Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / ESPN's Stephen A. Smith discussing what drives him & the importance of making a difference with others

Transcript

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith discussing what drives him & the importance of making a difference with others · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I will know he's giving me
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. In the case you didn't notice,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not broke, you know he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what he likes to do,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: it's what he likes to share. Now it's time to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: hear from my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations. Here
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: we come. Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am your host,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: ras Sean McDonald. I always tell people time to stop
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: reading other people's success stories and really start writing your own.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: And I always tell people leave with their gifts and
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: don't let your age, friends, family, or coworkers stop you
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: from planning or living your dreams. As you know, my
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: interviews provide to you or you are the consumer, and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of course you are business owners access to celebrity CEOs,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and what I like to call industry decision makers.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: My next guest is Stephen A. Smith. He is the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: recognized face of is he in Sports Because. On ESPN,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: he hosts First Take and Sports Center's NBA Show, hosted
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: by stephen A. Smith. He is a proud graduate of
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: an HBCU, Future book, author, runs his own production company,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: and the executive producer of the hit ESPN Plus show
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: stephen A's World, Please Working the money making conversation, my man,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: stephen A Smith? How you doing, stephen what's going on? Man?
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: How you doing? I want to get this out thet
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the way real early, stephen You know, everybody know I'm
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: based in Atlanta, Georgia. You know, you travel between New
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: York and Los Angeles. And I look at my phone
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and I get a text and I see this guy,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you know, crotching behind this car, you know, and he
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: looks like he's a uh police officer. Ser he looks
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: like he's acting on a soap proper And I said,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: that's my man print. What's what's calling on? Is stephen A?
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: What do they have you doing on TV? Now? Man? No?
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: I mean I got a recurring role on the soap
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: opera General Hospital. My character's name is Brick. I'm a
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: surveillance expert for the mob headed by Sonny Corinthos Uh.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: In real life, his name is Maurice Bernard's character in
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: General Hospital Sonny corenthos Um. His henchman is right here,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: man is Jason Morgan. And essentially I worked for and
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: with a really really pretty much with those guys. And
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: uh I was a surbillance expert for the mob. But
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: this particular scene, Um, I had to help out the henchman,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Jason Morgan, so we had to break him out of prison,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and uh I was the driver. But also obviously I
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: was an enforce of myself as you saw, because I
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: had to shoot somebody and kill somebody, you know, in
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: order to get him out of their safety. Sound that's
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: how well, you know, we we play around because just
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: watching you act, you know, is fun to me. But
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: you really take your acting. You don't believe you really
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: have the talent to act, but we all know you
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: have the talent. Why are you so humbul about your acting? Well,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: because I've never it's you know, I've got such profound
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: respect for the there's beans, the guys and the girls
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: out there that you know, the ladies out there that
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: have done such a phenomenal job and this profession, seriously
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: studying it, uh from a very young age, going to
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: school for it, learning the tricks of the train to
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: per se me. I've never done any of that. I'm
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: a guy that's a sports announcer. I'm a sports commentator
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and broadcaster. I'm a journalist. I've been a newspaper journalist
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and you know, before transitioning the radio and television for
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: the past twenty eight years. And so because I've never
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: put the work into the profession. Essentially, what I do
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: is go about the business of making sure that I'm
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: gonna arize my lines to the best of my ability.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: So I'm not a hindrance or an impediment to the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: success of the show, uh in that regard. Outside of that,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I just followed their lead. I listened to what Maurice
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Bernard and and Steve Burton, who plays those characters that
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier. I listened to what they tell me
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: to do, how they tell me to do it. Along
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: with executive producer Frank Dollond's team. They all think I
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: can act. They all think that I've done an incredible job.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: But I give all praise to them because of how
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: much they've helped me, how much they've embraced me being
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: a part of the show. And that's where the humility
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: comes in, because they could have made it difficult if
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: they wanted to. They never ever, ever did it, not
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: for one second. They invited me on the show, they
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: asked me to do it, and they've been incredibly supportive.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: And I think that, you know, being a part of
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: it has really really helped me appreciate you, you know,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: actings and actresses even more. It's allowed me to take
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: that very significantly more seriously, and now I am interested
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: in learning more and doing it because it's something to
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: be said about being able to play a character and
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: that character is allowed to do whatever they write for
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the character to do, and it's not held against you.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: You know, you could be you could be a killer,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: you could be a criminal, you could be Gandhi for crying,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: and allow whatever the role calls for. It's acting, and
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: if you do it and you do it well, the
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: public tends to appreciate the role that you're playing and
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: then they leave you alone on a personal level, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: that's a beautiful thing. Well, there's the funny thing about
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: you is that you're you're so talented, but you also
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: are I don't want to admit certain skill sets because
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I feel you're really funny, okay, and the opportunity to
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: come away you're funny on your show you I guess
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: we can use the word sarcastic, which leads you to
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: being funny. Can you stephen A. Smith host Saturday Night Live?
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: I think I can host Saturday Night Live one night,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: but I think I would need the help of Pete
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: david Ston and Chris red And and all of those guys.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: I would definitely need the assistance. The only thing I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: ever worry about is the opening monologue in terms of
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: just playing the role or whatever for a show or
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. I know I can do that. Um.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I have aspirations to host late night television someday because
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I don't you know, since our senior Hall has departed,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I think there's been a gap on network television that
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: hasn't been fulfilled. And I'm confident that I could be
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: able to do that. But I will still need writers
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: to help me with the opening monologue because I want
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to be as funny as I possibly can be, and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: my confident that I can do these things, sure, but
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: I compare myself to the elite of the elite, the
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Creme dela creme, because I'm not trying to be average
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: or just good at anything that I choose to do
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: as a profession. If I'm going to do it, my
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: goal is to ultimately assent to a point where I'm
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: considered one of, if not the best, at what I do.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: I strived for excellence constantly, and to me, anything short
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of it, I'm just another guy doing the job. And
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I never want to be just another guy doing the job.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: So that's always my goal to be elite at whatever
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: it is that I choose to involve myself with and
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: whatever I choose to do, And that's where it comes from.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: And that's that's just my mindset all the time. So
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: why are you so competitive? Because that sounds like a
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: competitive mindset? What drives that is just the ability of
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: wanting to be number one or the fact growing up
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: or in college you didn't feel you got the right
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: of credit for your accomplishment. What drives that competitiveness comes
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: from at all? I got left back in the fourth
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: grade because at the first grade reading level, I was
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: called the dummy and I was you know, I had
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: guidance counsels and others laughing at the notion of me
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: ultimately going on to get a college that ation. Um,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: all my life I've been doubted, I've been marginalized and
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: minimized to some degree, um, at least in the initial process.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: And I don't recall a time ever where I've walked
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: into a situation and the assumption was I was going
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to be great. I've always had to prove myself. So
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: I combine that with the reality that we live in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: a capitalistic society. To the victor's go the spoils. Uh,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: if you want something that you want something bad, You're
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: gonna have to go get it. Really is it going
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: to be handed to you? Almost never if you're a
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: black man and understanding that reality and knowing those obstacles
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: that I'm going to face. Ultimately, somebody has chosen, no
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: matter what profession it is, no matter what your job
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: description is, no matter what your job title is. Ultimately
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: something someone is chosen. And if you're chosen, it's usually
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: at the expense of somebody else, And if somebody else
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: has chosen, it's usually at the expense of you. So
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: thereby that reality alone own brings into the equation competition.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: That's what competition is. And because that's the situation. I
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: embrace it. I accept it because I know it's a
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: reality that's never going to escape me in my lifetime
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: with the world that we're living in. So since I
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: embrace it, embrace competitive furvor. Understand that you're competing with
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: other people. Understand that you're not the only one who
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: wants what you want. Every but everybody can't get it.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: So put your best foot forward. And if you have
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: to put your best foot forward in order to get
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: what you want, that means you have to maximize your
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: potential UM, and that means you have to notice what
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: your potential is and what it isn't and so there's
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: so many different steps that come with it. I understand it,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I recognize it, I accepted um, and more importantly, I
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: embrace it. I like the competition because if I do
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: get the things that I want, it means I'm one of,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: if not the very best at what I do. And
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: I will not apologize for liking to be the best.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Well the well, that's true, I know that for a fact.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: But you went you an HBCU and use um, what
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: would you say the reputation is of an HBCU And
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: then what did you get out of going to an HBCU, Well,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I think people outside of the world of HBCUs view
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: it as black colleges and they stop right there. It's
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a place for black people to go to get their
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: education because they probably weren't qualified to get into a
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: predominantly white institution. I think that's the thought process of
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: those outside of HBCUs. For those who have attended HBCUs,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: we know it's far more than that. Obviously, you have
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: professors that are incredibly capable. You have administrative officials and
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: are like who are incredibly capable, from the chancellor on down,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and so you have that going on, and then the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: student body itself. It's just a different environment because you're
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: surrounded by people who look like you, who share your
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: cultural identity, obviously a lot of your experiences that you
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: may have ended growing up and beyond, and so as
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: a result, you have a support system. You don't feel
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: like you're, you know, a dot in the ocean of
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: folks that don't look like you and don't share any
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: kind of identity with you. You feel like you're a
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: part of a brotherhood, the sisterhood of a family. You
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: have professors who don't just care about grades, They care
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: about your well being. They invest in you because you're
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: one of them, and it's in their best interests to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: see you as sin and to see you succeed. Uh.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: To to like that maybe you didn't even imagine. And
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: so because you walk into that, there's actually add impression.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it could be even a bit harder than you imagine,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: because the interest in you elevates not just from a
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: professional on an academic level, but to a personal level.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: They place a personal invested interest in you because they
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: consider you an extension of them and therefore a reflection
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: of them. And if you if you don't succeed, you're
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: not only letting yourself down, you're letting those professions down,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: you're letting down the institution that rep that you represent,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: and you're letting down HBCU folks everywhere because you're contributing
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: to a stigma or a level of skepticism that people
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: outside of HBCUs may have that is completely inaccurate. But
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: you've attached the level of legitimacy to their epicism and
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: their cynicism. And so when you recognize that challenge, you've
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: got to embrace uh the reality that you're supposed to
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: want to debunk those those skeptics, those cynics at every time,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: you want to show them that, indeed, this is what
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: you can do. And so for me, I remember when
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: I was working for the New York Daily News. Before
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I worked for the New York Daily News, it was
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: because I got offered an internship with the met Pro
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Internship Program, and that was a collaboration between New York
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: News Day and Los Angeles Times Daily newspapers where they
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: were taking interns from all over the country and employing
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: them throughout their various papers throughout the country. And it
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: was twenty four candidates. I'm sorry it was twenty four
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: people that was chosen, but over three thousand candidates. I
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: was one of the twenty four. And you had people
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: that winter, you Columbia, University of Columbia, Missouri UM, you know, Columbia,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: New York, Ivy League Schools, usc U, c l A, Northwestern,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: various other journalism programs, and they had incredible grades. What
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I had was two hundred fifty published clips before I
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: even graduated, because I had interned at the Winston Ceiling Journal,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to Greensburg News a Record, the Atlanta Journal Constitution back
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and then at the Winster Ceiling Journal. Plus I had
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: written for the newspaper before I ever graduated, because I
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: understood that coming from an HBCU, what I was going
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: up against. I understood that I had to do a
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: little extra and I have to be a little bit
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: different in order to put my foot forward into really
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: stand out to make sure I wasn't just a name
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: on the resume. You knew exactly who the hell I was.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: And that's what I went about the business accomplishing. Of accomplishing,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I did it and I beat out those people, and
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: it was really an indication of what was to come
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: because I realized throughout my career I would have to
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: face similar challenges and I would have to overcome similar
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: similar obstacles in order to get to where I wanted
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: to be. And that's what I did well. That statement
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: allows me to transition to I like to call it
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the book, the memoir. Why is that important to get
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: your stories on paper? And then you've been approached by
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: our may your publishing company and giving an opportunity to
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: tell your story. Why is your story important? And how
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: would it help people when they read about your story?
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Because the people who are closest to me the people
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: who love me, the people who have known me for
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: a very long time, my family, my friends, people like you,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: um y'all insistent on that I was actually reluctant and
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: hesitant to write my home book for a very very
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: long time. I literally said, although I had a national
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: television show that's been number one in the morning for
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: nine years in counting UM, I literally and I was
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: a I've been an NBA analyst, and obviously my success
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: at the ESPN speaks for self. I literally was saying,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: why would anybody want to read a book from me?
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: And so many people came forward, like, what the hell
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: are you talking about? Was wrong with you? Everybody needs
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: to hear your story. Everybody needs to hear what you endured,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: what you had to experience, what you had to go
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: through to get to this place that you're here now,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: what you succeeded has been some unpressed and the stuff
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: to once to be let go by ESPN just a
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: decade ago into return and to be their number one
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: guy at the network, the face of the network just
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: ten years removed from them letting you go and saying goodbye.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: This is some unprecedented stuff for you to get left
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: back because you couldn't read, You couldn't comprehend what you
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: were reading as a fourth grader with a first grade
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: reading level, and to excel in the field of journalism
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: and broadcasting, that's some unprecedented stuff. To be the figure
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: that you are, where you walk into arenas and you're
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: more popular than most of the athletes. This is unbelievable.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: You've got a story to tell, and it took a
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: lot of convincing over the years. But I do think
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: at this particular juncture, this particular moment in time, now
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: is the time. Now is the time to just sit
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: back and to tell the world who I am, what
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I've endured, what where I've come from, and how I
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: got here. You know, when people look at me and
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: I used to say, I'm angry and I take myself
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: too seriously, I was like, first of all, they don't
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: on me because I know how to laugh and smile
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: and tell jokes is like the best of them. But
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: in the same breath, you know, what would you feel
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: like if you were conquering one obstacle after another and
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: you were called an affirmative action higher that the only
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: reason why you got this job is because you're black.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: That if you're a white guy, you know what, it
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have happened for you like that. You know, it's
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: just that we're living in a different age and stuff
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: like that, where people are catering and capitulating the African
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Americans and stuff like that. This is what I've been told,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: this is what has been written to me, death threats
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: that have come my way, and stuff like that. I'm
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: going through a lot because I've succeeded because people didn't
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: want me to be in a position that I'm in.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: And a lot of times, what I'm saying, it's not
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: that people have a problem with what I'm saying. They
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: have a problem that my black behind is in the
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: position that I'm in to say it and to disseminate
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: and have a reach that spans tens of millions of people.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: They have a problem with that. And so when you
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: face those challenges on a day to day basis, and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: and you are just flummix and inundated with people coming
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: your way, and it's not just the people who support
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: you as cynics and skeptics who want to hate on you.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: The list goes on and on, and you're still standing,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: but you're not an athlete. You're not a rap artist.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: You know you're not an actor and actress. No, this
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: is what this is what you're doing. You did it
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: as a journalist. Um, there's a story to be told there.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I finally was convinced that there's a story to be
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: told there. I'm passionate more than ever before about telling
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: that story and I'm looking forward to doing it. It's
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: finally here the season of celebration, and no matter how
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: you celebrate with family and friends, whether you're preparing for reys,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: magos or karamu lighting the Manura, are going to midnight mass,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Coals has just what you need to make those traditions special.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Plus you'll find gifts for all your loved ones. Send
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: warm wishes with Cozy Fleece's sweaters, loungeware, blankets and throws.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Support minority owned or founded brands by giving gifts from
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Human Nation and Shame moisture, or treat them to everyone's
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: favorite active war from top brands like Nike, Adidas and
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: under Armour. And in the spirit of giving, Coals Cares
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: is donating eight million dollars to local nonprofits nationwide committed
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: to the health and well being of our communities. No
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: matter how you celebrate, when you shop at Coals, you're
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: right where you belong. So this season, give with all
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: your heart with great gifts from Coals or Coals dot com.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Adoption of teams from foster care is a topic not
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: enough people know about, and we're here to change that.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: I'm April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: presented by adopt us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: real life adoption stories told by the families that lived them,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and the ACT Council. Look for your children's eyes to
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: for them. You look and see a tree. They see
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: windy path that could lead to adventure, and they see you.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world? Find a forest
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: near you and start exploring and discover the forest dot Org,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: brought to you by the United States Forest Service and
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: the Council Stephen aged World. That's what we're talking about
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: right now. ESPN plus the number one new show ratings
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: are on fire right now. And it's about you. Is
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the pressure because it's about you, or it's the fun
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: of that it is about you and your vision on
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: a daily basis talk about Stephen age World. It's both. Uh,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: it's it's definitely fun because I don't run from the
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: responsibility of controlling my own destiny. A matter of fact,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: the challenge for me is to have to lean on
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: others to control my destiny. Uh, to to make sure
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: that what I produce is top notch and it's a
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: quality it's a quality programming or what have you. To
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: be the executive producer, to be the production company co
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: producing me in a concert with ESPN is an incredibly,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: incredibly big deal because I think it's gonna open doors
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: for myself, for you as my partner as my business manager. Uh,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: you know, for my family, Uh that I never never
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: would a dream could have been open. So in that regard,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: it's definitely fun. It's about me and I got that part.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: But it's an immense amount of pressure, There's no question
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: about it. But if pressure phases you, then I'm in
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the wrong business. Um is what I live for. I
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: I don't I don't have a problem. I'm not scared
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to fail. I'm scared if I didn't do all it
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: took to succeed. I'm scared if I took shortcuts. I'm
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: scared of not making sure that I prepared myself for
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: the opportunities that are going to come my way. But
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: I believe that if I'm at my best with anything
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: that I'm doing, no one can stop me. No one
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: in in in a meritocracy environment. UM. If in the
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: environment based on merit, if you want to get political,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: and there's the figurative proverbial glass ceiling that's hovering over me,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: where I can't see where the darts and arrows are
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: coming from, and people are back during and and and
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: and cheating and being shady in their mission to keep
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: me down or to precipitate my demise, that would be different.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: But in terms of the merit where you show me
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: what the obstacles are, you give me a fair opportunity
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: to excel. I believe that my a game is just
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: as good, if not better than anybody on this planet.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: And that's how I approach things when I'm in front
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: of that camera. You know, I believe I'm the Michael
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Jordan's of television. I truly do. And I'm talking about
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: you know, sports television. To be exact, I believe I'm
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: the Michael Jordan of television, and I'll show you how
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: literal him with it. I just spoke to Michael Jordan
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: yesterday and I told him yesterday I'm the Michael Jordan's
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: of television, of sports television. I really feel that way,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: and I think I'm better per se. It's just I
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: feel I can't be stopped. Cool. Uh So what did
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Michael Jordans say when you said, you know Michael Jordan?
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: He started laughing. You started laughing. He said, you're crazy,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: You're well you Chris. But he was on the golf course.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: He said, had to go, but you know he I
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: knew he had to go. But that that's the kind
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: of conversations, um that you know, you know, I've had
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: because you know, I don't think you know, I over
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: when I give speeches. Rather I tell people this all
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the time. I'm brilliant, because I know I'm not. I
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: steal from people who are brilliant. I learned from them,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: and I learned successful habits. I learned what to eradicate
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and dismiss and then I move forward. That's what And
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: so for me, Um, that's where it's at. That's where
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I'm coming from. And uh, you know, that's the approach
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: that I have with everything that I do. I'm gonna
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: ask two questions of I ask you, is the same
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: subject matters about being able to um dominate and become
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: a force in social media, That's one. And then the
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: popularity of Baby stephen A. Yeah, those two things tend
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: to intertwine, but they've they've taken you to another level
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: on the social media side, and then on the Baby
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: stephen A side. Talk about those two brands. Well, for me, uh,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Baby Baby stephen A, I take I give all the
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: credit to the folks and social media because about a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: year or so ago, you know, they attached the baby
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: face me to my face and it was kind of funny,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: you know, it was hilarious actually, and I said, you
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: know what, that's something that I want to do so
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: periodically on social media. Um, I threw that out there, um,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: and folks loved it. And because they loved it, you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: once I started to my show, I said, you know
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: what it has to be. You know, it has to
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: be on the show, like an alter ego of mine
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: or whatever. Because baby stephen A is arguing with stephen
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: A all the time. You know, he challenges me even
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: though he's a baby, you know. Indicative of today's generation
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: of youth where they come at you and they think
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: they know everything. Breath smeller like simulac wet behind it
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: is they don't know a damn thing yet because they're
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: too young, but they think they know everything, just like
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I thought I knew everything when I was younger, you know,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: all of those kind of things, And so I just
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: incorporate some of those things into it and it's just
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: taken off. And it's really really funny the way they
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: digitize everything. It makes it look like the baby face
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: and all of that stuff. So that's great, um, But
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: in terms of everything else, like I said, you know,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I'm from Holly queens Man, New York City, and I
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: went to an HBCU wins the Salem State. I grew
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: up in the streets of New York City. I have
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: four older sisters. I got thirteen niems I'm sorry, fifteen
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: nieces and nephews. You know, the greatest mom in the world,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: God rested Solo passed away in twent seventeen, and you
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: know my dad had passed away, you know, sixteen months later.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Stuff like that. There's a lot of family stories that
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I could tell. A lot of us can do that
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: where I can imitate my mother, I can imitate my sisters,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: or I peel a lot of ideas from my personal
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: experiences growing up, not just in terms of voices, diction, cadence,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: how people talk to you, how they deliver certain things,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: stuff like that, um in terms of speaking to you.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: All of those things contribute to characters that I try
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: to bring and incorporate on my show because I think
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: those I think there's a lot of fun memories and
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. Like, for example, I got one of
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: my boys literally literally Rashanda is the absolute truth. One
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: of my boys literally was sucking his thumb until he
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: was forty two years old. I mean I adn't even
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: bring him to the screen yet. I mean he was
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: one of those and he was like Steve Yo, Steve
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Yo you're tripping. It was stuff like that, and so
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm like, just imagine if somebody like that
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: was on TV, people will be crying. Levin he had
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: grown man, but he he just stopped sucking his thumb
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: a decade ago. Literally a decade ago. He was sucking
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: his dumb through college. He never stopped. And it's just
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: I like, they have no idea, you know, the kind
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: of guys that I grew up with, the kind of
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: people that I've been around, the personalities. So it's always
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: it's always easy for me to peel compelling stories, and
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: you've been around me, They'll just pop into my head.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Something up on me is something, and I'll tell a
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: story of what I experienced and what I endured, and
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: all of those experiences contribute to me putting forth the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: product on the screen that everybody could see that I
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: think would make people laughing, a little bit of levity
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: to the situation. Uh, and just let people know I'm
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: trying to make him laugh, trying to make them have
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: a good time and enjoy watching me. Even though I
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: do have a serious personality, I do like to laugh,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: do like to have fun. I do like to make
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: other people smile when I can. And so that's just
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the kind of things that I try to bring to
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: my show. The ultimate goal late night Talk and seeing
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: you do interviews on Stephen ag'e World and seeing I've
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: seen you know, first of all, you're talented at it,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Let's get that out of the way. But seeing the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: people that you don't know and going into genres that
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: you're not familiar with, and then familiarizing yourself with their
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: their work and interviewing them, and then seeing people come
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: back on your show. What pride do you take? And
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: watching that growth of your show and seeing these major
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: stars come on your show, which is on the ESPN
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: plus flat platform, which is sports are driven, but they're
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: ignoring that. Coming to talk to Stephen A. Smith, I'm
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: proud of it, but I'm even killed. And the reason
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: why I'm even killed, Like you know, there's sometimes you
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: my sisters and others would be like, man, you should
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: be far more excited. I mean, my god, the numbers
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: that you're bringing in uh to ESPN Plus. Now, what
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: you've contributed to subscriptions, what you know, what you're doing
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: on linear television with first take and sports and sports
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: And it was Stephen a and blah blah blah blah blah.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: What people don't realize is that, you know, I peel
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: it from what Denzel Washington once told me. You know,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I asked him what was the best film he ever made?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: His answer was the next one. He said. The work
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: that I do, he said, is the work that I do.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: The finished product and all the accolades and adulation and
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: celebration and everything else that comes with it is for
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: all of you all to do. He said. This is
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: my profession, and so what I do is I'm about
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: the business of doing the best work I can possibly do.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: That's where he's at. For me, where that elevates to
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: another level is that he's a supreme movie star. I'm
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: in television. I'm not doing the show twice a month,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: once a week. I'm doing it every day. So I
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: don't have the in my mind, I don't have the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: luxury of sitting back and just enjoying you know what,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: everybody else is celebrating. Wow, it's a great show. It's
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: this that All that says to me is I gotta
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: give it to them tomorrow too. I gotta give it
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: to them Friday, and then I gotta give it to
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: them next week Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. In the
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: week after that and the week after that and the
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: week after that. I focus on the task at hand
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: because I'm the one that has to perform. You know,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: I could sit up there. Rashan McDonald is a brilliant
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: business manager, Incredible with ideas, very focused, you know, meticulous
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: with scheduling and the light. There's so many things that
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: you handle that make my life easier. My assistant, Smatra
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Hawkins does a sensational job of that as well as
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: well as you well know, my sister is like my sister.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Calmen is like my Ace, even though Linda and all
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: In and Abigail were cloth Is too, you know. But
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: I have I have all of these people around me,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: along with my boys that I grew up with, my
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: boys from college. I got an incredible inner circle. Not
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: to mention the people that I know in the world
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of supports that I've learned to cultivate relationships with and
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: they've become dear friends of mine and loved ones. I'm
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: surrounded by a lot of people and it's a great,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: great thing to see. But in the end, I'm the
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: one that has to step in front of that camera
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: and that microphone and do the job. And I can't
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: let everybody else down and myself down by being caught
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: up and what I've done that I forget what I
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: have to do. And I think that that's the reason
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: that my bosses support me so much, because they have
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: to think that way too. ESPN is the world wide leader.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: They they're they're the behemoth. They can't walk around saying
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: we're the behemans. We're the world wide leaders, so we
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: don't have to do anything. They have to come to
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: work every day striving to live up to a standard
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: that they've set and the people that they in trust
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: has to have the same mentality as well. And so
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: what I try to do is to make sure that
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: I'm I prove that I'm trustworthy. When they paid me
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: this latest contract and we agreed to it, that contract
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: is through June of five. They have they essentially said,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: we trust that what you gave us to earn this
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: contract here, you're going to continue to give us for
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: years to come. And it's my job to make sure
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: I don't let them down by making them out to
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: be liars. That's the approach that I have. That's how
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I focus um and that's how I go about doing
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: my job all the time. Stephen A, thank you for
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: coming on Money Making Conversations. I appreciate you. Thank you, bro.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: If you want to hear or see any of my interviews,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: please go to Money Making Conversation dot com or my
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel. I'm Rashan McDonald. In this season of giving,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Cools has gifts for all your loved ones. For those
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: who like to keep it cozy, find fleeces, sweaters, loungeware,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: blankets and throws. Or support minority owned or founded brands
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: by giving gifts from Human Nation and shame moisture. And
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: in the spirit of giving, Coals Cares is donating eight
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: million dollars to local nonprofits nationwide. Give with all your
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: heart this season with great gifts from Coals or Coals
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: dot com. Help Jews in poverty and helped Jews Now
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: dot org. Your twenty dollar gift today will help provide
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: a life saving food box to Jews and need be
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: a blessing right now. Visit helped Jews now dot org.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: That's helped Jews now dot org. Hi. I'm Saracoustack. I'm
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: the NBA analysts for the y S Network and I'm
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: hosting a new podcast called NBA Flashback. NBA Flashback takes
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: you back to the best moments in NBA history through
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: exclusive archival audio from the NBA Vault, and each week
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: we'll have new interviews with the legends who were actually
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: on the court. Check out NBA Flashback on the I
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: podcast