you know everybody always ask me what
are you going to talk about and I always
say I'm excited about hearing what I'm
going to talk about because I never know
when Georgia didn't tell you she was
trying to get a record deal backstage
she left that part out you know I just
have a conversation but I always like to
look at the room something about being
quiet and still and the energy that you
get so I thank you for that so today I
was checking in my hotel and this
gentleman said to me he said you know
what
dr. nose it's not about the destination
it's about the journey think about that
it's not about the destination it's
about the journey so that's what I want
to talk about tonight I figured out
about five seconds ago what I'm going to
talk about must share my journey I grew
up in gasps in Alabama so how many
people know where gas in Alabama is
raise your hand all everyone who knows
in those who knows and knows and there
we go
nobody knows about Gaston well my dad
Matthew senior was a truck driver
he made $30 a week $30 a week but he
owners to let him drive that truck all
the time and he tore down old houses he
sold all the metals bought old cars and
so every part on the car
my mother was a colored made made $3 a
day
three dollars a day $15 a week do the
math $45 a week so my parents made $5 a
week Michael but you know my mother
would get her best girlfriends but on
the weekend they would sole these
beautiful quilts and by the way I lived
on a dirt road in Gaston Alabama now
imagine imagine Beyonce and Solange dad
living on a dirt road parents made $40 a
week and I have the privilege of talking
to you and I see a lot of young people
I'm fortunate and privileged to be a
college professor so I just want to talk
to you for a minute I can be here if I
can be here growing up in Gaston Alabama
on the dirt road and by the way I left
out a another important part we were
probably I was 14 15 before we had what
they call out houses I know you not you
have no idea what that means that's
where that's been my journey that's been
my journey
growing up in Gaston never went to a
black school I'm 68 years old
it makes me the oldest in the room right
so I was the first first in elementary
school one of the first blacks in junior
high one of the first black gastic
high one of the first black University
of Tennessee but you know my dad and my
mother they always instilled in me to be
the very best that I could be they
taught me how to dream the impossible
dream they taught me how to
dream the impossible three what was that
dream how to find my passion how many of
you know your passion ratio my passion
is to motivate and to educate in three
areas music business entrepreneurship
and we'll talk a little bit at the end
about health and wellness by the way I
have to look at this time clock okay
there it is so what is passion it's the
thing that energizes you it's the thing
that makes you determine it's the thing
that wakes you up in the morning excited
like I am every day yesterday I was in
class at purview a.m. got home at 12:00
midnight my class is at 6:00 6:40 and he
even a weird weird time 6:40 I have to
drive an hour I don't do that for money
I do it because I love it
my wife asked me why do you get home so
late last night I said finally
you know semester just started the
fourth class we finally connected me and
my students and so what does that mean
that means after class my students
finally wanted to have these dialogues
and conversations and I loved it that's
my passion my passion is right here
right now this moment to be in front of
you because when you live this wonderful
think I'll pass it you know people ask
me well do you sleep I sleep well
because when you live you're passing
you've never worked a day in your life
that has to be quite a experience to do
something you don't love that's not a
part of you please find that passive and
passions changed by the way you know
what I was passionate about when I was a
young man I wanted to play basketball
played high school played University of
Tennessee excuse me and I have a young a
lot of young men in the room that might
think that sports him and he'll pop is
the only way rap it's the only way let
me tell you that's one percent industry
the music industry is a one percent
success rate to get into the NBA NFL
baseball this one percent give you an
idea thirty seven thousand albums we
make a year three hundred and seventy
are profitable so if that's what you
want to do you better be practicing but
you can't you can't practice and give it
you all
unless you're passionate about it
because what coexists would passion work
ethics Cole exists with passion you know
I always say you can maybe outsmart me
but you're not gonna outwork me and I
can say that because I love what I do
I'm very fortunate I I get to live a
life today that I don't have to do
anything I'm not passionate about doing
I can't wait till you can have that
sense of ownership about the word
passion and those work ethics and
certainly I can't in this brief moment
talk about these ten traces and
hopefully we have another opportunity
but I will talk about a few other than
passion and work ethics you know it and
I'll talk a little bit I don't normally
this is something I've never done
actually I'll talk about Beyonce do
y'all know her
yeah I can do better than that okay so
I'm going to tell you you know one of
the traits I'll find out about highly
successful people is we and I like to
put me and we learn from failure you see
I've learned through many mistakes
mistakes in my marriage mistakes at my
being a father mistakes
owning my company mistakes even speaking
hell I made a few already
but what I've looked is fill your
mistakes there are all opportunities to
grow not a reason to quit and for me
before I get to be I say a lot of my
failures have to do with ego ego so I'm
going to give you a definition you've
never heard of ego not in Webster I'm
gonna give you that definition it's the
anesthesia that Dead's the pain of
stupidity ego is the anesthesia that
debt is the pain of stupidity
drop the mic on that one see I love
doing this to help find him and
hopefully share I don't get uptight and
you know there's no right or wrong way
for me it's what I feel at the moment
this moment we'll get to share for the
rest of our lives we spent this moment
together so it's a very special moment
for me to share it with you so Beyonce
was a young kid and at nine years old
she was on this show called Star Search
so think American Idol these girls were
little girls kids they lost but guess
what Justin Timberlake loss alia loss
boys submit Christina Aguilera loss I
can go on and on and on and you'll find
it these highly accomplished people that
we all look up to they failed in their
lives
they lost Beyonce lost then her and a
girl group Girls time then got a record
deal with Elektra Records they got
dropped but those of you that don't know
what that means they got fired that's
what it means
and then Destiny's Child went on to be
the most successful girl group in the
world I did say the world
but guess what when Beyonce made her
first solo album Columbia Records said
there's not one hit Beyonce on this
record not one they were kind of right
went they had Bugaboo crazy and love
[Music]
Dangerously in Love
I could start naming him she only had
five it was kind of right she didn't
have one she had five kids what is the
question I thought what is the point the
point is and we had time we talked more
about being a visionary and others but
you know sometimes people don't
understand your vision and when you're
passionate and you have the work ethics
and you have the right team you still
will make mistakes so I'll share to you
my largest biggest professional mistake
salons my youngest daughter got signed
to Interscope Jimmy Iovine a legend dr.
Dre a legend so they had this new
product that they wanted me to help them
get into Walmart and I said to them I
don't want to get a check I want
ownership they said mr. Knowles
unfortunately we can only give you one
percent well the company was the beat's
and they sold it to Apple for three
billion dollars my wife reminds me all
the time when she's angry you know that
30 million dollars that was a big
mistake boy thinking outside of the box
I did want to say that before I leave
and close often I have a box and asked
one person again and invite someone else
to get in the box let's imagine this
square as a box and the person they
invite I asked them why because we have
been
since childhood since childhood what we
can't do because we're poor because
we're black because we're Hispanic we've
been conditioned but we can't do not
what we can I call that box in thinking
and so we put people in our box just
like us that's the only people we want
box and thinkers that think because we
were conditioned so all of our life all
we do if we pretend that this was a box
we would hit walls all day long because
we'd be conditioned but once you step
outside of that box there are no walls
there are no walls and hopefully someone
understands what I'm saying
once you step outside of that box so I'm
going to close now and I always do this
I had the opportunity to speak many
times and I asked everyone to stay in
for a minute please could you please
stand
so I like to tell a story I travel a lot
and I was going down an escalator but
you know I want to regress him back up
in July of last year I had a dot on my
t-shirt I imagine a red dot take a pen a
piece of white paper and I died was on
my t-shirt inside of my t-shirt the next
day another died the next day another
died you know I was for twenty years I
did diagnostic imaging I saw zero
radiography the leading modality for
breast cancer at first black man a soul
MRI scanners in America and ended up on
neural surgical specialists so I knew
when I saw that that dot something was
wrong and I sold mammography equipment
and yes men do get mail what I call male
chest cancer also known as male breast
cancer and I went and got an x-ray a
mammogram actually in an ultrasound and
found out that's what I had I
immediately had surgery but the first
thing I asked myself why why me and I
remember going down an escalator then I
started that story and there was a nun
from Mexico she had a jar and
missionaries he has please give and I
gave she gave me a card like someone you
might give me a car today I'm very
transparent I'm not gonna read that car
but a family one day looked in my pocket
and I did read this card
that's what
want to end today with it said pray not
for a life free from trouble pray for
triumph over trouble for what you and I
call adversity God the universe whatever
name you want cause opportunity that was
an opportunity for me and I go all over
now and I spread this story about mill
chest cancer and early detection for men
and women and abraca genetics that you
never heard and I don't have time to
explain but I wanted to share just like
today this man said to me out of nowhere
it's not the destination it's the
journey thank you