February 19, 2025 • 47 mins
To highlight the importance of teamwork, partnerships, and community in achieving long-term success in sports, entertainment, and life. This episode will emphasize why collaboration leads to greater impact, financial success, and legacy-building.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Me put them on me.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm looking sun out. I got to know and know
what that says. But what I believe that God's not bad.
I don't need you to bother me. I know who
I help.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm created the be on my third reflets what my
eyes did to see all the witness disciplesss unless possibility?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
What assad.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Again me?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
There is no time stay for the outside on the
better of that? Boy is the inst still in self
pay divisions can say all the simple mo day fine reas,
(01:24):
thank your mind for pay your byal pleason, your wing,
this plan hend my time with the cos nine nine Street.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Let's go to another episode of Seek Elevation.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I am so excited. Let me get this.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I am so excited. I am so excited to be
here yet another week. Welcome again to Seek Elevation experience
with yours truly Attorney Alakisha. This right here is where
we will look at real issues. We will discuss real situations,
real people. Real conversations will take center stage because change
(02:29):
doesn't happen in silence. We will talk about things from
sports and entertainment to business and community. I mean, we
will break down the truth sparking meaningful change and elevate
voices that need to be heard.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And that's all of our voices. All of our voices
need to be heard.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yes, So this is the space we don't just talk though,
we empower, we inspire, and we challenge the status quo.
So whether you're someone that's an athlete, an entertainer, a
business leader, or just someone striving for a better life,
all of these conversations that we'll have every week is
(03:10):
for you. I want you to tap in. I want
us to continue to grow with each other and expand
on these conversations.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I really do.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And please, as we grow together, chime in on what
you believe that we should talk about.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I will definitely consider it.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I look forward to bringing on guests as we continue
to go as well, and I'm excited. So today we're
going to talk about, as you've seen, is just the
power of collaboration. It's a very We know this, We
know that collaborating with others has power in it, but
(03:55):
for some reason, just knowing it, they're falling short on it.
We have a lot of division going on right now.
There is a lot of us just dividing over just
certain topics, certain you know, if I just don't see
everything your way or you don't see everything my way,
(04:16):
there's just a lot of divisions. So I just want
to do my part and honing us in and really
talking about the power of collaboration, because I also believe
when we talk about things and we talk about it collectively,
we give life back to that thing. And we've been
talking about things that we're giving life to that we shouldn't. Right.
(04:38):
A house divided can't stand, so let us revisit collaborating
talking about that collaboration is key. So tonight the objective
is to just highlight the importance of teamwork, partnership, and
community and achieving long term success in those areas I
just mentioned earlier. So let us focus on in this
(05:02):
episode emphasizing why collaboration leads to greater impact, financial success,
and legacy building. So tap in, tap in, let me
see here. I'm going to start just the comment section.
(05:26):
I want to put it on here and hopefully as
more people, you know, roll in. I don't want this
to be something where I'm just speaking at you. I
want us to be you know, engage you together, individuals,
dropping thoughts as well, and being able to you know,
pick up whatever is put down. That's what I want
(05:47):
to actually do. And as you come in, I want
you to think about, you know, who has who is
someone or several someones that have helped you level up,
or think about who you have helped level up. I
was watching a video the other day, Oh the actress
(06:09):
name slips my mind, and she was just speaking about
even when we Shayl I can't think of her last name.
She was speaking about, even when we give back and
we feel like we're emptying ourselves giving back and we
don't get the necessary thing in return, why should we
(06:33):
keep giving back? And she made a good point in
that video, you keep pouring out because you just never
know who gets what you pour out and when they
will actually get it. And she started talking about her
story of you know, just individuals in the entertainment industry
(06:54):
more poigtedly actresses who have sacrificed you know, their careers.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
They sacrificed their careers and for.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Several reasons, one had wore her natural locks, sacrificed her career.
And those individuals poured into her some that she was
able to speak with and deal with, you know, directly
in person. And then some she was just able to
watch that poured into her how to navigate the journey
(07:26):
of being an actress, being a woman, being black, just
in an entertainment industry.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Look where she's at.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
So she says, you just keep pouring because you are
that can do it, and you never know when what
you're pouring in will helps someone else. That alone is collaboration.
So that is another reason why you know we need
to give. But then there is intentional collaboration. So it's
not just about you know, pouring out and dropping seeds
(08:00):
and hoping that they are planted in someone and watered
beyond you know you're doing. But it's also literally intentionally
connecting with people I want to talk about. I don't
know if you watched. I know it was a while ago.
(08:23):
I had watched The Michael Jordan's Story. I believe it
was trying to remember who actually might have been Matt
Damon and Ben Affleck might have been the ones who
had produced was the production team behind the Michael Jordan's Story.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I thought it was.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Brilliantly done. I don't recall the actor that portrayed Jordan.
I don't recall them showing his entire face everything was
like profile, but it was it was amazing, amazing capture
of his story. And I mean, we all know that
(09:09):
Michael Jordan's story. We all know about Michael Jordan being phenomenal.
We you know, even the new generation you know about
him because if we bring up Lebron James, you're gonna
have someone to always bring up Michael Jordan and of
course Kobe Bryant, but Michael Jordan is the staple. And
you get a shoes. Most young ones get their shoes,
(09:30):
and I've met older ones we get the shoes too,
and just getting his shoes and just that brand. Everything
that happened with collaboration and if you look at and
if you was able to watch your story, if not
find it, find that story. They did it where they
captured his whole story like within a short period of time.
(09:53):
But it was so powerful and so fulfilling you need
to watch it. And it really focused on Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
On nineteen eighty four, he was a rookie with the
Chicago Bulls fresh.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Out of college, but he had.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Immense potential and at that time though he was far
from the global icon that he would later become. When
different shoe companies were interested in him and shout.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Out to his mom. His mom the mother's boy.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
His mom was there and really helped navigate and push
that collaboration to the level that.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
It became. But at the time, you know, Converse was.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
A dominant basketball shoe brand at that time, that's what
basketball players were wearing. And even with Converse being dominant,
Jordan was very interested in Adidas. Adidas was coming up.
He was very interested in Adidas. Mom got in his
(11:00):
talked about it. The agent that he worked with talked about,
you know, before you make that deal and just be
very interested. These are things that you should watch out for.
Pay attention to these things when you have the meetings
with them. What are they saying to you, what are
they offering you in that collaboration. Just pay attention to
(11:21):
the details. And I remember it was something that the
agent pointed out, if you hear this or someone says this.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
In that meeting, then you may want to really.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Consider if that's who you want to go to, if
that's who you want to collaborate with.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So he did. He went to the meetings.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Of course he was you had conference, but he went
to the meeting, sat down with Adidas and their team
and Nike, you know, was just an emerging brand. Nike
was primarily known for running shoes. Those of us who
are in track and field I am a former track
and field runner. We know you know the history of
(12:00):
Nike and Nike being primarily a running shoe. Prefontaine is
someone we really know. Distance runner really was in the
forefront of Nike developing at that time, and it just
was developing in that area, definitely not in basketball, but
(12:22):
Nike CEO and the team saw that there was an
opportunity to reshape basketball footwear and what they wanted to
do was bet take a bet on Jordan to be
that to be that person. So they were willing to
(12:45):
take a bet on this single player. And in that conversation,
Jordan and Mom sat. In that conversation, she recounted the
things that was said by the Adida's team and what
they were considering in this collaboration to help move Michael
Jordan forward in his basketball career. She sat down in
(13:09):
the night meeting and listened to everything they said, and
Nike offered Michael Jordan a groundbreaking deal, I mean one
that went beyond traditional endorsement.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
It would beyond traditional endorsement at.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That time, but even to this day, it is considered
one of the best deals, even in endorsement deals right now,
it's one of the greatest deal that was actually put out, and.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Mom really pushed.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It was back and forth negotiations between Jordan, his agent,
really Jordan Mom and Nike was really back and forth push,
But the focus was that this collaboration was more than
merely Jordan wearing the shoe.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
That's not what they wanted.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
They wanted Jordan to walk away with something that will
last beyond the court. And I speak about legacy all
the time, and as an attorney, my firm is focused
on legacy protection and prosperity because that is what we,
you know, should really focus on. We've it's been hard,
(14:33):
it's been hard, and uh, we're just working on doing better.
So that's what Jordan Mom focused on, was legacy outside
of the court, and Nike said, you know, we're gonna
take We're gonna take that risk. We're gonna help build
an entire brand around him because we don't want to
(14:57):
lose this opportunity for this collaboration. Nike understood Michael Jordan
understood Michael Jordan's mom understood the power of collaboration and
they stood ten toes down in what they wanted out
of this collaboration.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And so.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
When they shook hands signed the dotted line, Air Jordan
line was born, you know, so his playing style and charisma.
Of course, to you know, to some, I'm saying it's unmatched.
But what's definitely set the precedent is what he had
(15:40):
built outside of the court. And Nike understood the bold
marketing strategy with Jordan and the collaboration. I mean even
to the point where the NBA initially banned the first
Air Jordans because the NBA said that it violated uniform policies.
(16:03):
But Nike turned that into an advantage. They covered the
fines collaboration, right, Jordan didn't have to cover the fines
and its collaboration, and because they believed in Jordan, they
covered the fines and they launched an ad campaign that
(16:24):
portrayed Jordan as a rebellious figure that was changing the game.
So it worked out for him. The strategy worked. The
shoes just flew off the shelves, and within the first year,
Nike generated over one hundred million in revenue just from
(16:47):
Air Jordan sells.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
So as we see, this collaboration didn't just you know,
benefit Nike. It included.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Percentages of sales that went to Jordan, again, a very
very rare move for athletes at that time. And because
he had that machine behind him to cover fines or
do all these extra ads and all these great things,
and treated him as a partner. I want us to
(17:22):
really just pause on that part. This collaboration wasn't about
Jordan working for Nike or Michael Jordan just saying hey,
I'm sponsored or endorsed.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
This was a collaboration.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
They said you are a partner, and they helped Michael
Jordan's career soar.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
And as his career soared, as we know, so the
Air Jordan brand.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
A lot of times when we talk about Nike, to
be honest with you, you're thinking about Michael Jordan too.
So by the time he retired, Jordan had made more
money for I'm Nike then he even made from his
NBA salary. That's what's huge. So I just wanted to
(18:11):
touch on that story. If you can find it, I
don't know where it's aired at now. If you can
find it, watch it, get some motivation from it. It
is applicable. I believe in every area of our life.
It's applicable because it's helping us get the mindset of
collaboration and knowing what we want out of the collaboration.
(18:35):
Not just collaborating, not just finding individuals say hey, let's
do this together. But we're really focusing on certain aspects.
And there's things that I focus on when I actually
collaborate with individuals, I don't just say hey, I want
to collaborate. I go in and I think about one
(18:59):
choosing the right pace people, you got to think about
who are you collaborating.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Energy is big.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I don't care what you believe in. You don't have
to believe. Truth needs no explanation. Truth doesn't even need
people to believe in it. Truth will show you that
truth is.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
As a.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
What is the what is the actor name Forrest Gum,
he always says, stupid is a stupid does?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It is?
Speaker 4 (19:26):
What truth is? As truth does? You don't have to
believe it. Energy is live and well. So we have
to choose the right people.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Aligning ourselves with the right people can make or break
our visions.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
So, and it also affects our value. So when I
look at collaborations. I look at am I choosing the
right people? Are these individuals or entity that I'm collaborating
with are they aligned with my vision.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
And my value?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Sometimes you hear individuals say separate personal from professional. I
don't agree with that. Who you are as a person
is who you're bringing to your profession. So whatever values
I have for me, for Elakisha, how I want to
(20:34):
walk this earth is it doesn't change my values is
going to carry over to what I'm doing in businesses?
Those are just my can do it. So whoever I
line would have to align with my vision and my values.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
That's why. Actually, when I.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
First came out of law school and I was thinking
about what do I want to do?
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Where do I want to go? I had a couple
of offers to.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Provide my skills and my services for other firms, and
I sat and I really thought about it.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
It was a very for me, very.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
I don't want to say scary time, but it was
kind of nerve wrecking a little bit, not knowing should
I go this route?
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Right I'm coming right out of law school. Should I just.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Go with these different individuals, choose one of these individuals
to go with?
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Until I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Then I even had some opportunities where, you know, I
could have had the freedom when it came to time,
because that was one of my concerns too. I went
back to law school, got my law degree, and decided
to practice law at a later age. I wasn't a
young whipper snapper out here. I did not have the time,
(21:53):
the capacity, the wherewithal to be in some big law
firm where the focus was on billable hours. That was
for the young ones. That's not that that wasn't going
to work at a full family. That wasn't my ideal.
I wasn't looking for that rat race. It was not
appeasing to me at all. I had you know, colleagues
(22:16):
around me, law students, everyone who was you know, chasing
for that so be it. I knew that for sure
wasn't going to be the case. But when I had
some offers to actually work for other established law firms
where I did have flexibility in that, but it is
still were going to be still billable hours or it
was going to be tied to who I bring to
(22:37):
the firm, I had to really focus on why did
I decide to add that part to my life?
Speaker 4 (22:44):
Why was I led here to provide legal services.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
And one of the reasons I strongly believe I was
led there was because as a former professional athlete, there
was a lot of things that I've learned, a lot
of things that I was doing to help not just myself,
but help some of my training partners. Understand, these contracts
open up different opportunities, you know, just being very careful
(23:10):
of being taken advantage of. I was doing a lot
of these things anyway, and it just started making more
sense later.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
It wasn't my initial intention, but.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Everything started to unfold later why I was even guided
in that direction. So one of the visions I had
was get on this side and take my experiences that
I have with the knowledge that I have, and do something.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Different for those who don't have.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
So I already knew part of my vision was to
do that, so I didn't want to align myself with
people or affirm what the vision was.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Just money. Just money.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Now I understand money funds the mission. It's going to
have to be there when when it leads your decision.
There is a lot of compromising and trust me, I've
been offered a lot of opportunities where I could have
taken that would have put me in a very very
good position if I just focused on money. Some of
(24:17):
those opportunities were just asks for my signature as an attorney.
A lot of people will seek out attorneys sometime because
they need attorneys to do certain things that they're doing,
move certain things that they have to move, and sometime
they just need your signature. And so there was plenty
(24:39):
of times I was offered a lot of money continue
to be, but I immediately walk away from I have
no taste for those things because it doesn't align with
my vision, and my vision isn't leading with the money.
I know that's a part of funding the mission, but
I'm not leading with that. And then just my values.
(25:01):
So I decided to hang my own shingo because I
don't want to walk into someone else thing or do
a collaboration with someone else bringing my vision and values
trying to dominate over what their vision.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And values is.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's just not going to work. It has to be
aligned for it to be smooth. So I decided to
hang my own shingle. Another thing I look at, so
that's choosing the right people I look at. You need
to have a win win mindset with collaborations. Now as
an attorney that focuses on contract negotiations, and one of
(25:35):
the things that were always told and we're taught, there
is no there's no true thing as win win. You
don't get win win in any partnership or situation. Someone's
giving up something, someone's gaining more. I believe it's a
win win because if whatever, even if someone's giving up something,
(25:56):
it's something that you're hopefully it's something that you're willing
to give up right and and something that you're also
willing to gain. So you still found that ground of winning,
and whatever you gave up, you feel like what I
gave up I gained even more.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I'm winning. So it had to be a win win mindset.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I you know, it has I have to create a
mutually beneficial partnership. It can't be one sided. So there's
plenty of times that I've collaborated with organizations again with individuals,
and I really felt like my presence was more beneficial
(26:36):
to that entity, to that individual. There were more asks
of me that I was able to fulfill than vice versa.
Or sometime it was just to make individuals or entities
look good to be connected to you, please understand your value.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Please understan your value.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Some times in the collaboration people are collaborating with you
just to be connected to you.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
So understand your power.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
So I look at choosing the right people win when
it has to be mutually beneficial. If I don't feel
I am also gaining, that means I'm taking away. If
there's not an addition from our relationship, there has to
be a subtraction. Life is math and the math is
not mathing. If it's not an addition to me, it's
(27:31):
a subtraction for me, So it's not mutually beneficial. So
when you think about collaboration, choose the right people win.
When then I look at trust and communication.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
That is key to me. I have to trust you.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
And there has to be understanding and communication. I mean,
these two things for me is their keys to sustaining
long term success. If there's not trust in communication, listen,
a business collaborate.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Is the same thing as a relationship. It's a relationship.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Trust and communication is important to me in my personal relationship.
Everybody said, can't separate the two. If I expect trust
and communication in my personal relationship, I too expect trust
and communication in my business relationship. Their key is sustaining
long term success. And there's times that I've again collaborated
(28:28):
with individuals. If you fracture that trust, depending on how
bad that fracture is, I.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
May be out.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
If you're not communicating well and it's causing confusion. I
need clarity of confusion.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
My energy. I was not designed for confusion. That my energy,
our energy, we're not.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
That causes us not to just not be in alignment
with whoever's causing that confusion. It causes us to be
out of alignment with our existence because that's not how
we created. We're not created for confusion. That is not
the element of our power. So if there's no trust
or communication, I'm out. So now we said choosing the
(29:21):
right people looking for that when when mindset has to
be mutually beneficial, trust and communication. The next I look
at just the competition aspect. Right, we're talking about collaboration.
We get further with collaboration versus competition. So overcoming ego
and competition, uplifting each other doesn't take away from our success.
(29:50):
And now I've had it before. We're our around individuals.
You collaborate, and it's very weird energy, very weird. You're like,
are we collaborating? Are we competing? It just feels off that,
you know, just from communication, so conversations, just from how
things are going, you can kind of feel, yeah, are
(30:12):
we on the same team? Like my mother, she sings
and that song that I played in the beginning latter Raine,
you can look her up, she's here. She can put
in the chat where you can find her songs. Beautiful song.
You would hear that reflection song for every opening. She
(30:33):
has amazing songs.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I've watched.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
My mother, you know, just in different bands and singing
with different individuals, and sometime having co singers collaborating with
singers where you would think, you know, the synergy would
be good, you're all singers, but you can sit back
(30:58):
and watch when some of those cold singers were competing
instead of collaborating, instead of bringing the energy forth to
give the listeners something amazing, they couldn't overcome the cold
(31:19):
singers couldn't overcome ego and competition. And then understand, while
while my mother was the lead singer for this song,
lift her up, it doesn't take away from your success.
So you may lead on another song, but you decided
our set may be twelve songs, I want to lead eleven,
(31:40):
Let that person lead one, or heck, our set is twelve,
I want to lead all twelve.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Let that person be the backup singer.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I want to ease my even I've seen individuals come
in as backup singers. They knew their position in this collaboration.
They played their position until they got in position to
try to switch up on the position. So really pay
attention when you look at collaborations individuals who have egos
(32:11):
and they're competing with you in your collaboration. So those
are the things I look at, choosing the right people
when when mindset, trust in communication, and making sure I'm
not around anyone who starts to go into this egotistical
competitive nature instead of us lifting each other.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Up.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So those are some of the things that I believe
are really really important in collaboration. And just giving you
the example with the Michael Jordan's story, those were the
elements that Nike had to actually believe in, Jordan had
actually believe in in order for them to.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Do very well. All right, So.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Are there any comments, any comments at all? Drop any
comments if you have any comments, And while you do that,
I just want to point out just a few other
amazing collaborations. And the reason why I want to point
these individuals out because sometime we are so focused on
(33:32):
celebrity life, like it's different from our real life. And
to be honest with you, when we're looking at celebrity life,
they started where you're at. But even with that, we're
celebrating them. That's what celebrity mean. They're celebrated individuals. We're
celebrating them. So when you find people that you want
(33:54):
to celebrate or that celebrated that you want to focus on,
focus on you need to.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
Be celebrated as well.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Look at some of the things that they're doing instead
of just talking about the part that's entertaining.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
Kevin Hart.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
He's a huge one, right we look at Kevin Hart,
pay attention.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I see. I'm a person I love documentaries.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Sometime I watch movies, sometime I watch series, but I
am a documentary junkie. I am just addicted to just
watching stories unfold. Kevin Hart is a good one, a
good story to watch. But looking at Kevin Hart just
(34:38):
starting as a comedian and doing all that great stuff
in the beginning and showing up in movies, some not
so great movies, and then some becoming greater. But what
Kevin Hart knew was to take this comedic journey to
another level. I'm going I'm going to have to consider
(35:00):
collaborations and I'm going to have to consider what I
want to collaborate with whoever I choose. So Kevin Hart
and the Laugh Out Loud Network, so he's not just
I'm going to provide this content. I'm going to create
a platform in which I can provide this content.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Through for myself and for others.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
And Kevin Hart decided to team up with Lionsgate, right,
and that strategic partnership expanded Kevin's reach in the entertainment industry.
And that is what collaboration is about, expanding your reach.
(35:48):
We can't be siloed. So no matter what you're doing, whatever,
whether it's a nine to five, it's something that you own,
it's a psion find.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Someone to collaborate with so you can go up.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Especially let's just talk about a nine to five, right,
because a lot of times we talk about oh, from
a business owner, this doesn't apply to me, or from
not an athlete, this doesn't apply to me. No, whatever
we do well because as you're collaborating, you don't know
who you may meet that you can have a conversation with,
or who knows you, because a lot of times it's
(36:24):
not what you know, it's who you know. And a
lot of us get caught up and applying for things
and searching for this and searching for that, and no
matter how much we like it, you can hate it
all day. It is true the privilege of connections. A
(36:46):
connection is a collaboration. Collaborate with people in the walks
of life, get to know. You have to expand who
you're linking up with just in life. Like I said,
it's with business, just in life. Are these people people
that you're linking up with, can they possibly bring you
to the next level? And then when you go to
the next level, you can do something for them. And
it's gotta be mutually beneficial. So collaboration and life period
(37:09):
because all the other stuff we would be spinning our wheels,
and we're talking about so many changes right now in
our society that does have you know, some of us
up in arms have was rightfully so emotional about different things.
But the next chess move is what do we do?
Speaker 4 (37:29):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
And what you can do is start connecting yourself to
other individuals that can help to.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
How do you do that? How do you collaborate?
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Get out in circles, put yourself amongst circles. I should say,
where you believe you will find individuals to collaborate with
in life and in business, and they can help you
on the next move. If you've been doing something that's
saying for a while, just keep stepping up to the
(38:02):
next level. Change your circle, if you fly. I've been
in this circle. It's not working.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
That's how I was.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I'm like, it's time. I am quick to pivot again.
I gave you my I gave you my You know
my measurements, the yard stick and which I measure by.
It's not aligning with those. I continue to pivot. I
continue to align up is what I call it. And
that's what you know you should do as well.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
All right, so that is what I have. Yes, trust
is key, honest say it's just trust is key.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
But we know.
Speaker 4 (38:45):
That trust is broken.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
It's hard to even it's hard to even collaborate because
you're thinking about you think about everything as you're moving
forward in making decisions. Uh oh, especially if money's involved.
If money's involved, you're always questioning and where you put
(39:11):
your energy is what comes to you. And if you're
diverting my energy. If I can't pour all my energy
into something productive and I have to put my energy
into questioning, that means I bring more things to question.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
I'm bringing more of those things to questions. So you
are so right. Trust is absolutely key. Thank you. Rihanni said,
this is some good information. Thank you so much. So
what I really want you to walk away with is.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Just really thinking about how can you insert collaboration in
your life.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
Especially.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
I know I'm speaking to some people who may say
I'm an introvert. I'm an introvert. You can be an
introvert focusing on certain things, but you've got to understand
how you were designed and created. Don't claim that you're
trust me. You are an extrovert when it comes to
something that you love. And I think I can safely
(40:16):
say we all love living our fullest and best life,
and I'm not going to be an introvert to not
at least accomplish that. So, as someone who's an introvert,
pick and choose those things.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
You don't have to be all out everywhere.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Pick and choose those things that contributes to you living
your best and fullest life and connect with those people,
and more importantly, you will connect with other people who
claim to be introverts themselves.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
So what I want you to walk away was, how
can I now add to my.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Journey to execute what I was designed to do, which
is to collaborate on whatever level that means means to you?
Because we were not made to do this alone. How
can I add to collaborate? And what are my measurements?
What are the things I want to look at and collaborating,
Because again I don't just want to this is you
(41:14):
talking to yourself. I don't want to just link up
with more people, more entities, more things where it's not
adding value to me and if it's not adding and
subtracting or at least keeping you stagnant, So keep looking up.
So look at get your measurables. Once you get your measurables,
then write your goals of how this collaborations can help
(41:37):
you and how you can help or add value to
that collaboration as well.
Speaker 4 (41:46):
So that is all that I have.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
For us today, And make sure I just want to
go through all my notes. Yeah, so that is that
is all I have for us today. Again, I look
forward to continuing to grow each week, I will.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Be here as it can do it.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
See.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
See this is the thing too.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
The biggest collaboration, the biggest collaboration I decided to give
myself to is the collaboration from with the energy from
which I come from. I decided every blessing that I
(42:38):
have here is definitely mutually beneficial.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
I already have all.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
I gained so much, so much just having breath every day,
I've gained in that these are these are the things
that this is the result that comes to my mind.
I have breath, I already gained. I have my physical
capabilities already gained. I am, in my right mind already gained.
(43:06):
I have everything. So my mutually beneficial relationship with the
energy from which I came the most high. I am
collaborating being a can do it. So I'm going to
show up every Tuesday. I Am going to be ecstatic
as we grow. But I'm going to be even more
(43:27):
ecstatic every time I can cut this mic on and
share with you what I am moved to share with you.
So I want to just leave you with this quote
as a closing statement. Success isn't about standing alone at
(43:51):
the top. It's about bringing others with you. And that's
what I want us to focus on. And I want
you to really break down that quote, because success isn't
about standing at the top. But success is also not
about getting to the top alone, not just standing alone.
It's about not getting there alone.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
And it's not just.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
About bringing others with you. It's about you allowing yourself
to be brought with others. So that is a wrap
for today today's episode of Seek Elevation, the Seek Elevation Experience.
I thank you so much for tuning in. Whether you're live,
you're going to watch the replay, I thank you. I
thank you so much for your engagement. That's right, Vonda,
(44:39):
do not become stagnated in our hearts and our minds
at all. I appreciate your engagement and adding value to
this powerful conversation.
Speaker 4 (44:49):
And I just want every one to know that that's right.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's no long ranger, there's not there's no such thing
as I hear this term too, cringe, cringey, self made millionaire,
self made billionaire, show me one that's a lie, the
one you showed me. I would again me by touch.
I'm a document and drunkie. I'll go back I look
at the stories. At some point in their life, something
(45:22):
kicked off from someone or some connection or some collaboration
that assists someone to being a millionaire or billionaire. Self
made literally means what it says. There's self nothing and
no one else. We already know that's a lie, because
again I don't care what you believe in. Something's higher
than you. You can't just be self, but just to
(45:44):
bring it down a couple of notches. There is always
a situation and I have not found any to disprove
this where there was something.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
That move that stick. So there's no right, no loan ranger,
there's no self made anything.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
There are people around you, whether it's depositing words, whether
it's there to lift you up, whether it's they're literally
used as it can do it, set something that help you,
whether it's just their presence motivates you to do what
you need to do. There's no self anything, So just remember,
(46:30):
the more you know, the more we grow.
Speaker 4 (46:33):
But when you share, you show care. So don't keep
this knowledge to yourself.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Spread the wisdom next time, Tag a friend, share the
replay and lets ellavate together until next time. Keep striving,
keep growing, and most importantly, keep seeking elevation.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
See you next time. Peace and progress, Peace and progress,
Me put them on me.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm looking sun out. I got to know and know
what that says. But what I believe that God's not bad.
I don't need you to bother me. I know who
I help.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm created the be on my third reflets what my
eyes did to see all the witness disciplesss unless possibility?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
What assad.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Again me?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
There is no time stay for the outside on the
better of that? Boy is the inst still in self
pay divisions can say all the simple mo day fine reas,
(01:24):
thank your mind for pay your byal pleason, your wing,
this plan hend my time with the cos nine nine Street.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Let's go to another episode of Seek Elevation.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I am so excited. Let me get this.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I am so excited. I am so excited to be
here yet another week. Welcome again to Seek Elevation experience
with yours truly Attorney Alakisha. This right here is where
we will look at real issues. We will discuss real situations,
real people. Real conversations will take center stage because change
(02:29):
doesn't happen in silence. We will talk about things from
sports and entertainment to business and community. I mean, we
will break down the truth sparking meaningful change and elevate
voices that need to be heard.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And that's all of our voices. All of our voices
need to be heard.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yes, So this is the space we don't just talk though,
we empower, we inspire, and we challenge the status quo.
So whether you're someone that's an athlete, an entertainer, a
business leader, or just someone striving for a better life,
all of these conversations that we'll have every week is
(03:10):
for you. I want you to tap in. I want
us to continue to grow with each other and expand
on these conversations.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
I really do.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And please, as we grow together, chime in on what
you believe that we should talk about.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I will definitely consider it.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I look forward to bringing on guests as we continue
to go as well, and I'm excited. So today we're
going to talk about, as you've seen, is just the
power of collaboration. It's a very We know this, We
know that collaborating with others has power in it, but
(03:55):
for some reason, just knowing it, they're falling short on it.
We have a lot of division going on right now.
There is a lot of us just dividing over just
certain topics, certain you know, if I just don't see
everything your way or you don't see everything my way,
(04:16):
there's just a lot of divisions. So I just want
to do my part and honing us in and really
talking about the power of collaboration, because I also believe
when we talk about things and we talk about it collectively,
we give life back to that thing. And we've been
talking about things that we're giving life to that we shouldn't. Right.
(04:38):
A house divided can't stand, so let us revisit collaborating
talking about that collaboration is key. So tonight the objective
is to just highlight the importance of teamwork, partnership, and
community and achieving long term success in those areas I
just mentioned earlier. So let us focus on in this
(05:02):
episode emphasizing why collaboration leads to greater impact, financial success,
and legacy building. So tap in, tap in, let me
see here. I'm going to start just the comment section.
(05:26):
I want to put it on here and hopefully as
more people, you know, roll in. I don't want this
to be something where I'm just speaking at you. I
want us to be you know, engage you together, individuals,
dropping thoughts as well, and being able to you know,
pick up whatever is put down. That's what I want
(05:47):
to actually do. And as you come in, I want
you to think about, you know, who has who is
someone or several someones that have helped you level up,
or think about who you have helped level up. I
was watching a video the other day, Oh the actress
(06:09):
name slips my mind, and she was just speaking about
even when we Shayl I can't think of her last name.
She was speaking about, even when we give back and
we feel like we're emptying ourselves giving back and we
don't get the necessary thing in return, why should we
(06:33):
keep giving back? And she made a good point in
that video, you keep pouring out because you just never
know who gets what you pour out and when they
will actually get it. And she started talking about her
story of you know, just individuals in the entertainment industry
(06:54):
more poigtedly actresses who have sacrificed you know, their careers.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
They sacrificed their careers and for.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Several reasons, one had wore her natural locks, sacrificed her career.
And those individuals poured into her some that she was
able to speak with and deal with, you know, directly
in person. And then some she was just able to
watch that poured into her how to navigate the journey
(07:26):
of being an actress, being a woman, being black, just
in an entertainment industry.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Look where she's at.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
So she says, you just keep pouring because you are
that can do it, and you never know when what
you're pouring in will helps someone else. That alone is collaboration.
So that is another reason why you know we need
to give. But then there is intentional collaboration. So it's
not just about you know, pouring out and dropping seeds
(08:00):
and hoping that they are planted in someone and watered
beyond you know you're doing. But it's also literally intentionally
connecting with people I want to talk about. I don't
know if you watched. I know it was a while ago.
(08:23):
I had watched The Michael Jordan's Story. I believe it
was trying to remember who actually might have been Matt
Damon and Ben Affleck might have been the ones who
had produced was the production team behind the Michael Jordan's Story.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I thought it was.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Brilliantly done. I don't recall the actor that portrayed Jordan.
I don't recall them showing his entire face everything was
like profile, but it was it was amazing, amazing capture
of his story. And I mean, we all know that
(09:09):
Michael Jordan's story. We all know about Michael Jordan being phenomenal.
We you know, even the new generation you know about
him because if we bring up Lebron James, you're gonna
have someone to always bring up Michael Jordan and of
course Kobe Bryant, but Michael Jordan is the staple. And
you get a shoes. Most young ones get their shoes,
(09:30):
and I've met older ones we get the shoes too,
and just getting his shoes and just that brand. Everything
that happened with collaboration and if you look at and
if you was able to watch your story, if not
find it, find that story. They did it where they
captured his whole story like within a short period of time.
(09:53):
But it was so powerful and so fulfilling you need
to watch it. And it really focused on Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
On nineteen eighty four, he was a rookie with the
Chicago Bulls fresh.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Out of college, but he had.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Immense potential and at that time though he was far
from the global icon that he would later become. When
different shoe companies were interested in him and shout.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Out to his mom. His mom the mother's boy.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
His mom was there and really helped navigate and push
that collaboration to the level that.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
It became. But at the time, you know, Converse was.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
A dominant basketball shoe brand at that time, that's what
basketball players were wearing. And even with Converse being dominant,
Jordan was very interested in Adidas. Adidas was coming up.
He was very interested in Adidas. Mom got in his
(11:00):
talked about it. The agent that he worked with talked about,
you know, before you make that deal and just be
very interested. These are things that you should watch out for.
Pay attention to these things when you have the meetings
with them. What are they saying to you, what are
they offering you in that collaboration. Just pay attention to
(11:21):
the details. And I remember it was something that the
agent pointed out, if you hear this or someone says this.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
In that meeting, then you may want to really.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Consider if that's who you want to go to, if
that's who you want to collaborate with.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So he did. He went to the meetings.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Of course he was you had conference, but he went
to the meeting, sat down with Adidas and their team
and Nike, you know, was just an emerging brand. Nike
was primarily known for running shoes. Those of us who
are in track and field I am a former track
and field runner. We know you know the history of
(12:00):
Nike and Nike being primarily a running shoe. Prefontaine is
someone we really know. Distance runner really was in the
forefront of Nike developing at that time, and it just
was developing in that area, definitely not in basketball, but
(12:22):
Nike CEO and the team saw that there was an
opportunity to reshape basketball footwear and what they wanted to
do was bet take a bet on Jordan to be
that to be that person. So they were willing to
(12:45):
take a bet on this single player. And in that conversation,
Jordan and Mom sat. In that conversation, she recounted the
things that was said by the Adida's team and what
they were considering in this collaboration to help move Michael
Jordan forward in his basketball career. She sat down in
(13:09):
the night meeting and listened to everything they said, and
Nike offered Michael Jordan a groundbreaking deal, I mean one
that went beyond traditional endorsement.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
It would beyond traditional endorsement at.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That time, but even to this day, it is considered
one of the best deals, even in endorsement deals right now,
it's one of the greatest deal that was actually put out, and.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Mom really pushed.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It was back and forth negotiations between Jordan, his agent,
really Jordan Mom and Nike was really back and forth push,
But the focus was that this collaboration was more than
merely Jordan wearing the shoe.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
That's not what they wanted.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
They wanted Jordan to walk away with something that will
last beyond the court. And I speak about legacy all
the time, and as an attorney, my firm is focused
on legacy protection and prosperity because that is what we,
you know, should really focus on. We've it's been hard,
(14:33):
it's been hard, and uh, we're just working on doing better.
So that's what Jordan Mom focused on, was legacy outside
of the court, and Nike said, you know, we're gonna
take We're gonna take that risk. We're gonna help build
an entire brand around him because we don't want to
(14:57):
lose this opportunity for this collaboration. Nike understood Michael Jordan
understood Michael Jordan's mom understood the power of collaboration and
they stood ten toes down in what they wanted out
of this collaboration.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And so.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
When they shook hands signed the dotted line, Air Jordan
line was born, you know, so his playing style and charisma.
Of course, to you know, to some, I'm saying it's unmatched.
But what's definitely set the precedent is what he had
(15:40):
built outside of the court. And Nike understood the bold
marketing strategy with Jordan and the collaboration. I mean even
to the point where the NBA initially banned the first
Air Jordans because the NBA said that it violated uniform policies.
(16:03):
But Nike turned that into an advantage. They covered the
fines collaboration, right, Jordan didn't have to cover the fines
and its collaboration, and because they believed in Jordan, they
covered the fines and they launched an ad campaign that
(16:24):
portrayed Jordan as a rebellious figure that was changing the game.
So it worked out for him. The strategy worked. The
shoes just flew off the shelves, and within the first year,
Nike generated over one hundred million in revenue just from
(16:47):
Air Jordan sells.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
So as we see, this collaboration didn't just you know,
benefit Nike. It included.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Percentages of sales that went to Jordan, again, a very
very rare move for athletes at that time. And because
he had that machine behind him to cover fines or
do all these extra ads and all these great things,
and treated him as a partner. I want us to
(17:22):
really just pause on that part. This collaboration wasn't about
Jordan working for Nike or Michael Jordan just saying hey,
I'm sponsored or endorsed.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
This was a collaboration.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
They said you are a partner, and they helped Michael
Jordan's career soar.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
And as his career soared, as we know, so the
Air Jordan brand.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
A lot of times when we talk about Nike, to
be honest with you, you're thinking about Michael Jordan too.
So by the time he retired, Jordan had made more
money for I'm Nike then he even made from his
NBA salary. That's what's huge. So I just wanted to
(18:11):
touch on that story. If you can find it, I
don't know where it's aired at now. If you can
find it, watch it, get some motivation from it. It
is applicable. I believe in every area of our life.
It's applicable because it's helping us get the mindset of
collaboration and knowing what we want out of the collaboration.
(18:35):
Not just collaborating, not just finding individuals say hey, let's
do this together. But we're really focusing on certain aspects.
And there's things that I focus on when I actually
collaborate with individuals, I don't just say hey, I want
to collaborate. I go in and I think about one
(18:59):
choosing the right pace people, you got to think about
who are you collaborating.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Energy is big.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I don't care what you believe in. You don't have
to believe. Truth needs no explanation. Truth doesn't even need
people to believe in it. Truth will show you that
truth is.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
As a.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
What is the what is the actor name Forrest Gum,
he always says, stupid is a stupid does?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It is?
Speaker 4 (19:26):
What truth is? As truth does? You don't have to
believe it. Energy is live and well. So we have
to choose the right people.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Aligning ourselves with the right people can make or break
our visions.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
So, and it also affects our value. So when I
look at collaborations. I look at am I choosing the
right people? Are these individuals or entity that I'm collaborating
with are they aligned with my vision.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
And my value?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Sometimes you hear individuals say separate personal from professional. I
don't agree with that. Who you are as a person
is who you're bringing to your profession. So whatever values
I have for me, for Elakisha, how I want to
(20:34):
walk this earth is it doesn't change my values is
going to carry over to what I'm doing in businesses?
Those are just my can do it. So whoever I
line would have to align with my vision and my values.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
That's why. Actually, when I.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
First came out of law school and I was thinking
about what do I want to do?
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Where do I want to go? I had a couple
of offers to.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Provide my skills and my services for other firms, and
I sat and I really thought about it.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
It was a very for me, very.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
I don't want to say scary time, but it was
kind of nerve wrecking a little bit, not knowing should
I go this route?
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Right I'm coming right out of law school. Should I just.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Go with these different individuals, choose one of these individuals
to go with?
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Until I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Then I even had some opportunities where, you know, I
could have had the freedom when it came to time,
because that was one of my concerns too. I went
back to law school, got my law degree, and decided
to practice law at a later age. I wasn't a
young whipper snapper out here. I did not have the time,
(21:53):
the capacity, the wherewithal to be in some big law
firm where the focus was on billable hours. That was
for the young ones. That's not that that wasn't going
to work at a full family. That wasn't my ideal.
I wasn't looking for that rat race. It was not
appeasing to me at all. I had you know, colleagues
(22:16):
around me, law students, everyone who was you know, chasing
for that so be it. I knew that for sure
wasn't going to be the case. But when I had
some offers to actually work for other established law firms
where I did have flexibility in that, but it is
still were going to be still billable hours or it
was going to be tied to who I bring to
(22:37):
the firm, I had to really focus on why did
I decide to add that part to my life?
Speaker 4 (22:44):
Why was I led here to provide legal services.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
And one of the reasons I strongly believe I was
led there was because as a former professional athlete, there
was a lot of things that I've learned, a lot
of things that I was doing to help not just myself,
but help some of my training partners. Understand, these contracts
open up different opportunities, you know, just being very careful
(23:10):
of being taken advantage of. I was doing a lot
of these things anyway, and it just started making more
sense later.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
It wasn't my initial intention, but.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Everything started to unfold later why I was even guided
in that direction. So one of the visions I had
was get on this side and take my experiences that
I have with the knowledge that I have, and do something.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Different for those who don't have.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
So I already knew part of my vision was to
do that, so I didn't want to align myself with
people or affirm what the vision was.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Just money. Just money.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Now I understand money funds the mission. It's going to
have to be there when when it leads your decision.
There is a lot of compromising and trust me, I've
been offered a lot of opportunities where I could have
taken that would have put me in a very very
good position if I just focused on money. Some of
(24:17):
those opportunities were just asks for my signature as an attorney.
A lot of people will seek out attorneys sometime because
they need attorneys to do certain things that they're doing,
move certain things that they have to move, and sometime
they just need your signature. And so there was plenty
(24:39):
of times I was offered a lot of money continue
to be, but I immediately walk away from I have
no taste for those things because it doesn't align with
my vision, and my vision isn't leading with the money.
I know that's a part of funding the mission, but
I'm not leading with that. And then just my values.
(25:01):
So I decided to hang my own shingo because I
don't want to walk into someone else thing or do
a collaboration with someone else bringing my vision and values
trying to dominate over what their vision.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And values is.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's just not going to work. It has to be
aligned for it to be smooth. So I decided to
hang my own shingle. Another thing I look at, so
that's choosing the right people I look at. You need
to have a win win mindset with collaborations. Now as
an attorney that focuses on contract negotiations, and one of
(25:35):
the things that were always told and we're taught, there
is no there's no true thing as win win. You
don't get win win in any partnership or situation. Someone's
giving up something, someone's gaining more. I believe it's a
win win because if whatever, even if someone's giving up something,
(25:56):
it's something that you're hopefully it's something that you're willing
to give up right and and something that you're also
willing to gain. So you still found that ground of winning,
and whatever you gave up, you feel like what I
gave up I gained even more.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I'm winning. So it had to be a win win mindset.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I you know, it has I have to create a
mutually beneficial partnership. It can't be one sided. So there's
plenty of times that I've collaborated with organizations again with individuals,
and I really felt like my presence was more beneficial
(26:36):
to that entity, to that individual. There were more asks
of me that I was able to fulfill than vice versa.
Or sometime it was just to make individuals or entities
look good to be connected to you, please understand your value.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Please understan your value.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Some times in the collaboration people are collaborating with you
just to be connected to you.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
So understand your power.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
So I look at choosing the right people win when
it has to be mutually beneficial. If I don't feel
I am also gaining, that means I'm taking away. If
there's not an addition from our relationship, there has to
be a subtraction. Life is math and the math is
not mathing. If it's not an addition to me, it's
(27:31):
a subtraction for me, So it's not mutually beneficial. So
when you think about collaboration, choose the right people win.
When then I look at trust and communication.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
That is key to me. I have to trust you.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
And there has to be understanding and communication. I mean,
these two things for me is their keys to sustaining
long term success. If there's not trust in communication, listen,
a business collaborate.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Is the same thing as a relationship. It's a relationship.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Trust and communication is important to me in my personal relationship.
Everybody said, can't separate the two. If I expect trust
and communication in my personal relationship, I too expect trust
and communication in my business relationship. Their key is sustaining
long term success. And there's times that I've again collaborated
(28:28):
with individuals. If you fracture that trust, depending on how
bad that fracture is, I.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
May be out.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
If you're not communicating well and it's causing confusion. I
need clarity of confusion.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
My energy. I was not designed for confusion. That my energy,
our energy, we're not.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
That causes us not to just not be in alignment
with whoever's causing that confusion. It causes us to be
out of alignment with our existence because that's not how
we created. We're not created for confusion. That is not
the element of our power. So if there's no trust
or communication, I'm out. So now we said choosing the
(29:21):
right people looking for that when when mindset has to
be mutually beneficial, trust and communication. The next I look
at just the competition aspect. Right, we're talking about collaboration.
We get further with collaboration versus competition. So overcoming ego
and competition, uplifting each other doesn't take away from our success.
(29:50):
And now I've had it before. We're our around individuals.
You collaborate, and it's very weird energy, very weird. You're like,
are we collaborating? Are we competing? It just feels off that,
you know, just from communication, so conversations, just from how
things are going, you can kind of feel, yeah, are
(30:12):
we on the same team? Like my mother, she sings
and that song that I played in the beginning latter Raine,
you can look her up, she's here. She can put
in the chat where you can find her songs. Beautiful song.
You would hear that reflection song for every opening. She
(30:33):
has amazing songs.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I've watched.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
My mother, you know, just in different bands and singing
with different individuals, and sometime having co singers collaborating with
singers where you would think, you know, the synergy would
be good, you're all singers, but you can sit back
(30:58):
and watch when some of those cold singers were competing
instead of collaborating, instead of bringing the energy forth to
give the listeners something amazing, they couldn't overcome the cold
(31:19):
singers couldn't overcome ego and competition. And then understand, while
while my mother was the lead singer for this song,
lift her up, it doesn't take away from your success.
So you may lead on another song, but you decided
our set may be twelve songs, I want to lead eleven,
(31:40):
Let that person lead one, or heck, our set is twelve,
I want to lead all twelve.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Let that person be the backup singer.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I want to ease my even I've seen individuals come
in as backup singers. They knew their position in this collaboration.
They played their position until they got in position to
try to switch up on the position. So really pay
attention when you look at collaborations individuals who have egos
(32:11):
and they're competing with you in your collaboration. So those
are the things I look at, choosing the right people
when when mindset, trust in communication, and making sure I'm
not around anyone who starts to go into this egotistical
competitive nature instead of us lifting each other.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Up.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So those are some of the things that I believe
are really really important in collaboration. And just giving you
the example with the Michael Jordan's story, those were the
elements that Nike had to actually believe in, Jordan had
actually believe in in order for them to.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Do very well. All right, So.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Are there any comments, any comments at all? Drop any
comments if you have any comments, And while you do that,
I just want to point out just a few other
amazing collaborations. And the reason why I want to point
these individuals out because sometime we are so focused on
(33:32):
celebrity life, like it's different from our real life. And
to be honest with you, when we're looking at celebrity life,
they started where you're at. But even with that, we're
celebrating them. That's what celebrity mean. They're celebrated individuals. We're
celebrating them. So when you find people that you want
(33:54):
to celebrate or that celebrated that you want to focus on,
focus on you need to.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
Be celebrated as well.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Look at some of the things that they're doing instead
of just talking about the part that's entertaining.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
Kevin Hart.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
He's a huge one, right we look at Kevin Hart,
pay attention.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I see. I'm a person I love documentaries.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Sometime I watch movies, sometime I watch series, but I
am a documentary junkie. I am just addicted to just
watching stories unfold. Kevin Hart is a good one, a
good story to watch. But looking at Kevin Hart just
(34:38):
starting as a comedian and doing all that great stuff
in the beginning and showing up in movies, some not
so great movies, and then some becoming greater. But what
Kevin Hart knew was to take this comedic journey to
another level. I'm going I'm going to have to consider
(35:00):
collaborations and I'm going to have to consider what I
want to collaborate with whoever I choose. So Kevin Hart
and the Laugh Out Loud Network, so he's not just
I'm going to provide this content. I'm going to create
a platform in which I can provide this content.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Through for myself and for others.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
And Kevin Hart decided to team up with Lionsgate, right,
and that strategic partnership expanded Kevin's reach in the entertainment industry.
And that is what collaboration is about, expanding your reach.
(35:48):
We can't be siloed. So no matter what you're doing, whatever,
whether it's a nine to five, it's something that you own,
it's a psion find.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Someone to collaborate with so you can go up.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Especially let's just talk about a nine to five, right,
because a lot of times we talk about oh, from
a business owner, this doesn't apply to me, or from
not an athlete, this doesn't apply to me. No, whatever
we do well because as you're collaborating, you don't know
who you may meet that you can have a conversation with,
or who knows you, because a lot of times it's
(36:24):
not what you know, it's who you know. And a
lot of us get caught up and applying for things
and searching for this and searching for that, and no
matter how much we like it, you can hate it
all day. It is true the privilege of connections. A
(36:46):
connection is a collaboration. Collaborate with people in the walks
of life, get to know. You have to expand who
you're linking up with just in life. Like I said,
it's with business, just in life. Are these people people
that you're linking up with, can they possibly bring you
to the next level? And then when you go to
the next level, you can do something for them. And
it's gotta be mutually beneficial. So collaboration and life period
(37:09):
because all the other stuff we would be spinning our wheels,
and we're talking about so many changes right now in
our society that does have you know, some of us
up in arms have was rightfully so emotional about different things.
But the next chess move is what do we do?
Speaker 4 (37:29):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
And what you can do is start connecting yourself to
other individuals that can help to.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
How do you do that? How do you collaborate?
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Get out in circles, put yourself amongst circles. I should say,
where you believe you will find individuals to collaborate with
in life and in business, and they can help you
on the next move. If you've been doing something that's
saying for a while, just keep stepping up to the
(38:02):
next level. Change your circle, if you fly. I've been
in this circle. It's not working.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
That's how I was.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I'm like, it's time. I am quick to pivot again.
I gave you my I gave you my You know
my measurements, the yard stick and which I measure by.
It's not aligning with those. I continue to pivot. I
continue to align up is what I call it. And
that's what you know you should do as well.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
All right, so that is what I have. Yes, trust
is key, honest say it's just trust is key.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
But we know.
Speaker 4 (38:45):
That trust is broken.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
It's hard to even it's hard to even collaborate because
you're thinking about you think about everything as you're moving
forward in making decisions. Uh oh, especially if money's involved.
If money's involved, you're always questioning and where you put
(39:11):
your energy is what comes to you. And if you're
diverting my energy. If I can't pour all my energy
into something productive and I have to put my energy
into questioning, that means I bring more things to question.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
I'm bringing more of those things to questions. So you
are so right. Trust is absolutely key. Thank you. Rihanni said,
this is some good information. Thank you so much. So
what I really want you to walk away with is.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Just really thinking about how can you insert collaboration in
your life.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
Especially.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
I know I'm speaking to some people who may say
I'm an introvert. I'm an introvert. You can be an
introvert focusing on certain things, but you've got to understand
how you were designed and created. Don't claim that you're
trust me. You are an extrovert when it comes to
something that you love. And I think I can safely
(40:16):
say we all love living our fullest and best life,
and I'm not going to be an introvert to not
at least accomplish that. So, as someone who's an introvert,
pick and choose those things.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
You don't have to be all out everywhere.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Pick and choose those things that contributes to you living
your best and fullest life and connect with those people,
and more importantly, you will connect with other people who
claim to be introverts themselves.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
So what I want you to walk away was, how
can I now add to my.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Journey to execute what I was designed to do, which
is to collaborate on whatever level that means means to you?
Because we were not made to do this alone. How
can I add to collaborate? And what are my measurements?
What are the things I want to look at and collaborating,
Because again I don't just want to this is you
(41:14):
talking to yourself. I don't want to just link up
with more people, more entities, more things where it's not
adding value to me and if it's not adding and
subtracting or at least keeping you stagnant, So keep looking up.
So look at get your measurables. Once you get your measurables,
then write your goals of how this collaborations can help
(41:37):
you and how you can help or add value to
that collaboration as well.
Speaker 4 (41:46):
So that is all that I have.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
For us today, And make sure I just want to
go through all my notes. Yeah, so that is that
is all I have for us today. Again, I look
forward to continuing to grow each week, I will.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Be here as it can do it.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
See.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
See this is the thing too.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
The biggest collaboration, the biggest collaboration I decided to give
myself to is the collaboration from with the energy from
which I come from. I decided every blessing that I
(42:38):
have here is definitely mutually beneficial.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
I already have all.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
I gained so much, so much just having breath every day,
I've gained in that these are these are the things
that this is the result that comes to my mind.
I have breath, I already gained. I have my physical
capabilities already gained. I am, in my right mind already gained.
(43:06):
I have everything. So my mutually beneficial relationship with the
energy from which I came the most high. I am
collaborating being a can do it. So I'm going to
show up every Tuesday. I Am going to be ecstatic
as we grow. But I'm going to be even more
(43:27):
ecstatic every time I can cut this mic on and
share with you what I am moved to share with you.
So I want to just leave you with this quote
as a closing statement. Success isn't about standing alone at
(43:51):
the top. It's about bringing others with you. And that's
what I want us to focus on. And I want
you to really break down that quote, because success isn't
about standing at the top. But success is also not
about getting to the top alone, not just standing alone.
It's about not getting there alone.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
And it's not just.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
About bringing others with you. It's about you allowing yourself
to be brought with others. So that is a wrap
for today today's episode of Seek Elevation, the Seek Elevation Experience.
I thank you so much for tuning in. Whether you're live,
you're going to watch the replay, I thank you. I
thank you so much for your engagement. That's right, Vonda,
(44:39):
do not become stagnated in our hearts and our minds
at all. I appreciate your engagement and adding value to
this powerful conversation.
Speaker 4 (44:49):
And I just want every one to know that that's right.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's no long ranger, there's not there's no such thing
as I hear this term too, cringe, cringey, self made millionaire,
self made billionaire, show me one that's a lie, the
one you showed me. I would again me by touch.
I'm a document and drunkie. I'll go back I look
at the stories. At some point in their life, something
(45:22):
kicked off from someone or some connection or some collaboration
that assists someone to being a millionaire or billionaire. Self
made literally means what it says. There's self nothing and
no one else. We already know that's a lie, because
again I don't care what you believe in. Something's higher
than you. You can't just be self, but just to
(45:44):
bring it down a couple of notches. There is always
a situation and I have not found any to disprove
this where there was something.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
That move that stick. So there's no right, no loan ranger,
there's no self made anything.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
There are people around you, whether it's depositing words, whether
it's there to lift you up, whether it's they're literally
used as it can do it, set something that help you,
whether it's just their presence motivates you to do what
you need to do. There's no self anything, So just remember,
(46:30):
the more you know, the more we grow.
Speaker 4 (46:33):
But when you share, you show care. So don't keep
this knowledge to yourself.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Spread the wisdom next time, Tag a friend, share the
replay and lets ellavate together until next time. Keep striving,
keep growing, and most importantly, keep seeking elevation.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
See you next time. Peace and progress, Peace and progress,
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