Bonus Commencement Episode: Angela Yee

to tell you that you did it. You made it across the finish line, and right now, you guys are under the most unique circumstances that I believe I've ever seen. Whenever you think about your twenty twenty graduation, you're definitely going to have some of the most interesting stories to tell.

And that's what I want to focus on today. Right as you figure out the next stop on your journey of life, some of you are going to continue on with formal education, some of you will join the workforce right away, some of you will take a break as you ponder what's next in life, and some of you will start to own businesses. Some of you, guys will

just straight up hustle. I've done all of those things throughout the course of my career, and what I want to talk about today is just being flexible, also controlling your reactions to things that you can't control, and being proactive. And I'm going to quote Kanye West when I talk about that, being proactive, which is not something I normally do, so you know it's important now. When I first graduated,

I went right back to my parents' house. They live in South Thurren's, New Jersey, and I wanted to stay there, but they got tired of me being in the house. I was broke, I was in debt. They had paid for me to go to college. I also had taken out a lot of student loans. So after less than a month, they were like, you have to get a job and you have to get a place to live. So the first thing I did was in my head, I said, I'm going to get a job working at a temp agency. I wanted to be able to pursue

my career as a writer. Since I was in kindergarten, I just knew I would be a writer. I didn't even survive three days doing this temp agency job. I was opening envelopes in a quote data entry position. It was awful. I decided, let me just tap in and

follow up on these internships I had done in college. Fortunately, when I was in school, I went to Wesleyan University and I did use the Career Resource Center and it was great for me to be able to link up a different people who graduated from Wesleyan who were able to get me internships. Now, one internship I did did not necessarily have to do with my college. It was through a colleague of mine and I ended up getting a job working for the Wu Tang Clan, the legendary

Woutang Clan. After several years of working in the music industry and also making sure that I networked, I made sure that I went out, I formed my own relationships with people. I also developed my skills in marketing and NPR. I decided that I want to be a freelancer, and I did want to have multiple streams of income, but I also wanted to have my freedom to be able to travel if I needed to, not have to be in an office every day, and that was pretty good

for me. It wasn't until I was twenty eight years old that I actually stumbled and for real stumbled into my career in radio, and that was thanks to my relationship with Paul Rosenberg. Paul is M and m's manager, and he had just started the station Shade forty five on serious satellite radio. I had actually worked with him on Eminem's clothing line, and because he saw how hard I worked and just the relationships I managed to forage and continue to keep, he said, Okay, let's try you

on the radio. And it did end up working out. At first, I had to work there and not get paid. It was kind of an unpaid probation period. But because I was working like I was getting paid, and I was putting in that extra time, in those extra hours, and really humbling myself because you have to think I had already been working for almost eight years and getting paid a pretty decent amount of money to being paid nothing. It was really a humbling experience for me. But I

think in the end it all worked. Now I've been doing radio for sixteen years and I still haven't focused on what I set out to do, or originally that was to be a writer. Remember, Now, life will do that to you. Sometimes you have a plan and there's all these detours, there's all these dead ends, and then you have to take a whole new route. And sometimes things happen quickly, and sometimes they happen easily, and sometimes it takes years or it doesn't materialize the way that

you envision that it would. You'll have to make some really important decisions. And I'm a really huge believer that whatever you chose to do, you have to represent you in the strongest way possible. Maybe you'll be doing an unpaid internship or like I did that probationary period for free. Maybe it's a low paying job that you accepted, and I did have that job as a low paying job,

I've had a lot of those. But if you did agree to certain terms, then you have to make sure that you show up, make sure you show out, because you never know what that position might lead to. Now, maybe you have a job that you hate, but you're making six or seven figures. I know people like that, and you still have to perform your responsibilit be on time.

You still have to make sure that you do everything to the best of your ability, make sure you treat people well, because again, people don't know what you're going through, and you also never know what that position might lead to. Make sure, you don't let circumstances and negative people influence the greatness that you have. You cannot control other people's actions,

but what you can control is your own reaction. One thing that really has helped me, and I don't know if everyone can do this, but I believe in the power of writing, and so what I do is I write things down when people do really effed up things to me, And somehow the story becomes funnier when I write it down, and I can even change it the way I want to change it, just to make it

a comedy. Now, some people do this, and I know writers who have a kill list, and that's people that they want to get revenge on later and maybe you'll read about those in my book one day. But in the meantime, it's very therapeutic for me. You can always learn something even when things are really tragic. So when something unfortunate happens, I like to do something positive for another person. That's another way that I also shift the energy that's around me. The last thing I want to

leave you with is a quote. And I told y'all I was going to quote Kanye West. That's not something I do very often, but this was during his glow on the Dark Tour, they gave out these little booklets of kanyeisms, and one thing that always has stuck out in my head to use is necessary. And if you can't be used, then you're useless. And I know we've heard that so many times and songs and quotes, and I've always been hesitant to ask for favors, and sometimes

I'm even hesitant to just offer my own services. It's kind of a pride thing when you feel like you have to be independent and do everything and not need anyone's help. What I've learned is that is a waste

of time and energy. Right now you're graduating, make sure you use those relationships that you made, or make sure you tap into that alumni network when you have a great pitch, when you need employment, when you're looking for an employee, when you need a mentor, or even if you just want to acknowledge that somebody has done something great and you want to shout them out. I've gotten a lot of opportunit unities from the people I came up with, and I've also helped other people get into

great positions. The best thing I discovered in business is I don't have to do things alone, I can partner with other people. That's how I ended up being a co owner in the Juice bar Juices for Life, BK with styles P, who's a legendary rapper from the Locks that you should know, and djm V. I knew styles P already opened three juice bars. I knew my chance of success would be higher with somebody who already went through those mistakes that I knew I would have made.

And if I try to open that juice bar alone, I might not be celebrating four years of owning a juice bar this year. When it comes to handling my business, there's no way that I could do everything I do. You know the Breakfast Club Morning Show. I also have my podcast lip Service, I have all my bookings, I do a lot of charity events. I'm on the board for different organizations, and I still do have a life

outside of work. And the way I'm able to maintain that is I have people who are in positions where they can help me. So link up with people. Make sure you show that same love back to You can't just always take and not give. And remember that you guys are the visionaries of twenty twenty and In the times that we're in, you guys are definitely the ones

who are leading the way. Twenty twenty might be one of the most important years that I've ever experienced, from this coronavirus pandemic to the upcoming elections and everything else in between. So right now, you guys, all eyes are on you, and I know y'all are up for the challenge. So congratulations again to the class of twenty twenty.