if that makes sense.
(17:41):
I'd rather be doing everythingthat I am supposed to be doing
every day, even if it is tiring.
I'm exhausted at the end of theday.
That's not even just from aprofessional standpoint.
I love the relationship that Ihave with my kids and my wife.
That also is high on thepriority list of things that
Cliff needs to be doing.
(18:02):
It's living in my Jell-O.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I love that that might be the title of our
podcast Living in my Jell-O.
This is absolutely wonderful.
One of the questions that welike to ask all of our guests on
this show is what would youtell the seven-year-old what's
ahead in life?
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I tell him definitely not basketball.
I had hoop dreams and a lot ofpeople in my corner thought that
I was going to go all the wayand if you were to talk to the
seventh grade cliff, he wouldtell you everything about the
game of basketball.
But what I would tell that kidis everything that you have
(18:49):
learned on the court is what isgoing to transfer off the court.
It's not how you dribble thebasketball, it is how you
listened and was coached on howto dribble the basketball.
That's what translates intolife.
You know just a quick, quickstory about that.
Basketball was taken away fromme and, as a result, I had to
(19:12):
pivot from the game ofbasketball, the thing that I
love the most.
I mean, you couldn't tell me.
My own mother couldn't tell methat I wasn't going to play
basketball.
I said I am playing basketball,I am going to the NBA.
You know, you couldn't tell meanything.
But all of the time and theenergy that I put into learning
(19:33):
the game, little did I know itwasn't to actually play the game
, it was to perform off thecourt in life.
Take those leadership skills,take those team building skills,
you know, take the work ethicand the competitive edge.
Apply all of those things intowhat I am doing today and trying
to grow in, even as a youngprofessional, young dad, young
(19:57):
husband, friend, mentor, all ofthat.
You know all of those things,those skillsets that I learned
on the court, that's what is nowbeing used at a very, very high
level.
But would my seventh grade yearold self listen?
Hell, no, he would not.
He'd still say, yeah, I'mplaying basketball, I'm playing
(20:18):
basketball.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Listen, that is absolutely wonderful.
I have to say honestly, thishas been an amazingly awesome
catch up.
I can't wait to catch up withso many other students along the
way, particularly my foundationyear students, and I'm just so
grateful to have been a smallpart of your life and anytime
(20:41):
you ever need me, you know whereI'm at, definitely.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I appreciate the time Walker.
It's been awesome, awesome,awesome.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
All right, terrific.
My very best to you, so thankyou.
This has been another wonderfuledition, I think, of the leader
Rue, and we look forward tohearing your stories from the
classroom to the real world.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Take care From the classroom to the real world.
(21:33):
We hope that today's Leader-Prupodcast ignited the
extraordinary leader within you.
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