September 3, 2025 • 19 mins
In this powerful episode of Amazing Women and Men of Power: Legends & Icons Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, host Raven the Talk Show Maven rolls out the red carpet for the legendary Richard Lawson 🎭.
With a career spanning over five decades, Richard has graced both the big and small screens in unforgettable roles — from Poltergeist and For Colored Girls to his recent role as Norman in Tyler Perry’s Netflix hit Beauty in Black. Beyond the screen, Richard is a passionate educator, mentor, and now an author with his new book The Artist’s Roadmap: Navigating Your Career in Show Business.
💡 In this episode, Richard shares:
With a career spanning over five decades, Richard has graced both the big and small screens in unforgettable roles — from Poltergeist and For Colored Girls to his recent role as Norman in Tyler Perry’s Netflix hit Beauty in Black. Beyond the screen, Richard is a passionate educator, mentor, and now an author with his new book The Artist’s Roadmap: Navigating Your Career in Show Business.
💡 In this episode, Richard shares:
- The power of embracing the journey instead of chasing single moments
- How to turn challenges into fuel for success 🔥
- His unique “character chart” method for shaping powerful roles
- The importance of resilience, faith, and managing the people on your “bus” 🚌
- Why his new book is a must-read for actors, dreamers, and anyone navigating a creative career
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to amazing women and men of power, legends and icons. Yesterday, today,
and tomorrow. I'm your host, Raven a talk show Maven.
And today we're rolling out the red carpet. Oh yeah,
for an extraordinary guest whose career has not only stood
the test of time, but continues to flourish with remarkable vigor.
Joining us, I'm proud to say, is the luxurious Richard Lawson,
(00:33):
a distinguished actor whose impressive journey spans over five decades.
You may remember him as Ryan in the classic horror
film Poetry Guys, or is doctor Ben Taylor in the
NBC mini series B. His versatility has grace both the
big and the small screens, with notable roles like for
(00:56):
Color Girls, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Back Back,
and now recently as Norman in Tyler Perry's acclaim Netflix
series Beauty in Black, which has been really captivating audiences worldwide.
Beyond his on screen achievements, Richard is a dedicated educator
and mentor, having imparted his wisdom to aspiring actors for
(01:20):
over forty decades through the Richard Lawson Studios. Now he's
channeling his wealth of experience into his latest endeavor as
an author with his new book, The Artist ROMap Navigating
your Career in Show businesses. This guy is poised to
become an essential resource for artists aiming to carve out
(01:41):
successful and sustainable careers in the entertainment. You know what
I like to say, Hey, if you stand and sit down,
and if you sit and stand up, because the man
is here, Richard lost the law.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He no what an introductions? Thank you so good to
be here.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Oh, it is such an honor to have you here.
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. We got
about twenty minutes, maybe eighteen thousand. We're going to dive in. Okay,
all right, take it off with a bit of reflection. Okay,
you've had such such a powerful, enduring presence in the
entertainment industry for over five decades. Looking back, what would
(02:27):
you say has been your most transformative moment as an artist?
And the reason I asked that because I know you're
all about transformative moments, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I listen, absolutely absolutely, it is about transforming because life
goes on and there's constant changes. You know. It's interesting
because even as an artist, you go through these seasons.
You know, the young actor the teens, the twenties, the thirties,
the forties. Is you're constantly changing and your casting is changing,
(02:59):
and so how do you you survive that journey? You
asked me what was my most transformative moment? I would
say that it is more about the journey than any
singular thing, because I've had many singular moments that have
had an effect on me. But as I look across
(03:19):
the landscape, it is really about the journey. That's the thing.
Showing up every day, you know, shutting up and showing up,
getting up, being resilient, riding the roller coaster. You got
to ride the ups and the downs with equal amount
of ability and amount of grace. You've got to understand
(03:43):
nose and how to handle nose and know. For me
as a motivator, no turns me on. And that's what
fused me to go forward almost because I know that,
you know, I can't control conditions outside of myself, but
I can control how I react to them. And as
long as I'm clear about my journey, my process, my purpose,
(04:06):
which is my north star, then nothing can stop me.
Nothing can stop me, and so therefore it's just about
the journey for me.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I love that it's just about the journey, and no
few you up. Oh yeah, my man, that's what I'm
talking about. Get fueled. Right, That's only how you step
out of your fear into your power, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That's exactly right. You know. Listen, my family's from Louisiana.
I grew up in Oakland, but every summer I was
in Louisiana and I saw my grandparents turn you know,
they make gumbo, and gumbo originally was all the throwaway
food that they put into this almost like a soup.
(04:52):
It's not really a soup, but into the stock. And
so you had chicken and sausage and shrimp and crab,
and you know, you had you had oprah, which I
don't like. And the only way, the only way I
can eat oprah is if it's smothered and numbo and mixed.
But you turn, you turn to throw away into something
(05:14):
of value. You turn manure into fertilizer. You turn a
sow's ear into a silk purse, you know. And that's
what I have had to do. And so therefore I
don't care the challenge. I know that I'm gonna figure
a way around it. All I have to is just
(05:34):
keep asking the next question. Just keeping the next question,
and I'll figure it out. So you got to be
comfortable with mystery. You got to be comfortable with not knowing.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Oh my god, you are dropping it, you are dropping
Oh my goodness, this is I'm like, I can't write
fast enough. I'm so glad this is recorded so I
can go back and the listeners and viewers can go
back and watch it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Wow, that was a lot, and that was so good.
I got to have you back.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I got you back.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Okay. You starting iconic films like Poetry Guys for Colored Girls,
and now you're part of Tyler Perry's hit series Beauty
in the Black. What attracted you to this role of
Norman in the series and how do you think his
story connects to the core message of the show.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Well, I've worked with Tyler before, you know, my first
time being directed by him was in Colored Girls. That
was an iconic cast, you know, in terms of some
amazing people in that in that show. And then last
summer I did something called Divorce in the Black with
(06:46):
Meghan Good and Debbie Morgan and Corey Hardwick. Yeah, and
your girl, right, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie Debbie and I.
Debbie and I have such incredible chemisty together.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And in that film, we played parents to Megan Good
and you saw a black couple who loved their daughter,
and it was sort of like the Cosby family. They
were a loving family and you would want your father
to be what my character was in that show, and
(07:23):
you would want your mother to be what Debbie was.
It was a we should I've been campaigning on she
and I doing a series together playing you know, husband
and wife, but that that will come. But you know,
when we finished that, he said, I have a role
for you that I'm writing. And so that's what Beauty
(07:45):
in Black came about. Norman is part of this family
that's kind of a collision between the Game of Thrones
and Dynasty. It's this very super rich family who were
filled with greed and avarice and jealousy and power and
control and his lacking in the ability to love. And
(08:10):
my character is the only character in the show that's
driven by love. There's these minds now where Norman, my
character said, my wife is dead. My wife is dead.
I say it over and over again. He loves his wife,
but because of that, you know, He's kind of a
diabolical character because he's committed to finding out who killed
(08:34):
his wife, and you cannot put it down when you
turn it on. It's going to be hard to just
do one episode at a time. You have to be
what because at the end of every scene, it's like,
oh my God. At the end of every episode it's like, oh,
I got to find out what happens.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
That's my kind of series. I love to Bingewis Weekend. Okay,
I'm gonna have everything I love to eat, and I'm
just gonna do that and invite the listener viewers that
I went me yes, and that's on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
That's on Netflix.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yes, Okay, good deal. All right. Now, as someone who's
worked a cross film across television and theater, Richard, how
did you approach shaping a character, especially one like Norman
who carries so much emotional weight.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, I invented this thing years ago called the character chart,
where I use science and technology to create characters. So
there's this charge where you know, first of all, as
an actor, I see myself as a behavioral anthropologist. Okay,
(09:49):
because anthropology is the study of the origin of the behavioral, social, emotional, spiritual,
aspect of man, in this case a particular human being.
So I'm looking for all of that. And then science
is the systematic study of something. So I systematically study
the anthropology of Norman and I put it in this chart,
(10:12):
and so that in every scene in the film, I
extract my character out of the story and put it.
All of my scenes in this chart. And I really
read the script over and over and over and over
and over again, and each time I discover something else.
He has anger, he has rage, He's jealous, he hates
(10:33):
this brother, you know, he has a love hate with Livia,
who is Debbie Morgan. And I write all this down,
and then the scenes that have rage in it, I
make note of it and to what degree. So it's scientific.
And I create a model of the character before I
ever start working, so I know what the character looks like,
(10:54):
feels like, sounds like, what he wears, what his makeup is,
the life of his wardrobe, his hair, All of that
is on paper for me, so that when I start,
you know, I am pregnant with this character. I know
all about him. I've asked every question, I've turned over
every stone, so when I show up, I'm ready to
(11:15):
play and I'm ready to throw down. I'm not fixed
because I can still you know, until you get with
another person, you don't know what it is until the
two things come together. You can't play before you play
with another person. And so that's my approach. And so
the second season I put probably one thousand hours into this.
(11:38):
In the first season it was fifteen hundred hours because
I recorded it, you know, And so it's it's hard work.
But I come from that old school of going in
the woodshed and doing the work.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I know, back in the day, old school stuff, no
kidding around, you know, no Internet, no ais. You got
to do the work, really do the work right.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, But now I have added AI and Internet because
internet is a great source media. Answer. Yeah, you know,
when I when I'm studying, I'm doing research, I use
the Internet. Answers come like that, you know what I mean.
So you know, I'm probably one of the more technologically
(12:24):
savvy person of my age group than anybody I know.
All my friends called me and said, how you do this?
How you do that?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Oh yeah, let's shake my hand, brother, because we're the
same way. I'm in my seventies and I love AI.
I had to really get to know it and how
to use it, so I know exactly what you're talking about.
Your formula is amazing. In fact, let's just give the
man a hand on that, okay. And that's just some
(12:53):
of what you learned in his school. But let's get
to this book, okay. So we've got about five minutes.
I'm going to just rapid fire some questions about your book, okay,
because we got to get this out, all right. Let's
not just call this a book. Let's call it a masterpiece.
How about that? Can we agree on that?
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Richard?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Can we agree on that?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I will agree.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
You went back to the woodshed on this one, right
for sure, and you really got down to it. So
what made you decide this is the time? Because this
isn't your first book, if I'm not mistaken, right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, this is the first published book.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Okay, the first published book okay, So what made you
decide to do this book? Okay? And it's the artist
romance navigating your career in show business business. This guy
is poised to become any central resource for artists aiming
to carve our successful and sustainable careers. So why now
(13:48):
light this book?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Well? You know, I was just that HBCU in South Carolina,
and I want to say this. You know, I did
a master's class down there for students and fact and
both were moved faculty enough to where they're making this
book part of their textbook, which is my desire is
to make it a textbook because my whole mission in
(14:12):
life is to help people to achieve their dreams. I've
been based to be able to have all these years
in the business as a actor and a working actor
never stopped working, and as a teacher where I'm able
to teach. And I took those two skills and used
it to help people to navigate their career and to
(14:34):
become the greatest actor that can be the most accomplished,
and then learn how to navigate this marathon. And now
I put it in a book so that other people
can learn how to navigate their career. And if I
can get this to be a textbook in all the schools,
especially the ACUS, I can help people to survive the
(14:57):
a journey. It's look at seventy you want to stand
what the journey is?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, yeah, this is journey.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And you've got good times and you got bad and
it's how do you negotiate that and stay in the game.
I don't care how bad it is. And how do
you negotiate success? You got to be able to negotiate both.
And this is one that I wrote this book.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Oh I love that. And you know what, as I was,
you know, kind of skimming through it, I was thinking,
you know what, this is great because I mentored host
talk show hoss on people how to become talk show hosts.
And I was like, this is great for any industry,
not just for acting, you know, because I put a
little pizazz on a little acting. You know what I'm saying,
because it's about, like you said earlier, showing up right,
(15:41):
showing up, showing out, you know, understanding. Also, you know,
the good, the bad, and the ugly is going to
come of your journey, whether it's radio, TV, acting. And
so I love what you've done. That's why I said,
I call it a masterpiece.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Now, let's say you mentored countless actors and creatives in
this book. You outline practical strategies for navigating the tough industry.
You know what, one chapter or principle in the book
that you can real quickly share with the audience that
you want them to pay a special attention to.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well. Part of being on the journey is that you've
got to manage the world around you. You have to
manage relationships, and you have to manage who's on your bus,
you know, because the fact that I don't care how
talented you are. If your bus is full of toxic
people and people who are not for you, who are
(16:43):
not you know, on a journey where they're supporting each other,
the ship is going to sink. So you be able
to recognize the people and the exchanges. There are four
types of exchanges, criminal exchange, unequal exchange, change, and exchange
in abundance. And you've got to be able to know
(17:04):
what each person on your bus, what they're exchange with
you is, so that you can bring them up to
a higher level so that you are not dealing with
negativity and toxic you know, energies. And if you can
do that, then you can survive any journey. That's one
(17:25):
of the really important things. The other thing is in
terms of doing the work and being prepared and making
sure that you are constantly growing as a human being
and growing as an artist. Yeah, and staying in faith.
Staying in faith, you know what I mean? And create
(17:47):
and understanding your relationship with your higher power. That's ultimately important.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Oh, my God, staying in faith and understanding your relationship
with the higher power. I told you, I knew you
was about transforming to transformation. Yes, yes, yes, Oh. I
just want to remind my beautiful listeners and viewers if
you are an inspiring actor, a seasoned professional, or simply
someone with a dream in your heart. Richard Lawson's new book,
(18:15):
The Artist Romance, Navigating your Career in Show Business. It's
a must read. With over fifty five years of experience,
the man knows his stuff, okay, and he's going to
share real life lessons, practical strategies, and powerful insights to
help you stay true. Yes, stay true to your vision
(18:36):
while building a career with repurpose. Be sure to run,
don't walk, and grab your copy today at Amazon or
wherever your books are So Richard, my time is up.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I can't believe it. God, bless you. This has been
so much fun. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
You're welcome. In less than thirty seconds, real quickly, where
can people find you? And maybe one thing about your studio?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yes, in real quick mister Richard Lawson, you can find
me there you can find all the information. You can
also google me and all of my stuff will come up.
The studio dot Richard Lawson dot net or Richard Lawson
dot net. You will find me. You can study with
me no matter where you are in the world. I
(19:26):
have people from Dubai, England, France. I have a hybrid
class where there's asses and seats and then people come
in virtually, So come and check me out. I got
something to share with you.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
All right, well, thank you so much. There goes my alarm. Listen.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
It's been great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
We honor you, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Bye bye, bye bye.
Welcome to amazing women and men of power, legends and icons. Yesterday, today,
and tomorrow. I'm your host, Raven a talk show Maven.
And today we're rolling out the red carpet. Oh yeah,
for an extraordinary guest whose career has not only stood
the test of time, but continues to flourish with remarkable vigor.
Joining us, I'm proud to say, is the luxurious Richard Lawson,
(00:33):
a distinguished actor whose impressive journey spans over five decades.
You may remember him as Ryan in the classic horror
film Poetry Guys, or is doctor Ben Taylor in the
NBC mini series B. His versatility has grace both the
big and the small screens, with notable roles like for
(00:56):
Color Girls, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Back Back,
and now recently as Norman in Tyler Perry's acclaim Netflix
series Beauty in Black, which has been really captivating audiences worldwide.
Beyond his on screen achievements, Richard is a dedicated educator
and mentor, having imparted his wisdom to aspiring actors for
(01:20):
over forty decades through the Richard Lawson Studios. Now he's
channeling his wealth of experience into his latest endeavor as
an author with his new book, The Artist ROMap Navigating
your Career in Show businesses. This guy is poised to
become an essential resource for artists aiming to carve out
(01:41):
successful and sustainable careers in the entertainment. You know what
I like to say, Hey, if you stand and sit down,
and if you sit and stand up, because the man
is here, Richard lost the law.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He no what an introductions? Thank you so good to
be here.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Oh, it is such an honor to have you here.
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. We got
about twenty minutes, maybe eighteen thousand. We're going to dive in. Okay,
all right, take it off with a bit of reflection. Okay,
you've had such such a powerful, enduring presence in the
entertainment industry for over five decades. Looking back, what would
(02:27):
you say has been your most transformative moment as an artist?
And the reason I asked that because I know you're
all about transformative moments, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I listen, absolutely absolutely, it is about transforming because life
goes on and there's constant changes. You know. It's interesting
because even as an artist, you go through these seasons.
You know, the young actor the teens, the twenties, the thirties,
the forties. Is you're constantly changing and your casting is changing,
(02:59):
and so how do you you survive that journey? You
asked me what was my most transformative moment? I would
say that it is more about the journey than any
singular thing, because I've had many singular moments that have
had an effect on me. But as I look across
(03:19):
the landscape, it is really about the journey. That's the thing.
Showing up every day, you know, shutting up and showing up,
getting up, being resilient, riding the roller coaster. You got
to ride the ups and the downs with equal amount
of ability and amount of grace. You've got to understand
(03:43):
nose and how to handle nose and know. For me
as a motivator, no turns me on. And that's what
fused me to go forward almost because I know that,
you know, I can't control conditions outside of myself, but
I can control how I react to them. And as
long as I'm clear about my journey, my process, my purpose,
(04:06):
which is my north star, then nothing can stop me.
Nothing can stop me, and so therefore it's just about
the journey for me.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I love that it's just about the journey, and no
few you up. Oh yeah, my man, that's what I'm
talking about. Get fueled. Right, That's only how you step
out of your fear into your power, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
That's exactly right. You know. Listen, my family's from Louisiana.
I grew up in Oakland, but every summer I was
in Louisiana and I saw my grandparents turn you know,
they make gumbo, and gumbo originally was all the throwaway
food that they put into this almost like a soup.
(04:52):
It's not really a soup, but into the stock. And
so you had chicken and sausage and shrimp and crab,
and you know, you had you had oprah, which I
don't like. And the only way, the only way I
can eat oprah is if it's smothered and numbo and mixed.
But you turn, you turn to throw away into something
(05:14):
of value. You turn manure into fertilizer. You turn a
sow's ear into a silk purse, you know. And that's
what I have had to do. And so therefore I
don't care the challenge. I know that I'm gonna figure
a way around it. All I have to is just
(05:34):
keep asking the next question. Just keeping the next question,
and I'll figure it out. So you got to be
comfortable with mystery. You got to be comfortable with not knowing.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Oh my god, you are dropping it, you are dropping
Oh my goodness, this is I'm like, I can't write
fast enough. I'm so glad this is recorded so I
can go back and the listeners and viewers can go
back and watch it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Wow, that was a lot, and that was so good.
I got to have you back.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I got you back.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Okay. You starting iconic films like Poetry Guys for Colored Girls,
and now you're part of Tyler Perry's hit series Beauty
in the Black. What attracted you to this role of
Norman in the series and how do you think his
story connects to the core message of the show.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Well, I've worked with Tyler before, you know, my first
time being directed by him was in Colored Girls. That
was an iconic cast, you know, in terms of some
amazing people in that in that show. And then last
summer I did something called Divorce in the Black with
(06:46):
Meghan Good and Debbie Morgan and Corey Hardwick. Yeah, and
your girl, right, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie Debbie and I.
Debbie and I have such incredible chemisty together.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And in that film, we played parents to Megan Good
and you saw a black couple who loved their daughter,
and it was sort of like the Cosby family. They
were a loving family and you would want your father
to be what my character was in that show, and
(07:23):
you would want your mother to be what Debbie was.
It was a we should I've been campaigning on she
and I doing a series together playing you know, husband
and wife, but that that will come. But you know,
when we finished that, he said, I have a role
for you that I'm writing. And so that's what Beauty
(07:45):
in Black came about. Norman is part of this family
that's kind of a collision between the Game of Thrones
and Dynasty. It's this very super rich family who were
filled with greed and avarice and jealousy and power and
control and his lacking in the ability to love. And
(08:10):
my character is the only character in the show that's
driven by love. There's these minds now where Norman, my
character said, my wife is dead. My wife is dead.
I say it over and over again. He loves his wife,
but because of that, you know, He's kind of a
diabolical character because he's committed to finding out who killed
(08:34):
his wife, and you cannot put it down when you
turn it on. It's going to be hard to just
do one episode at a time. You have to be
what because at the end of every scene, it's like,
oh my God. At the end of every episode it's like, oh,
I got to find out what happens.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
That's my kind of series. I love to Bingewis Weekend. Okay,
I'm gonna have everything I love to eat, and I'm
just gonna do that and invite the listener viewers that
I went me yes, and that's on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
That's on Netflix.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yes, Okay, good deal. All right. Now, as someone who's
worked a cross film across television and theater, Richard, how
did you approach shaping a character, especially one like Norman
who carries so much emotional weight.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well, I invented this thing years ago called the character chart,
where I use science and technology to create characters. So
there's this charge where you know, first of all, as
an actor, I see myself as a behavioral anthropologist. Okay,
(09:49):
because anthropology is the study of the origin of the behavioral, social, emotional, spiritual,
aspect of man, in this case a particular human being.
So I'm looking for all of that. And then science
is the systematic study of something. So I systematically study
the anthropology of Norman and I put it in this chart,
(10:12):
and so that in every scene in the film, I
extract my character out of the story and put it.
All of my scenes in this chart. And I really
read the script over and over and over and over
and over again, and each time I discover something else.
He has anger, he has rage, He's jealous, he hates
(10:33):
this brother, you know, he has a love hate with Livia,
who is Debbie Morgan. And I write all this down,
and then the scenes that have rage in it, I
make note of it and to what degree. So it's scientific.
And I create a model of the character before I
ever start working, so I know what the character looks like,
(10:54):
feels like, sounds like, what he wears, what his makeup is,
the life of his wardrobe, his hair, All of that
is on paper for me, so that when I start,
you know, I am pregnant with this character. I know
all about him. I've asked every question, I've turned over
every stone, so when I show up, I'm ready to
(11:15):
play and I'm ready to throw down. I'm not fixed
because I can still you know, until you get with
another person, you don't know what it is until the
two things come together. You can't play before you play
with another person. And so that's my approach. And so
the second season I put probably one thousand hours into this.
(11:38):
In the first season it was fifteen hundred hours because
I recorded it, you know, And so it's it's hard work.
But I come from that old school of going in
the woodshed and doing the work.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I know, back in the day, old school stuff, no
kidding around, you know, no Internet, no ais. You got
to do the work, really do the work right.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, But now I have added AI and Internet because
internet is a great source media. Answer. Yeah, you know,
when I when I'm studying, I'm doing research, I use
the Internet. Answers come like that, you know what I mean.
So you know, I'm probably one of the more technologically
(12:24):
savvy person of my age group than anybody I know.
All my friends called me and said, how you do this?
How you do that?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Oh yeah, let's shake my hand, brother, because we're the
same way. I'm in my seventies and I love AI.
I had to really get to know it and how
to use it, so I know exactly what you're talking about.
Your formula is amazing. In fact, let's just give the
man a hand on that, okay. And that's just some
(12:53):
of what you learned in his school. But let's get
to this book, okay. So we've got about five minutes.
I'm going to just rapid fire some questions about your book, okay,
because we got to get this out, all right. Let's
not just call this a book. Let's call it a masterpiece.
How about that? Can we agree on that?
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Richard?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Can we agree on that?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I will agree.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
You went back to the woodshed on this one, right
for sure, and you really got down to it. So
what made you decide this is the time? Because this
isn't your first book, if I'm not mistaken, right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, this is the first published book.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Okay, the first published book okay, So what made you
decide to do this book? Okay? And it's the artist
romance navigating your career in show business business. This guy
is poised to become any central resource for artists aiming
to carve our successful and sustainable careers. So why now
(13:48):
light this book?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Well? You know, I was just that HBCU in South Carolina,
and I want to say this. You know, I did
a master's class down there for students and fact and
both were moved faculty enough to where they're making this
book part of their textbook, which is my desire is
to make it a textbook because my whole mission in
(14:12):
life is to help people to achieve their dreams. I've
been based to be able to have all these years
in the business as a actor and a working actor
never stopped working, and as a teacher where I'm able
to teach. And I took those two skills and used
it to help people to navigate their career and to
(14:34):
become the greatest actor that can be the most accomplished,
and then learn how to navigate this marathon. And now
I put it in a book so that other people
can learn how to navigate their career. And if I
can get this to be a textbook in all the schools,
especially the ACUS, I can help people to survive the
(14:57):
a journey. It's look at seventy you want to stand
what the journey is?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, yeah, this is journey.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
And you've got good times and you got bad and
it's how do you negotiate that and stay in the game.
I don't care how bad it is. And how do
you negotiate success? You got to be able to negotiate both.
And this is one that I wrote this book.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Oh I love that. And you know what, as I was,
you know, kind of skimming through it, I was thinking,
you know what, this is great because I mentored host
talk show hoss on people how to become talk show hosts.
And I was like, this is great for any industry,
not just for acting, you know, because I put a
little pizazz on a little acting. You know what I'm saying,
because it's about, like you said earlier, showing up right,
(15:41):
showing up, showing out, you know, understanding. Also, you know,
the good, the bad, and the ugly is going to
come of your journey, whether it's radio, TV, acting. And
so I love what you've done. That's why I said,
I call it a masterpiece.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Now, let's say you mentored countless actors and creatives in
this book. You outline practical strategies for navigating the tough industry.
You know what, one chapter or principle in the book
that you can real quickly share with the audience that
you want them to pay a special attention to.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well. Part of being on the journey is that you've
got to manage the world around you. You have to
manage relationships, and you have to manage who's on your bus,
you know, because the fact that I don't care how
talented you are. If your bus is full of toxic
people and people who are not for you, who are
(16:43):
not you know, on a journey where they're supporting each other,
the ship is going to sink. So you be able
to recognize the people and the exchanges. There are four
types of exchanges, criminal exchange, unequal exchange, change, and exchange
in abundance. And you've got to be able to know
(17:04):
what each person on your bus, what they're exchange with
you is, so that you can bring them up to
a higher level so that you are not dealing with
negativity and toxic you know, energies. And if you can
do that, then you can survive any journey. That's one
(17:25):
of the really important things. The other thing is in
terms of doing the work and being prepared and making
sure that you are constantly growing as a human being
and growing as an artist. Yeah, and staying in faith.
Staying in faith, you know what I mean? And create
(17:47):
and understanding your relationship with your higher power. That's ultimately important.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Oh, my God, staying in faith and understanding your relationship
with the higher power. I told you, I knew you
was about transforming to transformation. Yes, yes, yes, Oh. I
just want to remind my beautiful listeners and viewers if
you are an inspiring actor, a seasoned professional, or simply
someone with a dream in your heart. Richard Lawson's new book,
(18:15):
The Artist Romance, Navigating your Career in Show Business. It's
a must read. With over fifty five years of experience,
the man knows his stuff, okay, and he's going to
share real life lessons, practical strategies, and powerful insights to
help you stay true. Yes, stay true to your vision
(18:36):
while building a career with repurpose. Be sure to run,
don't walk, and grab your copy today at Amazon or
wherever your books are So Richard, my time is up.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I can't believe it. God, bless you. This has been
so much fun. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
You're welcome. In less than thirty seconds, real quickly, where
can people find you? And maybe one thing about your studio?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yes, in real quick mister Richard Lawson, you can find
me there you can find all the information. You can
also google me and all of my stuff will come up.
The studio dot Richard Lawson dot net or Richard Lawson
dot net. You will find me. You can study with
me no matter where you are in the world. I
(19:26):
have people from Dubai, England, France. I have a hybrid
class where there's asses and seats and then people come
in virtually, So come and check me out. I got
something to share with you.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
All right, well, thank you so much. There goes my alarm. Listen.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
It's been great. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
We honor you, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Bye bye, bye bye.
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