Level Up!

and my family has always been a great number. This is episode thirteen, and it's going to be an exciting thirteen. We're gonna start off on this episode with Lover's Day. That's our changed name for Valentine's Day. Okay, I'm not a big fan of Valentine, but I'm a big fan of Lovers Day. So like anything else, we put our twist to it. So, Hey, me and Wifey celebrated Lover's Day, and so we had a little conversation. I'm gonna share

that with you on this episode. Now, another part of this episode, and I'm gonna be touching on, is Leek's Bookmobile community outreach where we finally took out our bookmobile to the community, went to a school called sat Your jeans Um during this Black History Month and it was a hit. The school love it, the kids love it. So I'm gonna just share something about that experience on this episode. And so also featured on this episode is l A Spox player Jasmine Walker had a chance to

interview her. Why because we had a MALIEK Books had a celebration Black History celebration at the store and in conjunction with l A. Sparks, they came out and brought books for the kids, invited the kids to a free game. We gave away Black History booklets, pencils, black History book marks, um, Jason Walker Dead a reading and so it was just a fun filled event and so we're gonna I'm gonna share that interview I had with Jasmine Walker of the

l A. Sparks. And lastly, my book review for this episode is Level Up, Rise Above The Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back by Stacy Abrams and Laura Hartson. This book will intrigue you, and so I have a book review where I in wolve my experiences and why I like such books like this that I'm gonna be doing for my book review. Level Up Episode thirteen Malik's book mobile is open. We are so thankful and grateful for all those who helped support us to make this dream happen.

And it's here is here We opened to day. This is our first event. Howard by for Rising. Took us a year to put this book Will bill together. We started out with imagination and guess what now were open for the kids. That's what this we put together. It's well, well, well everybody, what's great? Are you in alright? Alright? Y'all enjoined the book mobile? Yeah, okay, okay. We came out here. This is called community. We came out here to put the boat bill on the road. So let me ask

you something. All the books beautiful, all the books wonderful? Are there great books to read? Do you love to read? Yeah? And let me ask you another question. Books at home? Yeah? You got what's on your bookshelf at home? Still my books every day? Are you alright? Any titles of the books did you got at home? Some of the titles you read? Okay? I have I have one name? God is good? Okay, okay, okay, I'm loving that. I'm loving y'all love to read. I see everybody walks. It is

because they love to read. Right, yeah, yeah, Now did y'all know he was coming today? No, I didn't tell you because because then you could your mom gonna bring some money. But it's all good because if you don't got no money, you can read brown and you can just look at the world of books that are here. We welcome all of y'all to Leaks Mobile. This is amazing, amazing. When I see kids reading loving books, I think about books bring opportunities. There's a whole new world in books,

and we want kids to experience that. Leek Books. Leek's Bookshelf has a special guest to just visit Melik's to day, we did a Black History celebration. She read to the kids. They did a book giveaway, and we had a lot of free giveaways. Her name is Jasmine Walker. She is an l A Sparks player and she is um with the w n b A. I had a chance to talk with her, and I want to ask her a few questions. Why she's here at Melik's for the Melik's Bookshelf.

How you doing today, Jasmine? Pretty good? How about your good good good? Welcome, welcome, welcome, Well, I want to take this this opportunity to just ask you a few questions why we're blessed with your presence? Um, what's your thoughts for this upcoming season? I know you got injury last year, Um, so what's your attitude, what's your will? And what's your expectations for this upcoming season or all these sparks expectations for this season? Just to be that

player that uh I need to be. Uh I need to be one of those players that my team may expect for me to be. Um. I'm looking to come back healthy, better than ever, better than before. Um yeah, and I'm we're looking to win as a team as a whole. So that's the playing. What kind of support group that you have growing up to help you in these endeavors at work? Where that was friends, family, my mom? That's probably like my number one thing is my mom. So without her, I feel like I love be as

strong as I am today. So thanks to her, all of us sometimes don't have that, but yet you have a belief and you have a goal and you can still reach it even though you might not have the support behind you. Was playing in it of u n b A a lifelong dream of yours? Yes, uh I want to say, it's been my drinking since high school, tenth grade, sophomore. So you put goals in your life to achieve, and you do what you're supposed to do,

you will achieve. I promise Before you became a professional basketball player, what was the obstacles that you had to overcome? Because there are many As a freshman, I turned out at Porta State. Uh, it isn't being a transfer kid. I feel like that was a took of decision in my life. I was you making this type of decision? Um My mom was the type of mom like she supported whatever choice I made when it comes to basketball. So, um me basically going through their recruiter process again, it

was stressful. So I felt like that was who I had overcome. Did you had to deal with pit pressure? And if so, how you had to overcome and deal with it? Pred pressures took But one thing about me? Uh, one thing about it. If I don't want to do something, I'm not you as a leader. Yeah. One thing about it, I don't want to I'm not gonna do so. Yeah, prepression is hard. Talk about the sacrifices you had to make in order to be a student ath lete because

you might couldn't make the birthday parties. You might couldn't make the family functions, You might couldn't make a lot of things that a lot of people you know typically can make because you're making the sacrifice in school and on the field. Sacrifice that I mean in my life. Uh, this is always being away from home. It's plenty of times and plenty of things that I missed. Uh, simply missing Thanksgiving every year, It's been a couple of times.

I probably missed Christmas a couple of times just by being astrny. Um. I want to say recently, I have celebrated thanks Giving me in Christmas Cooper time. Uh was amazing. But yeah, I got too easy. I've been thinking birthdays. I was I'm just everybody's birthday oside. But I mean that's my sort is everybody my family know what I have to do. They support me still, they understand. So Um, I have sacrificed this, but I also have people in my corner that understand it supports me and what I

have going on in my life. I'm glad that LA gave me the opportunity to be here because it's a wonderful environment. I'd rather be here so all right because this season, you know, that's what I fell in love with the weather. So if I was to ask you, what was it? The only thing you like about l A Mine was the weather. That's why I stayed. What's yours the weather of the beach. And I got some great minds thinking like, um, we're rooting for you Jashmine

this year in the l A Sparks. Um. One of the most important questions that I like to ask my guests on my podcast is you know my podcast is called Melik Bookshelf bringing the world together the books with books, culture and community. So I know it's on my bookshelf, but what I want to know is what's on your bookshelf. I want to say my favorite reading is the Dwayne

Way book. Okay, Um, yeah, I want to say I read Gabriel Young's books too, but that's the most recent books were They're a Power Couple and a Beautiful Couple, And uh so those are two excellent books I would definitely recommend as well. Um, they're very successful. Dwayne and his wife Gabriel union very successful, and you can learn a lot from people being successful. And um, you continue on your journey, can we see a book from you. Oh yeah, and in near future, definitely have a book coming.

I got some ideas in my head. Okay, okay, well we'll look forward to because of Malik Books. Would definitely would like to have that book on our bookshelf. And so thank you for this opportunity to spend a little time and interview you from a podcast. I appreciate it and done. Thanks a lot. Special night for us where the posting beings having Valent Times day or shall I say Love's Day, just got our first appetizers. We're a out here acting like we're young. It's already ten o'clock.

Work all day. I'm out here like I'm hanging like i'm young. You know, back in the day, we can go all day. The party just get started. You just started getting dressed about ten o'clock to get the club. Were out here yawning eating at ten o'clock at night. Oh man, be the other thing when it was earlier. You look at your phone, you were like you only ain't learned. Man in the bed, undercover man, we went to bed early, didn't even know it day. We're trying

to angle with the youngsters out here. It's late night. Love us dating. It's not even laying when the patio they're playing jazz music. It's very beautiful. It's all coupled out. And you know, I love you every day. I treat you with love every day you do what you do the day is still special only because we want to emphasize it a little more. Even though we emphasize it, you know, in our relationship. Every day I do this for you. Thank you. I appreciate you for doing it

for me. Makes you feel special. Because you were boling around home, I got like I do something somebody celebrates. Ye, get home in that bed right now. To be honest, working all day, I'm ready to turn in. You're ready for tomorrow. Yes, they're about to turn this jazz puts it back up. Well, actually it's somebody about to before I see. That's what that little violin was. Yeah, Happy love is Day. You heard it lying and posted me my book review for this episode. It's level Up by

Stacy Abrams and Laura Harson. The level up rise above the hidden forces holding your business back. Now, I always thought of Stacy Abrams as politician. You know, That's how when I first heard about it um and then shortly thereafter I not that she wrote a couple of books under her alias called yes Selina Montgomery. We all know Stacy as a politician ran for governor UM was responsible for galvinizing people UM and bringing out the vote in

this last election. But her partner Laura Hodgson as the president, which is the president CEO now and serves as an entrepreneur and residence at Harvard Business School, and she's an international NORM speaker. So these two unlikely women found that they had a lot in common and that they could

work together and network together. And so this book UM that offers their insight their development and as well as all the different things they had to do together, the long hours, insomnia, the just to put together their businesses and all the business mouths that they made to create a successful business. A lot of times politicians are not necessarily entrepreneurs. They might know policy, Like Stacy, she's a politician, she's a lawyer, but she's also an entrepreneurs and she

spent decase developing business. And I can respect that because I typically believe that business is the answer, and I think that that's UM one of the healing solutions for this country and for these innecies all is business. I think that that's a direction um that we need to go in. So I'm drawing to that. I'm drawing to that because I'm always trying to, you know, how do

I get to the next level. So I love to read business book, get business information and try to find a way to take my ventures on the next level. So when this book came to Malik Books, I instantly was drawn to level up, Rise above the hidden forces holding your business back. I was drawing to that because I'm a businessman and I'm drawing to what are the moves that people make in order to become successful and

how do you get to that next level? And I found that this book does give information to help you reach your goal, to help take your small business from business to a bigger business, you know, and that's important. And what's interesting about this book it has I believe twelve chapters, and each chapter gets what they call level up lessons. And let me just point this out. They're trying to create a movement called level up movement and the purpose of that is to level the playing field.

And you can't do that without understanding that economics play a vital role. And so if you want independence, and if you want to, you'll never get rich working on the nine to five. I can tell you that right now. So if you want to level up and rise above the hidden forces holding your business back, you got to find the keys and the capital and the knowledge to rise above whatever the forces that are holding you by now.

In the beginning, when you first start a business, as this book point out, your network is your net worth. Your net work is your network. What I got out of that, your net where your net Sometimes we had to go to family and friends separates our money to start our venture camp, to start our business because oft the times we can't get no money from the bank. So start there. You know, when you start a business, sometimes that's challenging. Sometimes you're not gonna get the business loan.

But don't let that stop you. Don't let obviously gonna stop you from your goal. You gotta find a way to make it have regardless, and sometimes going to family and friends and selling them on your ideas, selling them on your belief that's how you could sometimes raise the money to open up your business. Man, when I first opened them the League books, I ain't know much about business. I lost twenty thousand dollars. Why Because I put it in the wrong location and that just wasn't a thriving

location for what I was trying to do. So I had to close in and read. I didn't give up, though, I opened up in another location where people were more excited about books and reading. Now, when you partner up with people, your differences, as this book point out, is your superpower. What what Sometimes you know opposes a trick. So sometimes when we too like minded, we rub each other the wrong way. But sometimes when we opposite, we

attract each other. So in business, sometimes this principle really works. So your difference, is this book going out, is your superfowers. Sometimes that's what would allow you to become successful because that's what will separate your business model from another bit. And that's what this book Level Up points out. Also, I hope you enjoyed this book review. My name is Malik Mohammed, your host of Malik's Book Show. Thank you for listening. Be shure to subscribe and leave me a reviewer.

Check out my Instagram at Belief Books. See you next time.