Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / ESPN "First Take" host Stephen A. Smith discusses building your brand and how not to fall victim to success.

Transcript

ESPN "First Take" host Stephen A. Smith discusses building your brand and how not to fall victim to success. · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations.
0:06
Speaker 2: It's the show that she is the secrets of success
0:08
Speaker 2: experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
0:12
Speaker 2: will know he's given me advice on many occasions. And
0:14
Speaker 2: in case you didn't notice, I'm not broke.
0:17
Speaker 1: You know.
0:17
Speaker 2: He'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers.
0:21
Speaker 1: It's what he likes to do, it's what he likes
0:23
Speaker 1: to share.
0:24
Speaker 2: Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald
0:27
Speaker 2: money Making Conversations.
0:29
Speaker 3: Here we go. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald.
0:32
Speaker 4: My hosts the weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The
0:36
Speaker 4: interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
0:40
Speaker 4: It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and
0:42
Speaker 4: start living your own.
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Speaker 3: My next guest is Steven A. Smith. In the last
0:47
Speaker 3: five years, Steven A.
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Speaker 4: Smith has become one of the most powerful media voices
0:51
Speaker 4: and sports commentary. He's also a popular actor on General Hospital.
0:55
Speaker 4: He's a social media influencer, podcasting YouTuber, influencer, producer, the
1:01
Speaker 4: host executive producer of the number one sports morning show
1:04
Speaker 4: on TV, First Take, and The New York Times best
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Speaker 4: selling the author. We have a lot to talk about,
1:09
Speaker 4: so please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass Show.
1:13
Speaker 3: Steven A. Smith. How you doing, my brother?
1:16
Speaker 1: What's going on?
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Speaker 3: Man?
1:17
Speaker 1: How are you? How's everything? Man?
1:18
Speaker 2: Excuse me for these big headphones that I have on
1:21
Speaker 2: a mind. You know they're heavy, but you know, at
1:23
Speaker 2: least it's the only way I can hear you. It's
1:24
Speaker 2: the only way I can hear you. I appreciate them
1:26
Speaker 2: having these headphones for you.
1:28
Speaker 4: Well, I appreciate it taking you, taking the time, because
1:30
Speaker 4: I know West coast, East coast where you at.
1:32
Speaker 2: I'm in LA right now, just taking care of some
1:34
Speaker 2: business out here at the film, some scenes for General Hospital.
1:37
Speaker 2: Plus I've got some individual business ventures I've been working
1:40
Speaker 2: on as well.
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Speaker 4: So right, so we share Emmy award winning General Hospital huh.
1:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, they wont about seven. That means I mean I
1:47
Speaker 2: didn't want I didn't win one individually. I mean I'm
1:50
Speaker 2: not on that level. I just make guest appearances. My
1:53
Speaker 2: character's name is Brick. I'm a surveillance expert for the Mob,
1:57
Speaker 2: but I come in and out. I'm not a regular
1:59
Speaker 2: everyday cast member. So because of that, I wasn't I
2:02
Speaker 2: wasn't able to apply for any of those categories to
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Speaker 2: win an Emmy, but who knows, one day I might.
2:11
Speaker 3: Okay, Stephen a Sports Sports Sports.
2:14
Speaker 4: You're a regular, you know, recurring actor on General Hospital.
2:18
Speaker 3: How did you become a General Hospital fan?
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Speaker 2: Well, I've been a General Hospital fan since I was
2:24
Speaker 2: a kid growing up with four older sisters and my
2:28
Speaker 2: late brother, and we'd come home from school and you know,
2:32
Speaker 2: we only had two TVs in the house, and if
2:35
Speaker 2: you wanted to watch TV, it was on General Hospital.
2:38
Speaker 2: It was either that or do your homework. And none
2:40
Speaker 2: of us wanted to do homework after we had just
2:42
Speaker 2: spent seven eight hours in school. So because of that,
2:45
Speaker 2: we were like, hell with that, We'll watch General Hospital.
2:48
Speaker 2: And I've been watching General Hospital since I was like
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Speaker 2: seven eight years old and I've never stopped since.
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Speaker 4: Wow, So that's kind of like a can we say
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Speaker 4: a childhood dream come true to be a regular?
3:00
Speaker 2: I think so, because I mean I love the soap.
3:02
Speaker 2: I've grown to love it throughout the years. Of One
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Speaker 2: of my pet peeves whenever I'm working is if somebody
3:08
Speaker 2: bothers me between three and four pm, he's to standard time.
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Speaker 2: They better have a damn good reason for interrupting because
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Speaker 2: they know I watch a general hospital, so if they
3:16
Speaker 2: bothering me, it's gonna be a problem. So in that
3:19
Speaker 2: regard to grow up watching it and some of these characters,
3:22
Speaker 2: like the start the show has been on the show
3:24
Speaker 2: for nearly thirty years, and the go from watching him
3:27
Speaker 2: and being a fan of his to literally working with him.
3:30
Speaker 1: It's just an.
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Speaker 2: Extreme, extreme honor that I can't I really really can't
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Speaker 2: put into words. It really is fascinating for me to
3:38
Speaker 2: jump in there. And then not only that it's helped
3:40
Speaker 2: me develop the acting bug because I didn't ask for it.
3:43
Speaker 1: I just want to make an appearance.
3:45
Speaker 2: And executive producer Frank Valentini, who won obviously an Emmy,
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Speaker 2: and then you've got Maurice Bernard to start the show,
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Speaker 2: instantly said do you have time to do this? We
3:53
Speaker 2: want to make this a recurring role for you. After
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Speaker 2: I made one appearance for them, and I've been on
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Speaker 2: the show now for seven years, and wow, they believe
4:00
Speaker 2: I can act, and they believe that I should dedicate
4:03
Speaker 2: more time to acting. The one thing that I will
4:06
Speaker 2: acknowledge and will admit that I've become very, very fascinated
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Speaker 2: about with acting, you know it, but to actually perform
4:13
Speaker 2: the craft and do it, you really, it really really
4:15
Speaker 2: hits home for you. I love the fact that you're
4:17
Speaker 2: allowed to be whatever the character allows. It's like, we
4:21
Speaker 2: say that and we know that's the case looking at
4:24
Speaker 2: what they do when they're working. But to actually be
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Speaker 2: on the job, having to perform and to be somebody
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Speaker 2: else at a particular moment in time, it's hard to
4:37
Speaker 2: put in the words the feeling that you get when.
4:39
Speaker 1: You pull that off. To pull it off like that
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Speaker 1: is something special.
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Speaker 4: Now, some people say that on first take, you plan
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Speaker 4: a character's steven A Smith, on first take steven A Smith,
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Speaker 4: or a commentary version of who you really are.
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Speaker 1: No, no, no, it's me. It's me.
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Speaker 2: You know when I'm on General Hospital, I'm acting, I'm
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Speaker 2: really acting. I'm on first take. All I'm doing is
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Speaker 2: showing different facets of my personality, right like you know,
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Speaker 2: I know sports, and you know on first take you
5:10
Speaker 2: want to be informed. You want to articulate your positions.
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Speaker 2: You want to show the range that you have in
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Speaker 2: terms of being serious one minute, comical the next, et cetera,
5:21
Speaker 2: et cetera. That's me that's who I am according to
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Speaker 2: my sisters. That's who I am according to my fifteen
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Speaker 2: nieces and nephews. It's who I was to my wonderful
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Speaker 2: mother who passed away in twenty seventeen, God rest her soul,
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Speaker 2: and my father passed away in twenty eighteen. I mean,
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Speaker 2: those those are the things that they know, what they've
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Speaker 2: always known about me. The facets of my personality, the
5:43
Speaker 2: multitude of personalities that I have is what people see
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Speaker 2: on first take.
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Speaker 3: Right, here's up the interesting Stevid Amy watching your TV.
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Speaker 4: There's a love, there's a passion that drives I'm sure,
6:01
Speaker 4: what did you think your biggest asset, your voyage, your
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Speaker 4: intellect or your passion?
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Speaker 1: I can't separate the three.
6:13
Speaker 2: The aspiration, the desire to have a voice can't come
6:21
Speaker 2: from not knowing anything. You have to be informed. When
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Speaker 2: you're informed, you have to have a passion and a
6:30
Speaker 2: desire to express yourself to the masters. And the only
6:35
Speaker 2: reason you should want to do that is because you
6:38
Speaker 2: want to have an impact and you want to make
6:40
Speaker 2: a difference. I'm executive producing and co producing as a
6:44
Speaker 2: production company a documentaries called Up for Debate that's going
6:50
Speaker 2: to be coming out probably around February or so, in
6:54
Speaker 2: concert with Religion of Sports doing that.
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Speaker 1: What do I say in there? I talk about in
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Speaker 1: a voice.
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Speaker 2: Tinkering and touching and leaning towards that third rail and
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Speaker 2: making sure that you're positioning yourself to have an impact
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Speaker 2: and to make a difference of the people that I
7:11
Speaker 2: have working with me and for me, people like yourself
7:14
Speaker 2: or Sean McDonald, people like my guy Michael Anafree and
7:17
Speaker 2: various others. It matters, you know, associating yourself with people
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Speaker 2: who share your vision, your passion, your zest, and a
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Speaker 2: willingness to be a voice. Knowing that puts you in
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Speaker 2: the lions. Then it puts you in the eye of
7:32
Speaker 2: the proverbial storm. It's gonna make people come at you.
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Speaker 2: You got to be the kind of person that stands
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Speaker 2: up and says, Okay, I'm here for it. That's what
7:41
Speaker 2: it is, That's what it's all about, and that's who
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Speaker 2: I am, and that's who I've always been, and that's
7:45
Speaker 2: who I've always aspired to be. And that's why the
7:48
Speaker 2: other day, when I was doing my show to Steven A.
7:51
Speaker 2: Smith show, my podcast last show on YouTube, I ended
7:56
Speaker 2: the show by paying tribute to Bryant gumble Right. Ryan
8:01
Speaker 2: Gumbel is a pioneer. He's one of the greatest voices
8:05
Speaker 2: and one of the greatest reputable journalists we've ever seen
8:09
Speaker 2: in American history. And I felt it was compelled, considering
8:13
Speaker 2: the years of excellence that he had put forth, that
8:17
Speaker 2: I took time to recognize as a young black man,
8:21
Speaker 2: what he meant to me, what he's meant to our people,
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Speaker 2: to our culture by tackling the issues that he's tackled
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Speaker 2: with the intellect, the knowledge, the substance, the passion that
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Speaker 2: comes with it. I owed that to him, and you know,
8:38
Speaker 2: he reached back out to me and thanked me from
8:40
Speaker 2: the bottom of his heart seeing what I said. And
8:43
Speaker 2: I just said to him, what's to think? You know,
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Speaker 2: I should be thanking you. We all should. And that's
8:50
Speaker 2: what I hope somebody, you know, a bunch of people
8:53
Speaker 2: are able to look at me when my day comes
8:56
Speaker 2: and able to say the same thing about me.
8:59
Speaker 4: There's another person that inspires you. He's not with us.
9:03
Speaker 4: His name's Howard Cosel. Yeah, he's a person that many
9:06
Speaker 4: times in conversations with you, you said I wanted to
9:09
Speaker 4: be Howard Cosel when you look at Brian Gumbel and
9:14
Speaker 4: Howard Cosell, what are the similarities. We know he was
9:17
Speaker 4: an African American Brian gumble But what was the inspiration
9:21
Speaker 4: with Howard Cosel.
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Speaker 1: Well, Howard Cosell was a voice.
9:26
Speaker 2: He was somebody who was incredibly opinionated, unapologetic about it,
9:30
Speaker 2: and I think spawned and sparked debate television because no
9:35
Speaker 2: matter what followed in the years to come, even though
9:38
Speaker 2: he wasn't quote unquote debating, he was perceived as being
9:42
Speaker 2: such a polarizing figure at time, a white Jewish individual
9:47
Speaker 2: willing to stand by Muhammad Ali's side and say that
9:51
Speaker 2: he had every right to want to be called Muhammad
9:54
Speaker 2: Ali instead of cash Is Clay.
9:56
Speaker 1: That's his name, That's what he wants to be called.
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Speaker 1: He deserves that respect.
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Speaker 2: It's not about what he did, it's about when he
10:03
Speaker 2: did it, and when he did it is what crystallizes
10:06
Speaker 2: the significance of what he did. And that is pointing
10:08
Speaker 2: out that you got to be willing to stand up
10:10
Speaker 2: in front of the storm and be willing to embrace
10:13
Speaker 2: it and.
10:13
Speaker 1: Absorb it because of what you believe is right.
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Speaker 2: That was Howard Cosell, and he was the one that
10:21
Speaker 2: showed us the way because he was the first one
10:24
Speaker 2: to do it, and they gave a license to him
10:27
Speaker 2: to do it. He profited off of it because obviously
10:31
Speaker 2: he was being paid handsomely to do it. And then
10:34
Speaker 2: he turned around and in the aftermath of doing all
10:37
Speaker 2: of that, ultimately ESPN came along. And when ESPN came along,
10:41
Speaker 2: you know, you usually would have the mentality, you know what,
10:44
Speaker 2: Howard Coosell could do that, but none of us could.
10:46
Speaker 2: But then when he ESPN came along, you said, yes,
10:49
Speaker 2: we could, because the platform was available for us to
10:52
Speaker 2: do those things. So in Howard Coosell, I'll give him
10:55
Speaker 2: all the credit in the world for that. With Brian Gumbel,
10:59
Speaker 2: he does that too, and he should be revered for
11:02
Speaker 2: it because he did it with such intellectual brilliance that
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Speaker 2: you just can't deny how special of a talent Brian
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Speaker 2: Gumbel was all of these years. The difference, however, is
11:13
Speaker 2: that Brian Gumbel was a host.
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Speaker 1: Howard Cosell was not.
11:18
Speaker 2: Howard Cosell was a pundit and he was a commentator,
11:21
Speaker 2: and obviously he did some reporting. Briant Gumbel did it
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Speaker 2: all okay, plus he executive produced, plus he led, plus
11:31
Speaker 2: he pioneered in so many different other ways, and as
11:34
Speaker 2: a black man to be able to do that from
11:36
Speaker 2: the seventies up until right now, it's astronomical and incomparable
11:41
Speaker 2: in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe.
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Speaker 4: Wow, first tape, let's go back to first tape. Record numbers. Yeah,
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Speaker 4: I've read in the media over six hundred thousand. That's
11:54
Speaker 4: an average, highest average in.
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Speaker 3: The history.
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Speaker 4: Pre COVID numbers history. You brought two individuals onto your show.
12:04
Speaker 4: You're executive producer up. First take mad Dog Russo. Why
12:08
Speaker 4: did you bring mad Dog Russo on your show?
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Speaker 2: Because I wanted white America to know that I don't
12:13
Speaker 2: just care about what black people say alone. I want
12:17
Speaker 2: to care about what everybody says, and I want to
12:18
Speaker 2: care about everybody's perspective. It's not just about black, it's
12:22
Speaker 2: not just about white. It's not just about young. It's
12:25
Speaker 2: also about middle aged and older folks. It's not just
12:28
Speaker 2: about males. It's about females too.
12:31
Speaker 1: You know.
12:31
Speaker 2: I want to have the kind of show that everybody
12:35
Speaker 2: knows they're invited, that everybody knows that they're included.
12:39
Speaker 1: I remember when I had my show, quite.
12:40
Speaker 2: Frankly on ESPN two from two thousand and five to
12:43
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven. When I reflect on that show,
12:46
Speaker 2: which was on the air for eighteen months, three hundred
12:48
Speaker 2: and twenty seven shows, where I interviewed about seven hundred
12:51
Speaker 2: and eighty guests, what I reflect upon most was the
12:55
Speaker 2: fact that there were some people who felt left out
13:00
Speaker 2: that I wasn't including them in the show, that the
13:04
Speaker 2: show was with somebody else. That's not what you're in
13:06
Speaker 2: this business for, you know. My roots are rooted in journalism. Yes,
13:10
Speaker 2: how I've evolved and I've become a personality and a pundit.
13:13
Speaker 2: I was this general sports columnist, so that gave me
13:16
Speaker 2: a license to open and editorialize and give my opinions.
13:19
Speaker 2: But my base, my foundation, evolves around the tenets of journalism.
13:25
Speaker 2: And when you think like a journalist, you don't think
13:30
Speaker 2: for or towards a monolithic audience. You think about everyone.
13:35
Speaker 2: You might want one community to hear you more so
13:39
Speaker 2: than others, because your message on a day to day basis,
13:43
Speaker 2: depending on the subject, may be aimed towards them, but
13:46
Speaker 2: the message is not just for them, it's for everybody.
13:50
Speaker 2: It might be about them, but it's not for just them.
13:54
Speaker 2: It's for everybody. And so when I was, you know,
13:57
Speaker 2: on first take, the first order of business was to
14:00
Speaker 2: make sure that I showed all the multitude, you know,
14:03
Speaker 2: the multiple facets of my personality, so I could be
14:06
Speaker 2: inclusionary and come across as inclusionary in that regard, you know, people,
14:11
Speaker 2: you know. I could be comedic, I could be serious,
14:15
Speaker 2: I could be straightforward, I could deviate. I could be rambunctious, petulant, comical,
14:22
Speaker 2: the list goes on and on. You just never know
14:24
Speaker 2: with me, and I definitely wanted to do that, but
14:28
Speaker 2: then when I became the executive producer, it was an
14:31
Speaker 2: obligation to make sure the show represented that, not just me.
14:37
Speaker 2: And so that's what I've gone about the business of
14:40
Speaker 2: doing Mad Dog. Russo being added, Shannon Shop being added,
14:45
Speaker 2: Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears already being there, Minachimes, Kimberly Martin.
14:51
Speaker 2: Of course, my partner in crime, Molly carm who does
14:54
Speaker 2: a sensational job. I have no desire to do the
14:56
Speaker 2: show without her. I love her to death, even though
14:58
Speaker 2: I would never tell her, don't echo, don't that. I
15:00
Speaker 2: don't want her to know how much love I have
15:01
Speaker 2: for her because her head is big enough, it'll just
15:03
Speaker 2: get bigger. But she's she's she's absolutely wonderful. And you know,
15:08
Speaker 2: and then you see people like Monica McNutt, J J. Reddick,
15:13
Speaker 2: Jay Williams, Kendrick Perkins. Can't forget my big bro, Kendrick Perkins.
15:18
Speaker 2: You know when you look at Brian winterhors now makes
15:21
Speaker 2: major contributions to the show.
15:23
Speaker 1: And I'm not finished.
15:24
Speaker 2: I've got more parts and pieces that I intend to add,
15:28
Speaker 2: things that I want to do, and as long as
15:31
Speaker 2: I'm at ESPN and they give me the license to
15:33
Speaker 2: do it, I'll do the best that I can.
15:35
Speaker 1: I've been number one for.
15:35
Speaker 2: Over twelve years, hopefully it'll be thirteen fourteen and beyond.
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Speaker 3: Cool.
15:42
Speaker 4: When we talk about success and you're why, it's Stephen A.
15:46
Speaker 3: Smith popular, I don't know.
15:52
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't wake up thinking about popularity.
15:56
Speaker 3: But you are popular.
15:58
Speaker 1: Yes, I accept that you got.
16:00
Speaker 2: Nearly fourteen million followers on social media and you got
16:03
Speaker 2: a YouTube channel that's nearly reached four hundred and fifty
16:07
Speaker 2: thousand subscribers and nine months. I guess that equates to
16:10
Speaker 2: popularity in this day and age. Okay, so be it,
16:14
Speaker 2: but I ain't for more. I'm just getting started, and
16:18
Speaker 2: I don't wake up thinking about my popularity. I wake
16:22
Speaker 2: up thinking about being successful and how can I put
16:27
Speaker 2: my head down and put forth the work that's going
16:29
Speaker 2: to ensure my success. I think the thing that any employer,
16:35
Speaker 2: whether it be present or perspective, or future employers, or
16:40
Speaker 2: whatever the case may be. I think the one thing
16:43
Speaker 2: that people talk about how I work hard. Yes, they
16:48
Speaker 2: don't understand the discipline I exercise. You do because you've
16:54
Speaker 2: known me for over twenty years, but most people don't.
16:58
Speaker 2: They don't understand how I think about.
17:03
Speaker 1: The fruits of my labor. Person You know, you tell me.
17:07
Speaker 2: One of the popular statements you make to me all
17:10
Speaker 2: the time is I am you have never seen Because
17:13
Speaker 2: you called me a superstar. I never felt that way.
17:16
Speaker 2: But you say you've never seen a superstar like me.
17:18
Speaker 2: You really really think you're ordinary. I drive myself ninety
17:22
Speaker 2: five percent of the times instead of using car service.
17:25
Speaker 2: I walk through airports, you know, ninety five percent of
17:29
Speaker 2: the times instead of flying private. You know, I it
17:33
Speaker 2: is nothing, nothing, You know this. It is nothing for
17:37
Speaker 2: people to just turn around one day and to see
17:39
Speaker 2: me standing in a white Castle for McDonald's. You know,
17:42
Speaker 2: I'm not sending somebody in it for me. I usually
17:44
Speaker 2: do it myself. I mean, I don't care, you know,
17:46
Speaker 2: unless it's my man Juvie or Somatra.
17:48
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm usually doing that. You know.
17:51
Speaker 2: It's like people are shocked at how ordinary and you
17:55
Speaker 2: to use your words regular I conduct myself, And it's
17:59
Speaker 2: a very simple reason why I do.
18:01
Speaker 1: That, because I don't think about all of that. I
18:04
Speaker 1: think about the work.
18:07
Speaker 2: I don't think about the success I intend to reap
18:10
Speaker 2: from it. I expect that I expect to win. I
18:15
Speaker 2: expect to be one of the best at whatever I
18:17
Speaker 2: choose to do. I expect the rewards to be reaped
18:20
Speaker 2: at some point. But it's not what I spend a
18:22
Speaker 2: lot of time thinking about as it pertains to popularity
18:26
Speaker 2: and what that ultimately can reap because in the end,
18:31
Speaker 2: I believe, when you're married to the work.
18:35
Speaker 1: It will speak for itself.
18:36
Speaker 2: And the phrase that I used to use is when
18:39
Speaker 2: Kevin Garnett got one hundred and twenty six million dollar
18:41
Speaker 2: contractor you know, or Kobe Bryant got his money and
18:45
Speaker 2: stuff like that, I said, these brothers are filthy rich,
18:51
Speaker 2: and they play like this starving. I work like I'm starving.
18:57
Speaker 2: I work every day, and so when I think about
19:00
Speaker 2: people who want to go up against me, who think
19:02
Speaker 2: they could do what I can do and think they
19:04
Speaker 2: can enjoy the same level of success and all of
19:06
Speaker 2: that stuff, the number one reason I'm so confident is
19:10
Speaker 2: because I just find it hard to believe that most
19:13
Speaker 2: people are going to match my work ethic and my
19:16
Speaker 2: commitment to being great at what I do, no matter
19:20
Speaker 2: how much money I'm making or not making.
19:23
Speaker 4: Cool stealing a twenty eighteen you're the plan, and you
19:30
Speaker 4: invited me into the heart of that path. You said, Raseean,
19:34
Speaker 4: I'm putting together a dream team. And in twenty eighteen,
19:37
Speaker 4: you didn't have a TikTok account. In twenty eighteen, you
19:41
Speaker 4: didn't have a LinkedIn account. You still debating your Instagram account,
19:47
Speaker 4: your Facebook and Twitter was your biggest account, which is
19:50
Speaker 4: X now right, What was the plan, if you can
19:54
Speaker 4: reveal to people with that plan was back then, because
19:58
Speaker 4: we see it being played out right now with your popularity,
20:02
Speaker 4: with your organic with your show that you just said
20:05
Speaker 4: four hundred and fifty thousand subscribers in nine months.
20:09
Speaker 3: Oh, in twenty eighteen, it started with your plan.
20:12
Speaker 2: Well, I think the mistake that a lot of people
20:18
Speaker 2: make is they focus on the money.
20:22
Speaker 1: But not how you acquire it.
20:25
Speaker 3: Right.
20:27
Speaker 2: I working at ESPN on the number one show. In
20:34
Speaker 2: total fairness to them, I'm paid a pretty handsome salary,
20:40
Speaker 2: no question about it. But that was never going to
20:44
Speaker 2: be enough for me and it never will be enough
20:47
Speaker 2: for me because there I can honestly sit here and
20:52
Speaker 2: tell you that, in my perfect world, if I could
20:56
Speaker 2: work for ESPN and the walk Disney family for the
21:01
Speaker 2: rest of my career, I would do it right, so
21:06
Speaker 2: long as there's a separate part of my life that
21:11
Speaker 2: has a level of independence that's completely not associated with
21:15
Speaker 2: that right.
21:17
Speaker 1: Because.
21:19
Speaker 2: There's this itch that you get in life when you've
21:25
Speaker 2: spent your life producing for others, and most people that
21:31
Speaker 2: I know, that itch is what am I capable of
21:41
Speaker 2: without those others. Denzel is a phenomenal actor, right, He's directed,
21:50
Speaker 2: he's produced.
21:52
Speaker 1: Why that doesn't that's not acting? Why you do those
21:55
Speaker 1: other things?
21:57
Speaker 2: Because he had a desire to branch out in the
21:59
Speaker 2: city what he's capable of. Antoine Fuqua has become a
22:04
Speaker 2: dear friend of mine.
22:05
Speaker 1: He's not just a director, he's a producer.
22:09
Speaker 2: You've seen comedians, you've seen actors, you've seen musicians, you've
22:15
Speaker 2: seen journalists, pundits, even with the executives themselves.
22:20
Speaker 1: Well, you at ESPN, while you leave, You're at Disney.
22:24
Speaker 1: While you leave, you at Warner Brothers Discovery. What you
22:27
Speaker 1: will ead, what you go for?
22:29
Speaker 2: You know you're an agent, you're going out on you
22:31
Speaker 2: and you're starting your own business. Why you weren't making
22:34
Speaker 2: enough money? Of course you were making money, it wasn't enough.
22:39
Speaker 2: Not that the money, the dollars weren't enough. But there's
22:42
Speaker 2: this itch to feed yourself, to fuel yourself, to inspire
22:48
Speaker 2: you to get up every day and to feel refreshed.
22:51
Speaker 2: It's like go into a sauna and have the temperature
22:58
Speaker 2: up at one hundred and fifty degrees and.
23:01
Speaker 1: Then walk out in the ninety eight. You're gonna feel different.
23:05
Speaker 2: Get in a cold plunge and sit there and freeze
23:08
Speaker 2: for ten minutes, and then get up and expose yourself
23:13
Speaker 2: to that same temperature and see how you're going to feel.
23:16
Speaker 1: It's something different.
23:20
Speaker 2: That fuels and inspires you to get up and reach
23:26
Speaker 2: for more. And when you see when you wake up
23:30
Speaker 2: one day and you have achieved a level of success,
23:35
Speaker 2: and you see that you've done all that you can
23:39
Speaker 2: do on this level, You're wondering, what's at this level,
23:43
Speaker 2: what's at this level, what's here? What's there that's your itch?
23:49
Speaker 2: And it's just something that I have. And in twenty eighteen.
23:58
Speaker 1: It was necessary.
24:00
Speaker 2: It wasn't just because I lost my job in two
24:02
Speaker 2: thousand and nine because I was unemployed with a daughter
24:05
Speaker 2: and expecting another. It wasn't just that I didn't have
24:09
Speaker 2: but so much money in the bank. It was that
24:13
Speaker 2: I left myself at the mercy of one entity. I
24:18
Speaker 2: didn't plan and coordinate a future without them, even though
24:24
Speaker 2: I knew I didn't want a future without them. And
24:28
Speaker 2: that's the difference between me then and in twenty eighteen,
24:33
Speaker 2: when I put the wheels in motion to be exactly.
24:36
Speaker 1: What I am now.
24:38
Speaker 2: My YouTube channel is very important to me for one
24:41
Speaker 2: reason and one reason only.
24:43
Speaker 1: It's all mine.
24:46
Speaker 2: Masters RSS feed, you know, eye piece of everything, it's
24:49
Speaker 2: all mine. Nobody has it, nobody owns it. It's mine
24:53
Speaker 2: and it is what I make it. And to know
24:57
Speaker 2: that I have the opportunity to position myself to not have.
25:03
Speaker 1: To depend on others is the fuel that I needed
25:10
Speaker 1: to feel inspired.
25:11
Speaker 2: And that's why when people look at me now and
25:13
Speaker 2: they say, yo, stephen A, what's going on with you?
25:14
Speaker 1: Man?
25:15
Speaker 2: You look like you lost some weight. You look great,
25:17
Speaker 2: you look in great shape. Man, I'm not playing. I'm
25:21
Speaker 2: fifty six and I haven't felt this better, this good
25:26
Speaker 2: since my early thirties. The help that I'm in. I've
25:30
Speaker 2: lost thirty pounds, I've lost fourteen points of body fat.
25:37
Speaker 2: I eat better, I exercise a minimum of five days
25:41
Speaker 2: a week. I take my vitamins and supplements. I'm focused
25:47
Speaker 2: because I'm not interested in being alive.
25:50
Speaker 1: I'm interested in living.
25:52
Speaker 2: And you're not living when you're stagnant or you're deteriorating,
25:58
Speaker 2: or you're not elevating. You're only living when you're working
26:03
Speaker 2: on elevating, even if you're not elevating yet, Like there's
26:06
Speaker 2: not tangible evidence to show Rashan that you're elevating right.
26:10
Speaker 2: If you're working towards it, you feel alive because this purpose,
26:16
Speaker 2: and that's where I'm at.
26:18
Speaker 4: Cool as we close out the show, you have a book,
26:21
Speaker 4: Straight Shooter New York Times Bestseller comes out, and it's
26:24
Speaker 4: out in paperback.
26:25
Speaker 3: And that comes out. It's out in paperback why you
26:28
Speaker 3: wrote it and why are you so proud of it?
26:32
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I love how you ask these
26:33
Speaker 2: rhetorical questions, like you want to know when you're you
26:36
Speaker 2: know you're the instigator for half make me sick. I mean,
26:40
Speaker 2: I didn't want to write the damn book, to be
26:42
Speaker 2: quite honest with you, I really really didn't do it,
26:44
Speaker 2: you know. And then I said to you, yeah, I
26:46
Speaker 2: want to write the book, but you know, if I'm
26:48
Speaker 2: a writer book, there's only one book I can write.
26:50
Speaker 2: It's my memoir. I don't feel like should write anything
26:52
Speaker 2: before I write that. But you know, people were bugging
26:58
Speaker 2: me since to thousand and nine when I lost my
27:01
Speaker 2: job at he Is being to write a book. But
27:03
Speaker 2: they wanted me to write some tell all book. They
27:05
Speaker 2: just don't know me very well. I don't play that game.
27:07
Speaker 2: I would never do that to any employee. I don't
27:09
Speaker 2: play that nonsense. I would always defend myself against anybody.
27:13
Speaker 2: But I'm not gonna be some tell all book.
27:16
Speaker 1: And that and that other. I'm too gifted, too skilled
27:19
Speaker 1: to principle to.
27:20
Speaker 2: Make my money that way, right, So when people came
27:23
Speaker 2: to me and wanted me to do that, I said no,
27:25
Speaker 2: And then they said, well, right about your memoir and
27:27
Speaker 2: stuff like that, and talk to my mother about it.
27:30
Speaker 1: This was in twenty and ten.
27:33
Speaker 2: Janie Smith, the greatest woman that I've ever known, greatest
27:36
Speaker 2: human being I've ever known, who I loved dearly and
27:38
Speaker 2: miss every day. She said to me, you absolutely positively
27:43
Speaker 2: will not write a book while I'm alive, because she
27:48
Speaker 2: knew how much I loved her, and she knew that
27:54
Speaker 2: if I wrote a book, it would be dedicated to her.
27:58
Speaker 2: That's why it's entitled straight Shooter. It's a dedication to
28:01
Speaker 2: my mom. And she knew that if I dedicated a
28:05
Speaker 2: book to her, I would have to talk about her greatness.
28:10
Speaker 2: And the only way to talk about her greatness is
28:14
Speaker 2: to talk about and highlight what she overcame, which would
28:18
Speaker 2: involve my father. And my mother did not want me
28:21
Speaker 2: to do that, and so she made me promise that
28:25
Speaker 2: I would never ever write my memoir until she passed away.
28:31
Speaker 2: And when she passed away in twenty seventeen, I didn't
28:36
Speaker 2: think about it for about a year year and a half,
28:39
Speaker 2: and then people started bringing it up. And then somebody,
28:43
Speaker 2: I don't know who, the hellless person was, rolled up
28:47
Speaker 2: on Rashan McDonald and was like, you.
28:50
Speaker 1: Need to get Stephen Aate to write a book.
28:53
Speaker 2: And then this dude, Rashan McDonald proceeded to bug the
28:58
Speaker 2: living hell out of me every damn day for about
29:02
Speaker 2: a year until I finally.
29:04
Speaker 1: Said, okay, okay, okay, I'll do it. And then when
29:10
Speaker 1: I started writing.
29:11
Speaker 2: It, it took me about four four and a half months.
29:16
Speaker 2: I wrote every word myself, had an editor, not a ghostwriter.
29:21
Speaker 2: Had you helped me edit as well. But when I
29:26
Speaker 2: wrote the book the first thing, you know, it took
29:30
Speaker 2: me four and a half months, but it took me
29:35
Speaker 2: about two and a half to three months to get
29:40
Speaker 2: through two chapters. And you know what those two chapters were.
29:44
Speaker 2: It was revisiting my childhood, my situation with my father,
29:49
Speaker 2: the things he put my mother and my family through,
29:52
Speaker 2: and when that happened.
29:55
Speaker 1: That was.
29:57
Speaker 2: That made it very very difficult because was the first
30:01
Speaker 2: two weeks I didn't even finish the book. I just
30:04
Speaker 2: sent the excerpts to my sisters and they didn't speak
30:07
Speaker 2: to me for.
30:08
Speaker 1: Two weeks, all.
30:09
Speaker 2: Four of them. I thought they were mad at me,
30:12
Speaker 2: but they weren't mad. They were just going through it
30:15
Speaker 2: themselves because the things that I had mentioned were what
30:18
Speaker 2: they forgot about, and for a long time I had
30:22
Speaker 2: forgotten about, right, And so to bring those things up
30:25
Speaker 2: to the surface forced us to relive the hell that
30:30
Speaker 2: we had gone through when we were younger. And it
30:33
Speaker 2: was really really painful, to say the least, but necessary
30:38
Speaker 2: and cathartic in.
30:39
Speaker 1: Its own ways.
30:41
Speaker 2: And then ultimately I finished the book in law and
30:43
Speaker 2: behold it's a New York Times bestseller for nine weeks,
30:47
Speaker 2: both paperback I'm sorry, in hardcover, I'm sorry, and audio,
30:53
Speaker 2: and I can't tell you. I still get stopped on
30:55
Speaker 2: the streets.
30:56
Speaker 1: You know.
30:56
Speaker 2: The book's been out for almost a year, and I
30:59
Speaker 2: guess out on the streets all the time.
31:01
Speaker 1: People loved my book.
31:04
Speaker 2: I got to give major, major thanks to Howard Stern
31:08
Speaker 2: because the interview he did with me about my book.
31:12
Speaker 2: There has not been a city that I have traveled
31:14
Speaker 2: to since that interview that somebody hasn't brought up that
31:18
Speaker 2: interview with Howard Stern. Many, many people have interviewed me
31:22
Speaker 2: and profiled the book and given me a lot of
31:24
Speaker 2: love and a lot of praise. They thought it was
31:26
Speaker 2: going to be a sports book. It's not a sports book,
31:29
Speaker 2: and they gave me a lot of praise and a
31:31
Speaker 2: lot of props for.
31:32
Speaker 1: That, But that Howard Stern interview is what.
31:39
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how many people have come up
31:41
Speaker 2: to me and said I've had people coming to me
31:44
Speaker 2: and say they read the book again because they said,
31:47
Speaker 2: we read it once, but then after the Howard Stern interview,
31:50
Speaker 2: we read it again because we were like, wait a minute,
31:53
Speaker 2: where did he say that?
31:54
Speaker 1: I missed that?
31:55
Speaker 2: But let me go back to that and so and
31:58
Speaker 2: now Simon and hused to put it in paper and
32:02
Speaker 2: it's expected to be a success.
32:03
Speaker 1: Again.
32:04
Speaker 2: I think we've sold over four hundred thousand copies or
32:06
Speaker 2: so some way around there.
32:08
Speaker 1: Whatever. Again, it's been a New York Times bestseller. That's
32:10
Speaker 1: the krem.
32:11
Speaker 2: Dela Kreme doesn't get me hired in that. And for
32:14
Speaker 2: me to think about the kid that got left back
32:17
Speaker 2: in fourth grade because I had a first grade reading level,
32:20
Speaker 2: I had undiagnosed dyslexia.
32:23
Speaker 1: For me to be a.
32:25
Speaker 2: Professional journalist in my career and now a writer who's
32:29
Speaker 2: a New York Times best selling author, I mean, damn,
32:33
Speaker 2: I mean, how can we possibly say this is in
32:36
Speaker 2: a high power looking over us. The Lord has truly,
32:39
Speaker 2: truly blessed me, and I apologize for saying damn.
32:41
Speaker 4: Preceding that statement, Steven Ah, he's my friend and somebody trust,
32:50
Speaker 4: somebody who's been there in my downtimes. Thank you for
32:52
Speaker 4: coming on money making comings as your master class show.
32:55
Speaker 3: You're brilliant. Brother. I wish you much good luck.
32:58
Speaker 2: I appreciate the kind words, but you know you could
33:00
Speaker 2: have stretched it a little bit longer.
33:02
Speaker 1: I mean it was really quick with the kind words.
33:03
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
33:04
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I mean he spent about you know,
33:07
Speaker 2: twenty seconds on the kind words and stuff like that.
33:10
Speaker 2: When I when I praised with Sean McDonald, I'm lengthy
33:13
Speaker 2: with it.
33:13
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I mean, I put it
33:15
Speaker 1: out there, I make it, I let it marinate it.
33:18
Speaker 1: Stay out there for what I'm trying to do.
33:20
Speaker 3: You moment you're getting out.
33:23
Speaker 1: Twenty seconds, all right?
33:26
Speaker 3: I love you, brother, Stay strong man. I mean, like
33:29
Speaker 3: I said, Stevid A, you're one of a kind brother.
33:32
Speaker 3: You are a guy that let me just tell you,
33:35
Speaker 3: he said it. I've never in my life made a
33:39
Speaker 3: superstar like you, brother.
33:41
Speaker 4: Not so much your work, but your heart, man, your
33:44
Speaker 4: heart is incredibly passionate, loyal and honest because you've had
33:52
Speaker 4: some honest conversations with me and I appreciate you and
33:56
Speaker 4: I need it.
33:57
Speaker 1: And that's that's that's that's good time. See that's all right, Stevid, Bye.
34:07
Speaker 5: Bye, Thank you for joining us for this edition of
34:10
Speaker 5: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with rough
34:16
Speaker 5: Shan McDonald is produced by thirty eight fifteen Media Inc.
34:20
Speaker 5: More information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. Is available
34:24
Speaker 5: at thirty eight fifteen media dot com. And always remember
34:28
Speaker 5: to lead with your gifts