I Am Debra Lee

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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's BOOKSHEF Bringing a world together with books, culture and community. Hi, my name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshef. This is episode sixty eight. I got a couple of interviews lined up. I was able to host de be Leave book signing event out in a mansion up on top of Beverly Hills on with a stellar view.

Amazing view.

View was like overlooking all sage, just like you was in the clouds and you was up in heaven. But we hosted deb Lee folks signing event at this glorious home in Beverly Hills. And let me tell you, it was Who's who They showed up at the event. It was a lot of influential people in the entertainment world, in the news world. Doubly has a stellar career. She

So kudos to Double Lee.

Now I probably should have labed with this one because this is the seventeenth year anniversary of Malik in April this week on May sixth. Every year we try to be creative and find new in different ways to celebrate our anniversary.

Sometimes we go out of.

Town, sometimes we do something in town. But what we're gonna do is we gonna go back to.

It all begin.

We're gonna go back and celebrate on Saturday where we got married. It's a hotel called the Marina del Rey Hotel. I'm gonna have the room decorated by Noni. You can find her on Naughty by Noni on Instagram. She's gonna decorate the room. She's gonna put pictures all around and go back to Memory Lane, all the different anniversaries we didn had.

I sent her all the pictures.

I'm also going to have the room catered by Chef Kon Houston. I believe that's her Instagram, and she's going to curate an Asian menu. And my wife is training. She's in the fitness She got a competition coming up in June, so I have to be concerned about her diet. So it's all gonna be a big old surprise. She doesn't know that I'm gonna decorate the room. She just thinks we're going back to it all begins seventeen years

So hey, email me DM me give me.

A shout out for our anniversary Also, I got to introduce you to the book.

The book just came out, The Heart of a Black Man. That's right.

Co author Malik Muhammad is featured in that book. I have a chapter. It's an anthology of thirty black men from all over the country, and I wrote a chapter call from.

Devastation to Elevation. And I am so.

Excited to announce to the world that I'm now a published author along with twenty nine other brothers. And I'm greatly excited to announce this book to the world, The Heart of a Black Man, Stories of Triumph and Resilience. Listen, right now, we're trying to be the Amazon number one bestseller.

I don't usually push Amazon.

I pushmlitue books dot Com, you know, But right now, in unity, I'm taking one for the team. I need anybody that love our mission, love what we're doing, supporting Elikue Books, supporting Malik, and they.

Go and buy on Amazon The Heart of a Black Man. Okay.

Now, it was compiled by a lovely young lady named to Lisha Barry, and she's done these wonderful anthologies with women, but now she dropped into the realm to speak on the resilience and Trump for me in this book The Heart of a Black Man.

I'm just so excited to be part of this. My chapter from Devastation to Elevation.

Now I'm going to read in part of this segment, I'm going to read a affirmation that I wrote this in there. At the time I wrote it, I didn't even know I was writing affirmations, but it ended up being that. And listen, I didn't even think that. When I was writing the book, I had it in order. And then I sat down and read it to April, and she said, you know, that book is already written

I opened up my reveal some things.

About myself in this book, some things you know that I wanted to share and open up and make myself vulnerable. So you got to read the book. You gotta read my part at least, you know, and not that long. It's an anthology. I put a lot in a little maybe that little will growing too. My own book. You're the one Day of feature book based upon this anthology that I wrote.

But hey, I'm going to read this part and it's called Elevator. So I'm gonna read that.

As part of this segment later on, but I want to continue to do my introduction for what you can expect on this episode and so, and what you can.

Expect is Malik Mohamed to read part of his book The Heart of a Black Man, And I hope you enjoy that because I opened up and make myself vulnerable, So enjoy that.

It's called Elevators. I'm gonna read that. But moving on, I'm going to introduce you to a lovely young lady that I was able to interview at Malik book.

We meet together with fire.

We got a lot of energy and we in the interview is just fun and refreshing. And the author name is kron Nate and she wrote a book called Get Familiar with Failure to Succeed that we break it all down because the young lady has been repping and designing and planning and in corporate America parties and events for major companies.

And she offered us for young and new and upcoming arthor of news.

So she you know, reveals in detail, you know, her inspiration and then onto this book.

So that's coming on this episode, and.

So hey, all I need y'all to do is listen to this episode because it has featured Malite, my comedic co author of the Heart of a Black Man, Stories of Triumph and Resilience enjoy.

And they couldn't afford outside council and at a certain point five Johnson asked me to come over and.

Start to leading the party. And that's how I got to beg.

Once I got there, I started doing more business things and learned that I liked business more than I did law. Eventually became COO and CEO, and you know, as they say, the rest is history. But it was an amazing.

Career and that's what I wanted to write about.

You know, I think my story is one of resilience and the term nation. I wasn't sure too early what I was determined about.

But I was determined to do something and.

To give back.

And so for me, be Et provided that Abue, you know, a place where I could, when I got to a point of being on the business side, focus on programming and make high quality, authentic.

Programming for the black community.

Turn you know, bet in a different direction when I took over the network of sixty music videos and by the time I left, we didn't have any music videos, but we had a lot of original programming. And you know, that was my vision when I became CEO. And I always say, when you're CEO, oh, no one asked you what your vision is, just what the CEO tells you to do. But when you become CEO, then they start asking you what your vision is and that vision and I'm so proud of.

What we built at EET. The young people I was able to hire and.

Give opportunities that they wouldn't have other places and allow them to stretch. Because you know, if I was looking for a CFO, I couldn't say I wanted CFO from another media company.

Because there were no they weren't given those kind of opportunities.

So instead, you know, I might hire a treasurer and let them take the leap.

And that's really what Bob Johnson did for me.

I mean, I was a six year associated when he hired me, so it was a leap for me to become general counsels. So, you know, I wanted to tell that story. I also wanted to tell the challenges I had, because I really.

Think that's even more important for.

Young people to know you can be successful in spite of challenges. And I think because of my position, and you know, the glamorous side of being CEO and walking out on the BT Awards stage once a year and my favorite designer, you know, people think it was really glamorous, but there was a lot of hard work behind it, a lot of sacrifice, you know. I was also I had two children, I was married twice, divorced twice. And I know one story I particularly.

Wanted to tell was in between college and law school, I got pregnant.

And with someone I wasn't really involved with, so there was no long term relationship there. And I had an abortion, and that was something I never talked about publicly, and with things and things the way they were in that year, I could go to New York and get an abortion.

I had that right.

And I wanted to go to Harvard Law School and that was my decision, and.

That's what I wanted to do with.

My body, and that's what I did, and I did it. And I showed up up for day one law school and never looked back. And the thing that scares me about the political side of that, and what's happening now is that our young women don't have that opportunity or losing in the process of losing that opportunity. So I

But you know, those are the challenges we have as women.

Also tell the story that Bob Johnson and I had a personal relationship and that wasn't something I planned, and it's a relationship that was good for a while and then it turned abuse to then it turned into sexual harassment as my job was tied in uh to the relationship, and I wanted young women to hear that story. You know, we heard so many stories during Me Too and times up, but they're always I think a bit exaggerated, you know, in terms of guys.

Coming to the door and roads and you.

Know, just just that extreme side of me too. And I knew my story was a little different. Still, you know, it didn't have a great envy, but.

I wanted to tell it, and so you know, there are other things that deal with in the book. I don't want to spoil it.

I think you know people with the response has been great. The response been great for women and men, which I really appreciate.

And a lot of some of you tonight have told me you couldn't put the book down, and you know, I really poured my heart into it.

And you know, someone told me once, if.

The Lion doesn't tell the story, the hunter will. I wanted to tell my own story in my own way. It's funny I didn't let other than my daughter, who I let you one or two chapters. I didn't let anybody else read it except the proof readers and editors.

But I didn't want to.

Have an influence in any way. I just wanted to tell And so I'm so glad it's out and I really appreciate you all coming out tonight and supporting me.

And I hope you know some of you have told me.

You enjoyed the book, and for those of you who haven't read it, I hope you enjoy it.

And I think the reason back to the beginning question. The reason I wrote.

It is wanted to help the generation come in and I wanted them to know if I can do it, you can do it, and you should dream big. I never thought i'd d CEO of a major media company. That's not what I started out to do, but that's what I accomplished, and I wanted, you know, those who come behind me to know about.

So with that, what are the five keys to success?

Since you since why you ever stell a career?

It was the five keys that particularly to the young girls and young.

Okay, yeah, three. Be passionate about what you're doing. We all work so hard. If you're not passionate about it, you know, it's.

A waste of time. Whether it's a cause, whether it's a company, whatever, be passionate about it.

Get educated.

My dad was a big believer in getting the best education you can.

And can be going to HBCU State College, I believe, or whatever it was, study home.

And then I would say, be true to your valuist.

You know, in your work and.

In your personal and we all you know, we only know what our own values are. But you know you have to be honest to yourself and you know play honest to your family.

But keep to your values.

That's one thing.

We found a BET that when we were doing mostly videos, a lot of employees were embarrassed about the programming and they were scared to go to the family and then and say, I work at BET.

And you know, and videos started out.

Being nutha Frankler, you work, wind and fire, but they turned into the Lil Wayne and you pull a lot of other people.

Uh.

But anyway, be true to your values. And I'm sure there's seven others. If you want to do those three.

You're well on your way.

I got a guess with me right here at Malik Books. You know how we do it. We don't script, We.

Be organic and we have a conversation.

She's an independent author and she's a new author, and I have a book right here in the store signed as a matter of fact, so let me introduce you to kay Renee, who wrote the book.

Get familiar with failure to Succeed.

Now we're gonna die right into it right now, So welcome.

You have a crazy.

TV yet Oh my god, Well, thank you for the compliment.

Appreciate it.

Well, Hey, my audience on Malik's bookshelf, want to know all about this book because it's a book about business, aren't you knew it?

And it's guiding the young and the.

Youth the oh to not fail but to succeed in business. Don't get twisted on the title get familiar with fair First, I thought you did.

Yeh, I thought, I said, get familiar with failure. Well, that's something we should.

Not be familiar with.

Out, I want to get familiar with succeed.

But tell us why you came up with this type.

I wanted it to do just that, Like I wanted it to make you challenge the word failure, like, oh my god, I don't want to get familiar with selling. But it's like, no, we have to kind of help people reprogram the meaning of what failure is in business, and failure is not something bad, like you know, failure

Those things and going after it again.

You know, So we gotta like we gotta like reprogram ourselves to be comfortable with the thought that I'm gonna put this out and it could fail.

It might fail, but that's not the end goal. That's where I learning.

Ugh, Okay, okay, well I'm feeling that, and I think you absolutely correct because every failure I han had allowed me to succeed. Every loss I don't had allowed me to win because I got better, I got more determined. I learned from my mistakes. I learned from my failures. And I think that's what you're saying. We're born in complete to go into completion with. So it's gonna take sometimes feeling or not succeeding.

In order to learn how to win it and how to succeed.

And skin to go into the next battlefield, like you know, like you need you need some bumps, you need some bruises. There's there's no reason for you to be in the in the game if you ain't even got no bumps, no bruises. We're not looking at like, you know, absolutely respecting the person that like, oh you're too clean.

No, no, no, you got to get out of here.

I can't trust.

You, you know what. I liking that what you just said to the analogy. When I was when we all was a child learning how to walk. We felt a whole lot, but we got up and we perfected out of walk.

I got tired of falling and I started.

Standing walking, and I don't fall as much.

So I liking that analogy to what you what you're saying, right, we do gotta get thick skin, because a lot of us go into business and the minute we hit a road bump, we think about quitting and getting out of the game and stop going in a different court.

I know, me included, I've been there.

I doubted myself, you know, even in my journey with Malik books and so hitting that thick skin help will help you overcome when you get those thoughts, because we all got them.

Two thoughts in our minds.

How and the load that which it wants to motivate you, and that which wants to talk you out of what you're trying to do.

So speak on that.

I mean, I feel like I and even in my own journey, I've had to battle with that with myself. It's like when I first first first started out, which I do talk about in the book, I was homeless and broke producing events teaching entrepreneurship, and people didn't even know that like I was producing these events and trying to be the very last person to leave because I didn't want people to know that I didn't even.

Know where I was gonna go that night, you know.

But it was like and I used to discourage me, and one of my friends used to always be like he d stop putting on these events teaching people's business when you're broke, and I just be like, no, but God keeps telling me to do it. So I don't know, I'm gonna just keep doing it cause like, yeah, you know, I'm not I'm not making no money. I don't know how to I'm not figuring out why I'm out, like you know, like I don't know, like I just I just had to keep going how to keep going.

Cause it's like even though.

I felt like I was failing, because it's like I'm putting on these events, I'm still walking away with nothing. I'm putting on these events, I'm still walking away with nothing, and it's like, you know what, it's okay, like one of these days, I'm gonna put this on and I'm gonna walk away with something. I don't know when, when when, but but something's gonna come back to me.

You know that takes relief, That takes.

More than just like you got to know you want to see and you faking it until you make it. You have sometimes you gotta put on that different look, that different face, that different style.

I mean, dressed too impressive even if.

You bro, I think like people back then, if you looked at like what my hair looked like back then, how dry it was. I feel like if you really paid attention, you knew I didn't have no mooddy because my hair was crisp, then it's all boys.

Yeah, yeah, progress, Yeah, it's so dry.

Wow.

I mean you opened up and just made yourself vulnerable telling your story. And that's wonderful because you know, we can look at success and it looks great, but it's a backstory. You just gave your backstory. You just revealed to Malice Bookshelf. I was homeless, bro, and yet I found a way to step up into my beliefs and my glory and my success.

Now now you're doing now my understandings.

You you're putting on events for name some of.

Them corporate jobs. Don't Fortune five hundred talk to them.

You know, you know essential water water we work, you know, we just in these street bam.

You know, look at that, Look at that, because your grind was real, it was one hundred. You believe in yourself and yet boom, you walked in and got contracts with major corporations due event planning for them. And so that's that's amazing because like I said, you know, the mind is a terrible thing to weigh, and you will talk yourself out of success or.

No glory if you let it. Because we ain't born.

With all the skills, and so you know, you had to find the skills in order to You've been in the game teaching the things that you have in your book for about seven years now, right, Yeah, talk about that.

Well, Like for me, it's like I'm first generation, you know, so I feel like I wanted to create and I've always been creating for that particular audience because first generation entrepreneurs are a vulnerable audience.

You know, they don't.

Have sometimes friends or family to confide in about what they're doing, you know, because they not even that they don't want to be there for them, They don't know how to be there for you. And I think that's one thing like first generation entrepreneurs, which I talk about, need to understand is that don't put so much pressure on other people to cheer you on and to hype

You know, absolutely, And what would you say, Uh, why should people want to read your book?

You know what I'm saying.

You should definitely want to read this book.

If you want to be motivated, if you want to get access to the tools, to the resources, if you want to be out here pitching your way to success. Everything that you need to do that is in here. If you want to make sure that you building a house and your foundation is set, you want to get this book because sometimes we go into business and you don't even know how to send an email. You don't even know how to get someone to respond to your email. But this book is going to help you do that.

Yes, you know, you'll know how to live in your confidence.

Yes you know, yes book, yes you do that. Yes we all have to pay it forward. We all have to.

And I'm saying, like I know, this information in this book is a good content. Good content, let me tell you in good information, because I know, I meet a lot of people, and they I get bone rash a lot, and I get calls a lot, you know, to hosted books or some proposition or whatever to clear an event or so forth, and it's a lot of noise.

And I tell all all.

The time, you gotta find a way to get my attention because I got a lot of things going on.

I still gotta do marketing. I still got to do a county, I still got to order books. I got a lot going on.

So it's not that I'm busy, and so I only got so many hours in the day and so much time to do certain tasks. And you're bone weshed up in here. You know what I'm saying, What time you closed, I'm coming, I'm coming. I got a book, I said, Okay, I happened to be here when you came in, and I.

Knew you was gonna be here when you was full up, So that they got was.

A strategic strategic and and and look she kid knock me up in here and had me we up here building for.

About an hour.

That's how robust the conversation was and how enlightened was and we were helping each other in the different industries that we might be in. There was a common denominator and we begin to talk about, you know, things that could elevate both of us. And so it was intriguing and refreshing. And that's how you gotta be. Her elevator pitch was a one. So I know it's some good

Get a book that you can relate to.

Get familiar with failure to succeed.

Knee.

Now, I'm definitely using that, y'all.

You heard it, You heard it now more last question. You know, let my.

Audience at police bookshelf know three things that there is a takeaway that they can use right now today in this book for me and like in this book okay.

You know what I'm saying or in general, but you.

Know, okay.

Three takeaways that you could leverage right now today. One, make sure that you're setting your intentions every single morning. Setting intentions is literally gonna help you propel your day. Is gonna help you like address everything through those intentions. Two, make sure that you are giving gratitude to God for waking you up every day. I think that's something that you can definitely do today, right now, every single day.

Leave that person.

Practice that in the mirror every single day.

Get it down to like fifteen to twenty seconds, and you gotta elevate a bitch.

Bingo found book right here at Malie Books. And thank you, thank you for being part of my podcast. Malik's Booksh'll bringing the world together with books, culture and community.

This was fresh and and lightning. I'm sure my audist is gonna get a lot of it. I know I did.

Thank you, Thank you, and make sure you guys follow me on all social media platforms, even Triller. It's oo sorry, it's keirane k E I R E N E.

E bgo all right right here at Malie Books.

The Heart of a Black Man just release.

It's on Amazon. Needs you to help me make a best seller. I'm gonna read a section in here called Elevated. Malik Muhammad, co author of.

The Heart of a Black Man.

And Spine Stories of Triumph and Resilience. My chapter is called From Devastation to Elevation, and the section I'm gonna read is called Elevated. I am elevated because my eyes are open now. I'm elevated because I help my community. I am elevated because I know how to love myself. I am elevated because my mind, body and spirit have been awaken. I am elevated because I work for myself. I am elevated because I am great. I am elevated because I am a father and husband. I am elevated

I am elevated because the community supports my mission.

I am elevated because I understand the many of unity. I am elevated because I know my limitations. I am elevated because I am here and now. And I'm elevated because.

I have you.

Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics on the shelf are books, culture, and community.

Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Malik Books.

See you next time.