← Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Lessons - The Man Behind Rihanna, Kanye and Jay-Z's Biggest Hits | Benny Pough - Fmr Roc Nation President
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- [00:00]
A
In this lessons episode, explore how adversity can redefine purpose and reshape the principles that guide a meaningful life. Discover why betting on personal growth requires preparation and confidence. Understand how intuition, authenticity and teamwork create lasting impact. And uncover how vulnerability and self reflection help break generational cycles and strengthen leadership. I want to now sort of pivot into the second half of your life, which is the post crash post2014. Even on the book you wrote, you broke it down into six different pieces. So you did. Intuition, mastery, pivot, authenticity, connections and teamwork. What does that mean? Why, why are those the, the, the, the titles? What, what is relevant for that? Is that your life journey and all the different things you had to master or walk me through that?
- [00:54]
B
Yeah, those are the pillars. Those are the pillars that I live and subscribe by. You know, when I looked at it and the accident pulled it all together like littered literally and figuratively. And it that why I say God put a book inside of me? The title of the book is On Impact. And when I looked at my life, when I decided that I was going to move forward with this, I thought about okay, what is life? What is the value been for me? What are the most important things that I can look at in a literal and symbolic way that says who I am? And these are the, the acronym then became that in impact. Intuition, very intuitive. Mastery. Obviously that's important in order to advance and grow. Pivot is needed in under. Knowing when time to move is important in whether it's business or professional. Authenticity. Who you see now is who you saw yesterday and who you will see again with modifications. Right. Connections have been a driving force in my life and is equally teamwork, which is not just the job, but also family and people that you depend on to help you grow as an individual. That's how it all came together.
- [02:17]
A
I got it. Okay, that makes sense. Talk to me about betting on yourself. I love the concept of betting on yourself. I think more people should bet on themselves, but they're scared shitless to do it. So how did you figure out you can bet on yourself?
- [02:29]
B
It's, it's, you know, it's an overused term. But you know, for me it's, it's driven me to getting to the next step of, of my life is realizing I can't be held, I can't be restricted, I can't be scared. Right. Ultimately it's, you know, everyone is not at that comfort level to understand how it, how important it is for you to have that freedom. So what you have to do is take small steps to build your confidence so that you can realize that the value. Once you take that step in believing in oneself, believing in yourself, then everything else is okay. Everything else is okay. And because of that, I've made the preparation. And even in instances when I wasn't prepared, realizing that I would be okay based on, you know, the choices I had to make, both in good and bad situations. So. And a lot of that is work. It's no different than anything else. Like, you can't just wake up one day and say, I want to bet on myself, but you've not prepared yourself, right? It's no different than this. You, you probably had thousands of interviews. You, you can just go up, you can just go, right? Because you're prepared. So now if someone offered you and said, hey, listen, I want you at NBC, you go, like, maybe, let's go. Because guess what? At the end of the day, yo, man, you prepared yourself for it. And that's what betting on yourself is. Is. Was. What's akin to is is is preparing yourself for bigger and greater things that rest inside of you to move forward with.
- [04:10]
A
When did you. When did you first feel you could do that? That's not something that comes out of the gate, like, when you're. Maybe it is, I don't know, but it's a learned experience.
- [04:18]
B
That conversation with my dad, you know, showed me a lot, because my father is a strong man, no nonsense. And. And when I was able to persuade him, right, against what he wanted, I realized like, okay, there's a talent there, right? There's. I have confidence. And that's what that moment, that spark was, that boost of confidence to realize, like, you know what? It's okay and don't give up. Because, you know, the first time I asked wasn't like, yes, it's the silent more, tell me more, right? So I could have just like, ah, forget it. But it was like, no, this is what I have passion for. And I realized at that point, selling was my thing. At that point I realized, okay, if I could get my father to change his mind, then, yo, there's something I need to work, continue to work on. And obviously, the paper, the paper business opened up. Like, I was excited, man. Like, I was excited selling. I was exciting being like, yo, you trying to beat me? You're not going to get over on me, right? Like, yeah, I just. I just. I love the hunt, right? I just.
- [05:35]
A
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- [09:20]
B
Yeah, I'm definitely a change agent. Like, for me, it's, it's about growing companies, growing individuals, and obviously growing myself to get the best out of, of, of all of the above. And I realized that through my journey in, in, in corporate is that truly was my gift and superpower was enabling people to find, you know, that essence in them and that comfort and that comfortability of like someone giving them a chance and surrounding them and protecting them as they're able to grow, to be who they will become.
- [10:03]
A
I was watching like shows before we jumped on, just doing my research, as I always do, and there was actually one question that one, one host asked you, and I've never asked anybody this on the show before, but you had a beautiful answer, and it was about masculinity. And the reason why I think it's a great question question is because even when you know, you've referenced your dad a few times, you've referenced your family, you got excited when you found out that I'm trying to start a family. And, like, so I think that I want to hear your definition of what masculinity is and what being a father is. And. And because it all ties back to balance and it all ties back to everything you've gone through in your life. So what does that mean to you? Because I feel like it's not really discussed enough for people that are fathers and. And trying to build a family and trying to support.
- [10:54]
B
It's. It's really being able to embrace your vulnerabilities. Right. Especially in. In the African American culture, it's better than it was. But, you know, you could show no weakness. Like, you grew up. You just had to be hard. Like, you. You know, everything was about defending yourself. Everything was about the fight. Everything. Everything was about push you down if necessary or beat you down to show everyone not to mess with me, it's about toughness. As I grew older, I realized, you know, the value was actually hearing, you know, the sentiments and concerns of how people felt about me, meaning the people who I cared for and, you know, growing up in the household, like my father, who he was and how he was, he. He was disciplined. You know, emotions you didn't even share with your children. Like, so, you know, we're still at this point, like, my father's never audibly said, I love you. Right? He showed that he's, you know, his love and care, but his generation could never say the words. So you go through life knowing that there's someone who love you, but that those three words. Stevie Wonder, right? Carry so much impact and power. So, like, even when I was in the hospital, which was insane, you know, and I never realized this, which was another eye opener, my parents, when they found out I was in the accident, my mother had Alzheimer's, and they drove the 13 hours, the same 13 hours coming up. And I came out of a coma. And when I looked up when they came, I saw the weight and the gravity on my father's face. And when you realize when you're in a hospital bed, there's no mirrors, so you have no idea the condition that you're in. Like, no one's like, hey, look at you. You're jacked up. You only take it by the actions and what you see other people seeing, looking at you. And when I saw my father's face and I saw the gravity and the thought that he was looking at me as though he could lose his only son, that's when I realized that, you know what? I was in a bad way. And I couldn't take the energy. So I stopped everyone from visiting me. And I had to find deep inside of me to get better on my own. To get better on my own. So with that, you know, in the changes that I've made in life, you know, although I might not have heard my father say I love you, I always tell people who I love, I love them male, female, and different. Right. So breaking the cycle, this is equally important. And also cherishing the people that you share, that they know exactly how you feel. Damn, that was a long answer.
- [14:04]
A
Dude. That was really. No, it was super powerful. And, you know, it's because it means a lot to you. I mean, I think that a lot of. A lot of your journey has been self reflection and self awareness and who you are in this world for not just yourself, but the people closest to you, people close to, usually your family and your friends and whatnot. And then you're just, okay, Those are the people that are closest to me. Then what does it mean to be a father? And what does it mean to be a male figure in a household and whatnot? And it's different for all. I mean, you just mentioned it was prevalent in the African American community. I'm pretty sure if I go back to my grandpa or my great grandpa, they weren't. They weren't smiling and shit all the time either. Like, it's. There's definitely cultural differences for sure, but I mean, I think a lot of old people were hard as. Like,
- [14:50]
B
they went through it, they went through it. And empathy is definitely not on the menu. Right.
- [14:57]
A
And that's not a good way to live.
- [14:59]
B
Yeah, it's not. But it's up to us to break the cycle, right? Yeah, it's. If you want change, then you have to change.
- [15:07]
A
Thanks for tuning in. If you found this valuable, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And if you want to dive deeper into this conversation, check out the links in the description to watch the full episode. See you in the next one.