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Hala Taha
Foreign.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Hey, guys.
Hala Taha
Welcome back to Young and Profiting Podcast. Today's episode is really special for me. I'm sharing a recording of a keynote I gave at MIT's 2022 Gathering of the Titans. And it's this incredible annual conference where some of the most successful CEOs in the world come together to exchange big ideas and real stories.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Now, honestly, this was one of the
Hala Taha
most vulnerable things I've ever done. It was the first time I shared my story this openly and publicly. The full journey, all the lows, the highs, the rejection, the losses, and the lessons that really shaped who I am today. Now, this is a couple years old now.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
However, I feel like the stories still
Hala Taha
really resonate, and it's super inspiring. And I got a lot of positive feedback from this keynote. It went viral on YouTube, so I think you guys are gonna really enjoy it. Without further delay, here's my keynote speech at mit.
Event Moderator
Hala Taha is our speaker and presenter this afternoon, and I asked her a few weeks ago if she was interested in doing this, and I started thinking about what was it that drove me to want to ask her to do it? And there's three words. The words are this. Hustle, smart, and tenacious. And I'm a person that loves tenacious people. And she is probably one of the most tenacious people I've ever met in my life. For those of you guys that notice, Brian ScudaMore or my LinkedIn profiles are on, like, ultra surround sound, it's because of the work she does. She's the Queen of LinkedIn. Amongst other royal titles, she has a podcast called the Young and Profiting Podcast. It has millions and millions downloads, hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Her accolades in the podcast world have dubbed her the name of podcast Princess. She was on the COVID of Podcast magazine, and that's like, kind of like her night job, her day job is running an incredible, incredible marketing agency called Yacht Media. And I know this because I'm actually a client of hers, as is Brian. When I think of her, I'm like, this is an entrepreneur that we all need to know. And I felt like one of the best gifts I could give to the group was to bring her here for you all to meet her and learn her story. So, without further ado. Ha.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Well, thank you so much. Thanks to Darius for inviting me today. The past couple of days have been so wonderful, and when Darius first asked me to come speak to you all, I thought he wanted me to give a LinkedIn training. And I was like, sure, yeah, I could do a LinkedIn training. I could teach everybody how to podcast. And then he was like, no, Hala, I want you to share your story. And I have to say some of these things that I'm about to say in this speech I've never said on any other podcast, I've never said in any other room. So I'm just telling my authentic story so that you guys can understand my experience. And I hope that you leave this conversation having a new perspective, learning something new, and, and finding some value in this conversation. So I think my story best starts off with my dad. So my dad is Palestinian, and he was born in 1943. That was five years before the Nepka. The Nebka is the Arabic word for catastrophe. And the Palestinian catastrophe was in 1943. And that's when 600 villages were burned, 750,000 Palestinians were made refugees, and 15,000 Palestinians died. And I guess you could say my dad was one of the lucky ones because he wasn't pushed behind the wall, he wasn't sent to Gaza to become a refugee. And in the open air prison, so to speak, he was in the West Bank. And so my dad grew up as a poor farmer's son, and he only lived on figs and pita bread. He would tell me two of his youngest siblings died when he was younger. They were a family of eight that lived in one room, and he lived in extreme poverty. And my dad knew that there was only one way out at the time, and that was to be very educated and to get a scholarship. And so he decided he'd be the first person in his whole village to go to college. And from when he was a little boy, he decided he'd be the smartest kid in school and that he'd get perfect marks so that he could achieve that dream and elevate his whole family out of poverty. And he did. My dad had extreme grit, and so he had no light. He had no running electricity, sorry, no running water. And the only light he had was on his walks to school. And so he would read his books on his long walk to school. And that's how he was able to study and become the smartest kid in his class, get perfect marks, and eventually get a scholarship to medical school in Cairo. So my dad went off to Cairo and he. He got a scholarship there, and he ended up going to America and becoming a doctor, finishing his residence here, becoming a surgeon, becoming chief of surgery in multiple hospitals in New Jersey, and ended up owning a medical center. And he literally brought his whole family out of poverty. My dad was so generous, he was so humble, and his favorite store to shop at was Sears. And he would give all his money away. He put all his kids through college, he put all his nieces and nephew in Palestine through college and through grad school, and essentially lifted my whole family out of poverty and made sure everybody would be okay. So in terms of my experience, the first time that I realized I was different was my summers going to Palestine. We had a house in Palestine, and actually my whole family lived on one street. A bunch of people had moved to America, and so it was this town, they called it the American village in Palestine because it was a street. Half the people were actually Americans and had summer homes there and were not there most of the year. And so I remember when I finally realized what was going on, that was the first time I realized I was different. Because when I was in America, we were kind of treated like an American family, sorry, an Italian family. Everybody knew we were ethnic, knew we would go back home over the summer, but we were just treated like a normal family, maybe like an Italian family in my white, affluent town that I grew up in, in watching New Jersey. But when I went to Palestine at a certain age, I realized how different I was. I remember my dad being this amazing, respected doctor in America. We'd go to the Israeli airport and he'd get interrogated for hours. And we'd be sitting on the airport floor, like, waiting for dad to get done with his interrogation every time we went. I remember having to drive on separate roads even though I was a US citizen, not allowed to drive on the same roads in Palestine. I remember having to take super quick showers because we weren't rationed water like everybody else because we were a Palestinian family. I remember almost dying at a checkpoint one day when we landed, and we had all our luggage in a van. And these checkpoints are super crowded and it's super chaotic. And everybody was saying, go, go, go, like all the soldiers, and there was nowhere to go. We almost fell off a cliff and we almost died because our van almost fell off a cliff. And it was my sister saying, push the luggage to one side. And we did, everybody push the luggage to one side on the van. And we ended up making it and we didn't fall off the cliff. And I literally almost died when I was like 12 years old at a checkpoint. And that was Palestine, because in America I was totally normal and we were a respected family. And in terms of my experience growing up in America, I was always wanted to be a star all my Siblings wanted to be doctors. And so I have three siblings. They all ended up being doctors. I have three cousins who live down the street. They all ended up being doctors. And so there were seven kids in the family. And I was the only one who never wanted to be a doctor, not one day in my life. I always wanted to be a star. I love to sing. Actually, it's a big joke in my family that I sang before I spoke. And my first words were singing a song back to my mom. And I was always struggling. I was the kid that was dancing and singing at all the family parties and always, like, the star of the show. And I had a great childhood. You know, I lived a decently privileged life in terms of, like, we always had money. I had a good family, and I did great in school. I was popular. I used to be the lead in all the talent shows. I'd get on every sports team, and everything was great. And that was until 911 hit. So 9 11, I was a freshman in high school. And I remember at that time there was some buildup happening in terms of Arab hate. And I was starting to get a taste of the oppression that I was feeling in Palestine suddenly was happening at home. And I remember learning about the planes hitting and feeling this pain in my stomach, like, oh, my God, everyone's gonna hate us, and this is gonna be so bad. And I remember being so devastated when I found out because. Because my family was so proud to be American, and my dad loved America. And I was like, this sucks, because everyone's gonna hate us. And we actually love being American. And so I remember actually crying on the floor, hysterically crying, calling up Z100. It was a very popular radio station at the time, trying to get through because they were having this whole thing where people were calling in, telling their experiences. Everybody was sharing their thoughts. And I so desperately trying to get through, to let everybody know that we didn't feel this way, that none of the Arabic people knew about it, and that we're just as shocked and as sad as everybody. But at that point, my life was changed. And for the first time ever, I learned that gatekeepers don't only exist at checkpoints. So my life was turned upside down. I was just starting my high school career, and from then on, I went from the American girl next door to never getting any opportunities. I tried out for the plays. I never got a part. I tried out for the cheerleading team. I didn't make it. I tried out for the volleyball team. I didn't make it. They didn't even let me in the talent show every year when I, hands down, had the best voice in school. And so that ended up really impacting me because I didn't get into a great college. I had great grades, but I got into a mediocre school because it looked like I had no ambition. But I had lots of ambition. I wasn't given any opportunities. And so I went to New Jersey Institute of Technology. It was in Newark, New Jersey, a super diverse school. And from the moment I stepped foot on that campus, my life changed. First of all, it was four years after 9 11. And so four years after 9 11, things kind of cooled down. People were starting to be more accepting. And the other thing is that it was a super diverse school. Previously, I went to a very white, Christian Jewish school, and I was the only brown kid in school. And so I started getting opportunity left and right. And I had so little fear of rejection because I had been rejected so much. I just thought it was a part of life that I tried out for everything and I'd make it. I tried out for the play. I was the lead. I tried out for cheerleading. I was the captain. I was in my sorority. And I was obsessed with all these extracurricular activities because I got no opportunities in high school, that I was doing very poorly in school. I didn't care about class because I was like, oh, I'm finally able to do the things I was never able to do. And I was was just really embracing that experience. At the same time, I found out about something called the Law of Attraction. So the Law of Attraction almost became my religion. I was never religious. My family wasn't very religious. I grew up Muslim. I never related to that. I feel it's kind of a sexist religion. And I never, ever related to that. And nobody ever forced me to relate to that. So I found the Law of Attraction, and it literally was like my new religion. I almost got into, like, a cult. I was obsessed with Abraham and. And Esther Hicks, and they were these big law of attraction people. I'd listen to their CDs all day. I'd read all of their books. It was like a new religion for me. And I got super into it. And I did affirmations every day and visualizations every day. And I literally believed that life was limitless. I thought I could create my own dream life. And I was so naive. I really believe this. And honestly, my life just skyrocketed from there. So I was 19 years old. I found the Law of Attraction. I really was super confident at this point, I was crushing it. In college, other than school, but the extracurricular part, I was crushing it. And so I ended up. At the time, I always knew that I wanted to use my voice to impact the world and make a positive difference. That's my purpose in life, to impact the world with my voice. And you often don't know exactly how that's gonna be. And at the time, I thought I was supposed to be a famous singer because that was always my natural talent since I was a kid. And so I set out to songwrite and I worked with all these different producers and I started writing music. And I had this bright idea. I was in the radio club. I did, like, every activity in college, and I was like, well, I'm in the radio club. I could probably get an internship at a radio station and push my music to the DJs and break that way. And so I did. I applied to all these radio stations, and I ended up getting a job at Hot 97. Hot 97 is the world's number one hip hop and R and B station. This was about 10 years ago. It was a huge deal to work at that station. All the people, all the DJs were like celebrities in the local region. And I ended up getting this internship. I did a great job. They ended up promoting me to be like, the sacred intern in the studio area. And I was Angie Martinez's assistant. She's the voice of New York, one of the most famous personalities in the world. And I was essentially the assistant producer on the Angie Martinez show, the biggest show in America. So this was supposed to be a normal college internship, but then they started to say, holla. Like, can you come every day? You know, can you start working on the weekend? Can you come at night? And you're doing such a great job. And they wanted me to be there more often. So I ended up dropping out of school. And I thought I had this great opportunity. I was failing out of school anyway. And, you know, I was just so enamored by this life because I met every celebrity you can think of. JLo, Kim, Kardashian, Chris Brown, Kanye. I was hanging out with these celebrities that night. I was 19 years old. And so it was just a big opportunity for me. So I did it. I quit my job and I started this apprenticeship at Hot 97. And I worked for free there for three years. And I got. Never paid a dollar. I would make my money at night hosting parties and selling showcase tickets with the DJs. And I did everything for that station. I was the showrunner. I would answer the phones, I would run the commercials, I would go in at 2am in the morning and run the dilette boards when I had to and make sure that music went on for the world all night. That was really scary. If I had to go to the bathroom or something that there'd be like dead air. But I loved that job. It became my identity. So all my friends knew me as Hala from Hot 97. Everybody would be like, oh my gosh, how'd you get that job? Like you have the coolest job in the world. And I was being primed to be the next Angie Martinez. The way that it works in radio is that you work for free for many years and then finally you end up getting a show. And that's how it works. You gotta work for all the DJs for free for many years.
Hala Taha
Yeah fam, you just realized your business needs to hire somebody yesterday.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
How do you find great candidates Fast?
Hala Taha
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Podcast Host/Interviewer
And it works.
Hala Taha
According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed get 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. What I love about Indeed is knowing that my job post is getting the visibility that it requires. Plus, with Indeed Sponsored Jobs, there's no monthly subscriptions, no long term contracts, and you only pay for results. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com profiting just go to Indeed.com profiting right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com profiting terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need young and profits this year. I'm all about not missing opportunities and for me that starts with not missing any calls because a missed call is money walking out the door. Quo spelled Q U o is a business phone system that helps you and your team handle calls and texts from one shared number. Think of it as an email inbox, but for your phone, everything stays in one place so no conversation gets lost and no customer gets ignored. I've seen how much calmer things feel when everybody in your company can see the full thread. All the calls, texts, voicemails, all together in one place.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Replies are faster than customers, feel heard
Hala Taha
and taken care of, and the team stays aligned. Quo even uses AI to log calls, summarize conversations, and flag next steps, which takes a lot off your team's mental load. It works right from your phone or computer, lets you keep your existing numbers, and grows with your business. That kind of setup makes a real difference. Make this a year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com profiting that's Q-U-O.com profiting quo no missed calls, no missed customers yeah fam starting a business is of course exciting. As entrepreneurs we love to build, create, invent. But entrepreneurship can be overwhelming. Especially in the beginning. When you're first launching your company, it's really hard to figure out like all the steps you need to do. Thinking about these things, they don't give me energy and I want passion for it. But that's exactly what Northwest Registered Agent does. Northwest Registered Agent is a registered agent and LLC service that helps you build your complete business identity in one place. They've been helping entrepreneurs for nearly 30 years and they're the largest registered agent and LLC service in the U.S. now I'm a successful entrepreneur, but I had
Podcast Host/Interviewer
no idea what a registered agent was.
Hala Taha
I had one from my company, it was on auto renewal and I didn't realize how important a registered agent is and selecting your registered agent is. For example, my company is incorporated in Delaware so I have a Delaware address for my registered agent and they collect all my legal and tax notifications and they are supposed to make sure you get all your important documents and you don't miss things like court hearings and things can go really haywire. If you don't have a registered agent and it's illegal to not have a registered agent, your company can get dissolved if you don't have one. When I started my company, I wish I had known about Northwest Registered Agent. Apart from helping you form your business initially, they'll help you at every growth stage. So for example, if you need to switch from an LLC to an S corp as your company grows, whatever it is, Northwest Registered Agent has your back. You get access to thousands of free guides, tools and legal forms even without creating an account. And if you do sign up, which is free, you get access to lawyer drafted operating agreements, bylaws and meeting minutes all at no cost. Northwest Registered Agent really is your business bestie. Don't wait, protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete Business identity in just 10 clicks. In 10 minutes, visit northwestregisteredagent.com yapfree and start building something amazing. Get more with Northwest registered agent@northwestregisteredagent.com yap free. That's y A P free. And at the very least, I hope you double check that you have an active registered agent. It is very important you do so as a business owner.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
So at the same time, I was feeling a lot of pressure because all of my siblings and cousins were on the medical track. And to all the outside world, even though I was learning so many new skills and even though I was doing so many cool things, I was like a party girl to everybody else. And they thought I was throwing my life away. Dropped out of college and I'd go to Thanksgiving, and I was like the black sheep, the embarrassment of the family. My dad always believed in me, but everybody else really looked down on me at this point in my life. And I was starting to feel a lot of pressure because I was like, man, I've been working here for three years. They haven't given me a job yet. Am I ever gonna even get paid minimum wage? I feel like an embarrassment. And so finally a position opened up at Hot 97. The associate, sorry, the producer of the show. And I was doing his job for about a year and they ended up firing him. Cause he was like a deadbeat. And I was already doing his job for over a year. And so I was like, okay, finally I'm gonna get the producer role and everything's gonna be okay. And then I come to find out that they gave the job to somebody who worked in the video department who never spent a day on the show. And the worst part about it is that they expected me to train him. And so, yeah, I was not young and profiting at this point. I was young and pissed. So on the first day of his work, his name was Drew Ski, and we were actually really good friends. While I was working at Hot 97, I also had online radio shows on the side with all the up and coming DJs. Many of these DJs are like super famous on the radio now. And I used to host little radio shows with them, pretending to be Angie Martinez. And so we were actually good friends. And I was young, stupid, whatever you want to say, upset. And I texted him and I said, I don't feel good today. If you want to learn how to be producer, learn it on your own. And he showed that text to Angie because he had to explain why he wasn't getting Training today. And she fired me on the spot. And she cut my key cards. And not only that, she didn't let me say goodbye to anybody, all my friends and mentors for three years. I dropped out of college for this lady. She didn't let me pack up my stuff. And worst of all, she told everyone, you'll be fired if you talk to Hala. And she blackballed me from the industry, and she thought that I would shrivel and die, probably. So, yeah, oops. And so at the time, I felt like I had died. My identity was taken away from me. Everybody knew me as Hala from Hot 97. It was extremely embarrassing. Like, all my social media saying, Hala, Hot 97. Everything was Hot 97. My whole life was wrapped in this brand. And so I was so embarrassed, and I literally felt like somebody died. It was one of the worst moments in my life. But I was so used to rejection, right? And so it's kind of funny. I was fired on a Thursday. By Sunday, I had a new idea, and I decided I was gonna create something called the Sorority of Hip Hop. And I was gonna recruit all the girls in the hip hop entertainment industry who worked for iHeartRadio, VH1, you name it, and we'd all band together and I'd create a blog site. Blogs were super hot at the time, and we would band together and become more powerful and have a platform. And so I started working on this idea. I was fired on Thursday. I started working on my website and learning how to code websites. On Sunday. By the end of two weeks, I recruited 14 girls off of Twitter and Craigslist, and we formed the Sorority of Hip Hop. And I was the president and we started a blog site. I went back to school to finish my undergrad and make my parents proud. And at the same time, I was building this website. Within three months, we were one of the most popular hip hop and R and B blog sites in the world. I also had about 50 girls at that time. I had 150 girls outside of the organization over about three years. So we got all this notoriety because I figured out how to hack Twitter. I got all these celebrities to retweet us, and we blew up that way. So three months into it, MTV scouts us. We did a little pilot. Nothing really came out of it, but we didn't care. We were like, this is three months in. What's gonna happen six months from now? Who cares, right? So we keep building and building. We have online radio shows interviewing celebrities. We're hosting concerts and events we have this blog site that's going viral all the time. Everything's good. We're not really monetizing that much. Cause I didn't really figure out the business aspect of it, but we were making a little bit of money. And finally MTV reaches back out. And at the time I was getting scouted for multiple reality TV shows. Love and hip Hop wanted me to be on their oxygen wanted me to have a show. And MTV was like, listen, holla. We just had Jersey Shore. We're gonna make you a star. Choose us. And so I did. I chose them. And I was gonna be the lead. I was getting paid three times as much as everybody else. And so they filmed us all summer. We were broke girls, catty girls. It was fun time. And they got us a studio on Broadway and it had neon signs, it was hooked up with all this furniture. We got our hair and makeup done every day. We were mic'd up and filmed on the street. They filmed us in restaurants, at my parents house, they filmed us all. We had a concert. It was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, when it was about to air two weeks before, my producer gives me a call and she's like, hala, I'm sorry. But we decided to move in another direction. And again, it was one of those moments where I was like, oh my God, like again, I did all the work, I did everything right, I made the right choices, I worked my butt off. How is this happening again? And they didn't give me a reason why they didn't choose the show, but they decided not to air it. And that was a moment in my life where I feel like my thought that life was limitless really fizzled out. And I thought, you know what, Hala, you're really unrealistic. And life is not this easy. Your parents are right, your family is right, you should just be normal and get a real job. And it's time to just be normal. So I thought I'd never get back on a mic. I shut down the group. I had 50 girls that were extremely mad at me. But I shut down the group, I shut down the blog and I decided that I was going to go get my MBA and that I was going to be a normal person and get a normal job in corporate. And that was that. It's time to be a normal person. So I ended up wanting to get my MBA. Unfortunately, I had a 2.3 undergrad GPA, so it was really difficult to get into school. So I decided that I was going to use my networking skills. It's one of My strongest skills. And I decided I was going to target my alma mater, the director of alumni associations at njit. And I would beg her to get into the MBA program. And so I emailed her every other day for, like, a month. And I just wouldn't leave her alone. And I was like, can I get you a coffee? Can I buy you lunch? Can I come there? And finally, she agreed to take a meeting with me. And I explained to her my whole story, how I had the sorority of hip hop, how I worked at Hot 97, and how even though on paper I looked like a schlub, I really was a hard worker. And she believed in me. And I told her, if you let me in this program, I promise I'll get a 4.0 and I'll get straight A's. And she said, holla, if you keep that promise, I'll let you in the program. And she let me in the program. I ended up getting a 4.0, graduating with straight A's, number one in my class. And it really set off my corporate career. At the same time, I got my mba, I leveraged that to get an internship at Hewlett Packard, and I was making 70 grand a year. And to me, that was, like, a lot of money. And I was, like, finally making it. And I did that. And at the same time, at hp, I started something called the Young Employee Network. So the Young Employee Network is an employee resource group at Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard actually has, like, an amazing company culture. And so in my office, though, there was no culture. Nobody talked to each other outside of departments. Like, it was super boring and bland. And I being, like, the little entrepreneur inside the organization was like, oh, no. Like, we've got to change this. So I got everybody to sign a petition, and we started a young employee network at the office. And I ended up launching their first holiday party, their first company picnic, all of their charity events. And I infused the whole office with culture. And so at the same time, I was doing amazing in my career. I thought I was going to be so, so behind everybody else because I started my corporate career so late, but that wasn't true at all. I had learned outside of an organization. And so I was so tech savvy, and I was like the digital whiz kid. I got promoted from role to role. I had every single job on the marketing team, and I was like the C suite pet, especially because I was doing all this cultural stuff. And I was interviewing the CEOs, the CEO and the CMO all the time. And I was really the face of the young employees at Hewlett Packard. So I did this presidency of the Young Employee Network for two years at Hewlett Packard. And then I finally thought, you know what, let me set my sights even higher. I want to be the president of the Global Young Employee Network. And so I was on the recruitment chair of that organization and I paid my dues. I created something called HPE Spirit Week. At the time there was 300,000 employees across the organization. And I launched a week long event with daily themes around the world where I was emailing the entire organization every day as if I was the CEO. And they still do this event to this day. And I created it. It was like a week long event called HPE Spirit Week. So I thought I for sure was a shoo in to be the president of the Global Young Employee Network. But of course I was wrong. The HR director for some reason didn't like me. She didn't give me the position. She gave it to a guy who never was even involved in the organization. And they didn't even keep me on the board. They kicked me out. And I was again like, what did I do? I just worked for free. I basically had a side hustle inside of this organization and they just stop me out. And by the way, that HR director left one month later. I left too. I went to Disney streaming services and at the same time I started Young and Profiting Podcast. And I decided that if I couldn't lead the 7,000 young employees all over the world at Hewlett Packard, that I would lead 7 million young professionals across the world instead and I'd start my own thing. Young and Profiting. So I started Young and Profiting Podcast in April of 2018. I'm going to fast forward to 2020 now. 2020 was both the best year and the worst year of my life. 2020 was the year that my life changed forever. And I feel like that's the most pivotal year of my whole life. So I'll start off with January. So at the time I was with my ex boyfriend, we were living in Brooklyn and he was super paranoid about COVID We had some friends overseas who were telling us it was pretty bad. And in America and New York, nobody cared, right? It was just business as usual. But it was his birthday. And that morning we decided we were gonna go to the pharmacy and we were gonna try to get some masks and alcohol and gloves and just play it safe. And so we go to one pharmacy, we go to the aisle. Nothing's there. Okay, this is weird. We go to the next one. Nothing's there. We go to 10 different pharmacies. We cannot find any alcohol, any masks, any gloves. At this time, nobody knew about COVID And we're like, everybody, like, a lot of people know something that we don't know. And things are about to get real. I remember wearing a mask on the train, and I was the only one on the train wearing a mask. Everybody looking at me like I was crazy. But I was trying to be ultra protective of my father, because at the time, my father had diabetes and he had to get his toe amputated. And in January and February, he was in and out of the hospital. And so I remember working at Disney streaming services at the time I had my podcast. And so my days were like this. I'd wake up at 6am, work on my podcast on the train. I'd do my LinkedIn post. I was growing my LinkedIn following. I'd go to work during lunchtime. I'd be interviewing people like Brian Scudamore in the phone booth. And then I'd finish work, go home. My boyfriend at the time was a music producer. He worked nights. And so I was able to work on my podcast at night. And I do my engagement on social media. And I literally just worked all day, all night, and all weekend, too. And I did that for many years. Around February, March lockdown happens. So this was actually in March lockdown happens. Disney tells everybody to start working from home. We're in lockdown first. Nobody knows anything about COVID I don't know anybody who had Covid. All we hear about is just the crazy stories. I'm deathly afraid of getting Covid. I am the most protective person, and I was for months about not getting Covid. I remember being on LinkedIn and telling everybody how to wash their hands properly and how to go grocery shopping in the right way and trying to be, like, a role model about how to not get Covid. And so March hits. A week into lockdown, my sister gives me a call. A little bit of a backstory here. My dad was getting hyperbaric oxygen treatments for his toe because he got his toe amputated. And me and my sister and my brothers were begging them, like, mom and dad stop going and getting the treatments. But it was the only way that my dad was gonna get better, and they really wanted the treatments. I actually spent $20,000 to buy my dad a hyperbaric oxygen machine at home, but it was too late. And so my sister gives me a call and she says, hala. Mom and dad have Covid. Your brother's home, he has Covid. And your aunt and uncle down the street have Covid, too. I didn't have a car at the time. I was living in the city. I'm gonna pick you up, and, like, if you wanna come, I'm gonna pick you up in, like, an hour. You have an hour to decide if you wanna come home. Being the like, considering my parents gave me everything in life, I was like, of course I have to go home. If I'm gonna get Covid, I'm gonna get Covid. But of course I have to go home. So my sister picks me up and we go home. And she's a doctor, so we have, like, full hazmat suits on. We have N95 masks. We have sunglasses, gloves. And, you know, I remember walking into the house, and my house usually smells lovely. Food or, you know, flowers. It smelled so bad of sickness. And I was like, oh, boy. Like, this is crazy. And me and my sister were so paranoid. We thought we were gonna die. Because at the time, nobody. It was so scary. We didn't know anybody who had Covid. We were the first family impacted out of everybody. And so we were like, are we gonna die? Is everybody gonna, like, is everybody gonna die? Like, what is happening? And my sister played the role of doctor, and I went from, like, top podcaster and, you know, business executive at Disney to janitor. That was my job. And so I was just focusing on cleaning the house, cooking, making sure everybody was okay. And for two weeks, we would be in full gear. And the only time we would eat would be at, like, 10 or 11pm Once we were done taking care of everybody. All we had was, like, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We were living on the couch. We had, like, old blankets from when we were kids. Cause we didn't know anything about the disease. So we assumed every. Everything upstairs was just, like, contaminated and had Covid all over it. So everybody started to get better except for my dad. My dad started to deteriorate even worse. And so at a certain point, me and my sister were like, you know what? Eff it. We're gonna get Covid. It's obvious. Like, who are we kidding? And I stopped wearing even a mask, and I just concentrated on being with my dad. And so we were feeding him. He was like, coughing in our faces. We didn't care. And so we just were, like, trying to take care of our dad. And then a point came where we felt like we had to send him to the hospital. And we didn't want to send him to the hospital because at that time, the hospitals were totally packed. And we knew that he had really bad eyesight and that it would be really difficult for him to be alone in that hospital setting. And we knew we wouldn't be allowed to visit him. But it came to a point where we had to make that difficult decision. And I remember when we had to take him, that was the last time I spoke to my dad, when he was alert. And he said, if you guys send me to the hospital, you're never gonna see me again. But we had to make that decision because we were trying to save his life. And he was right. That was the last time I ever saw him alert. And so I remember that time being so difficult. I was working from home. I remember working at hp. I'd be working at HP and have my dad on Zoom next to me with. He was trached. He had tubes in his nose. He always looked super uncomfortable. Like, he didn't look peaceful. He looked very suffering, you know? And so that was super hard. And I still had to go to work and figure that all out. And the thing. The biggest regret is that we weren't able to actually visit him in the hospital. We weren't allowed to go visit him. And actually, I didn't see him until he died, and so that was super difficult. But they allowed me to be on Zoom, and I. My dad couldn't see well, but I thought that he could hear my voice. And so I spent most of my time during the month that he was in that hospital. I didn't do anything, really, other than work and then sing to my father on Zoom and try to make it as peaceful as possible for him. And so he passed away May 15th. That's actually the same day as the Nabka Day that is commemorated. And he passed away on May 15. And he had, like, the shittiest funeral ever. They buried him with his shoes, with his cell phone. Only six people were allowed at the funeral. And it was really hard for me. And you would think that that would break anyone. You would think that that would just. I would just sign off for the year and that, okay, this year's over. Worst year of my life. But it wasn't. It was actually the best year of my life because that was the first half of 2020, and the second half of 2020 ended up being the best year of my life. So at the time when my dad was in the hospital, I met this lady named Heather Monahan. Heather Monahan. Is a huge influencer on LinkedIn, and I interviewed her for my show, and she kind of wouldn't leave me alone. After I had a team of volunteers since I started young and profiting podcast. By episode two, I had my first volunteer. He's now my business partner. By episode eight, I had 10 volunteers in a Slack channel helping me work on my show. And so I knew everything about podcasting. So I teach one guy in Estonia how to build websites and run that for me. I teach one guy in Atlanta how to do my videos. I taught one person how to do my social. And I would just teach all these interns and volunteers how to work on my show. And we created a Slack channel, and that was basically like our office. And Heather was like, your videos are so good in different holla. Like, can you do this for me on LinkedIn? And I was like, nope, I'm really busy. Like, my dad's in the hospital. Like, it's not the right time. I just have a volunteer group. Like, I don't. I can't do this for you. We can only do it for me. And she wouldn't let up. And then. And I was interested in her being my mentor, so she asked me for a call so that I could teach her how to make those videos. And I was like, sure, I'll teach you how to make these videos. So I take a call with Heather, and I show her my Slack channel. I'm showing her all our processes and our templates, and she's like, hala, I just had a call with Vaynermedia. Your stuff is better than theirs. I have to be your first client. You have to start a business. Just trust me. And I was like, all right, I'll do your videos. And so she paid us, like, 600 bucks a month to do her videos. It was nothing. But then it ended up being I took over her whole LinkedIn, then I took over her whole podcast. Our second client was, like, a $30,000 retainer, and it was a very powerful billionaire client that we got. And then everything changed. I was able to hire all my volunteer team. I was able to expand my team and continue to grow this side. Hustle.
Hala Taha
Yep, gang. I have become obsessed with the working genius assessment. It was created by Patrick Lencioni. He came on my podcast about two years ago and taught me about working genius. I took the assessment then, and it was a game changer for me individually. But this year, I'm taking it to the next level, and I've basically implemented working genius across my entire company.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
This is not a personality test.
Hala Taha
It's an actual test that helps you understand the way that you work best. There are six types of working geniuses. Everybody has two geniuses. It's a type of work that gives them energy, two competencies. It's a type of work that you may be good at, but over time, it actually drains you. And then you have two working frustrations. It's the work you don't like to do, and it drains your energy. I uncovered that my two geniuses are invention and galvanizing. My two competencies are discernment and tenacity. And then my working frustrations are enablement and wonder.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
So once I found this out, everything
Hala Taha
just, like, clicked for me. Number one, I realized why I was butting heads with my executive team, because wonder is the frustration for me, whereas my business partner has wonder as a strength. I wanted to get things done, rally the group, keep things moving. He wanted to think about the big picture and if this was the right direction at all. And so once we figured out these
Podcast Host/Interviewer
are our geniuses, we realized we can't
Hala Taha
build this company without each other and our strengths, and it helped us work better together. And it also helped me uncover gaps within my organization. Turns out that I'm the only person who has galvanizing as a core strength, so I'm always rallying the team, and sometimes that can come off as pushy or aggressive. But now that my team knows that this is a gap, we need to hire people who have more of this galvanizing strength. So it really helped us align on gaps. It'll totally change the way that you do your work. It will totally level up your team's happiness and productivity at work. I highly recommend that you take this assessment, and it's extremely affordable. If you're ready to stop guessing and start working on your actual genius, take the working genius assessment and get 20% off with code profiting at working genius. Com.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Now, if you have a company, if
Hala Taha
you have a team, you get a
Podcast Host/Interviewer
report that tells you, like, how to
Hala Taha
take advantage of your learnings and things like that. If you like what you saw and you want to implement it to your team, I highly recommend that as well. So you can get your team map, and I have a code for that too. It's profiting teams. If you use the code profiting teams, you can get 20% off all the assessments for your entire team, your entire company.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Highly recommend it.
Hala Taha
Again, that's working genius.com, use code profiting or profiting teams to get 20% off. Yep, fam 2026 is the year I'm fully focused on growing my personal brand.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
I'm taking it to the next level.
Hala Taha
For years I was focused on my company. Now I'm focused on building my brand, I'm launching a book and I'm upgrading and updating my website. My website has not been top of mind for years and it drastically needs an upgrade. And when I was talking to my team about what we're going to do, they strongly recommended that we switch our platform to Framer, which they said is a modern way to build websites in 2026. That's why so many companies from leading startups like mine to Fortune 500 brands are turning to Framer. Framer is a powerful website builder and design tool that helps businesses create better websites faster. With Framer, you can design and publish beautiful, high performing websites without ever touching code. It's a visual drag and drop builder with smart AI tools that help you create responsive layouts quickly. And these websites are beautiful and look super custom. Nobody would ever know that you used a drag and drop tool. Everything you need is built into Framer, including SEO support, analytics and collaboration. So you're never duct taping multiple tools together. It's one of the easiest ways to launch a high performing website or landing page that looks custom, polished and professional on any device. Learn how you can get more from your.com from a framer specialist or get started building for free today@framer.com profiting for 30% off a Framer Pro annual plan. That's framer.com profiting for 30 percent off framer.com profiting rules and restrictions apply. Hey App Bam. I know a lot of you are working hard to hit new financial goals this year, but it can be tough to get ahead when subscription creep is quietly draining your bank account. I can't tell you how many times I thought I canceled something only to realize later they were still charging me or how many times I tried to cancel, but it was so difficult I
Podcast Host/Interviewer
couldn't figure it out.
Hala Taha
And if you're like me, you have way too many subscriptions and bills and you're probably looking for a way to track and manage them all. Lucky for us, Experian handles all that heavy lifting. Check out Experian's Subscription Cancellation and Bill Negotiation, two powerful features that can help you save with minimal effort. Experian scans the accounts that you link, finds reoccurring charges, and puts the power in your hands. You can keep the subscriptions you want and cancel the ones that you no longer need or use. Experian can cancel over 200 eligible subscriptions from streaming services to entertainment apps and more. And it doesn't stop there. If you want to also try saving on everyday bills, experienced expert negotiators could help you by finding better rates on eligible bills you're already paying.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
The best part?
Hala Taha
You get to keep 100% of your savings. Get started now with the Experian app and let your BFF Big Financial Friend do all the work for you. Disclaimer results will vary. Not all bills or subscriptions are eligible. Savings not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. See experian.com for details.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
So one thing leads to another and I end up where I am today. I'm full time entrepreneur. I quit my job at Disney. I ended up being able to reinvest in my podcast and grow it very large to be the number one education show across all podcasts. I got the COVID of Podcast Magazine January of 2021. I learned that I was going to be interviewing Matthew McConaughey at the end of the 2020 and so my whole year turned around. And in my podcast I always ask one question at the end of the show. And Brian and Darius both know this. I always say, what is your secret to profiting in life? And so I always interview all these people who are mega successful and I never ever thought that I had value to actually contribute to that question. What is your secret to profiting in life? And then after 2020 was the first time that I actually felt like I could help answer that question with my secrets to profiting in life. And so I'd love to go over that with you guys next and I hope you're enjoying this conversation. Okay, so secret number one, create your own lane. When a gatekeeper is telling you no, instead of going and trying to beg that gatekeeper, instead of looking for other similar gatekeepers. Create your own path. Because I found that creating my own path was always a fast track to success. When I was fired from Hot 97, I started StrawberryBunt.com and the sorority of Hip Hop and it was one of the best experiences of my life. It, it didn't end the way I quite imagined, but I learned a lot of skills and it was still one of the best experiences of my life. When I didn't get mtv, I ended up, you know, owning my own life, going back to school. When I didn't get the Young Employee network, I started young and profiting podcasts. And thank God for those nos because if it wasn't for those nos, I wouldn't be where I am today. And then in terms of creating your own path, there's some ways to turbocharge that. Having a team, which I always had, and having a team believe in you, and then also having somebody other than yourself believe in you. So I felt like my father also turbocharged my destiny because he always believed in me, whether anybody else did or not. And then the second secret to profiting in life is finding your talent stack. So I actually learned this from Scott Adams. He's the creator of Dilbert. So that's a very famous cartoon. It's syndicated in all the newspapers, and it's basically like a funny cartoon about this guy who's in business. And so Scott Adams really taught me about this idea of talent stacking. So for him, he was a decent writer, he was a decent drawer, and he was funny, and he knew a bit about business and computer and the IT world. So he put that all together and he created Dilbert, and it was a massive success. Now, he wasn't the best in all of these things. He wasn't the best drawer, the funniest guy in the world. He was just decently good at all of it. He put it all together and he had a unique offering that he could share to the world. I think that my story is very similar. I was a great podcaster, and my show took off right away because I had the experiences to build my talent stack, to make me the best podcaster and eventually the best CEO of YAP Media. I had radio experience, I had blogging experience. I had ran multiple social media channels for Fortune 500 companies. And I put all these things together and knew how to build teams and recruit teams. I put all those skills together and created the podcast. And then eventually, yeah, media. So find your talent stack, and the next one is that life is limitless. When my father was dying, I never felt so much fire in my belly. I wanted to take over the world. Heather Monahan gave me a kick in the butt. And after that, I was ready to take over the world because I realized that life was limitless. Like, my father loved to live.
Hala Taha
He still was writing a book.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
He wasn't finished with life. And I felt like, man, like, life can just end at any moment. You never know. And not only that, I felt like I was playing small to the outside world. It probably seemed like I had made it. I had a great executive career at Disney. I was running all their email and mobile marketing. I had a top podcast. You would think, like, oh, this Girl's got it all. But to me, I was actually playing small, like my whole life. I wanted to be a star. I wanted to be famous and to make a huge impact on the world. And so I realized I was pushing playing too, too small. And so I finally got back to that 19 year old Hala, who is obsessed with the law of attraction and who really believed that you could create your dream life. And I got that fire back in my belly. And Robert Greene, who I also interviewed on my show, he's the author of the Laws of Human nature and the 50th laws of power. Huge author. And he taught me about the law of death denial. So in the Law of Death Denial, it says that most people are actually scared to confront the idea of death. They don't even think about it. They avoid the thought of death. Now, Robert suggests that instead of doing that, you should embrace the idea of death. Think about your death so that it actually motivates you to a life of purpose and fulfillment. And so my ask to everybody here today is not to wait until you're on your deathbed, not to wait until somebody you love is on their deathbed, to feel that fire in your belly. Realize that life is limitless.
Hala Taha
Thank you.
Event Moderator
Guys. We have time for questions. I did want to give your present. Thank you.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Oh, thank you.
Event Moderator
You were amazing.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Thank you.
Event Moderator
That was really good.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Thanks.
Event Moderator
Yeah, we have some time for questions, so I have a mic, so let's go to Brian.
Brian Scudamore
Yeah, thanks, Hala. Good to get to know your personal story rather than just, you know, you and I have interacted on Zoom and a few side conversations, but it's great to hear the personal side. So thanks for sharing. Are you on a quest or a path?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
A quest or a path? You know, right now I feel like I don't know what my ultimate vision is, but I know that I'm focused on making a huge positive impact with the world. And one of the things that I recently did was launch my podcast network, which I'm super excited about. But I feel like there's another element to my life's purpose that I haven't discovered yet. And I think it probably has to do with Palestine, but I feel like, to be honest, I'm not ready yet
Hala Taha
to do that, so.
Brian Scudamore
Because I know you'd always think big and execute big, if you could think five years into the future, what would you manifest?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
You want me to answer that question? Well, I think, yeah, media is going to be a thousand person company, 100%. I think I'm going to have the biggest podcast network in the world and we're probably going to be bought by Spotify or something like that. And I think that at that point I'll be so secure in my career that I can start really giving back and help educating people about some of the oppression and occupation and issues that are going on in Palestine that in this very juncture today, I can't do yet because I'm not successful enough to do that.
Audience Member 1
Ramir's perspective, as the youngest person in the room, what is the future of marketing?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
The future of marketing. So I don't think obviously social media is going away. I do think that platforms like Instagram and Twitter are definitely going to fizzle out. They're already losing their organic growth. I believe that social audio still hasn't found its footing and I believe that social audio will find its footing and that's going to be huge. In terms of podcasting, I think it's going to turn into like VR and more of like a VR experience. And that's definitely the future of podcasting. And in general, I just think like the metaverse is going to be the future of marketing and social media. Making sure that you're relevant in the metaverse and companies will have real estate in the real world and the metaverse.
Event Moderator
Social audio. Audio.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Social audio.
Event Moderator
They probably know what that is.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Oh, so social audio. So there's these apps like Clubhouse and Green Room and basically it's a type of technology or social app where it's just audio only, but it's very engaging. And so there's usually like a stage where there's panelists and then you can kind of bring up audience members. And it's basically like an interactive podcast. Is that you can think of it
Event Moderator
the foundation that your dad was and what he did for everyone. How's the family now and how's your mom?
Audience Member 1
How's everybody doing?
Event Moderator
How's everybody come together? Wait, now that your dad's passed?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Our family is doing amazing because I feel like my dad left with such a strong foundation. So my mom's doing great. My brothers and sisters are all doctors, super successful. We're super blessed. So everybody's doing great. Thanks for asking.
Audience Member 2
I'm a little nervous to ask this question, so let me see if I
Podcast Host/Interviewer
can get it out. Okay.
Audience Member 2
Your 12 year old little girl was being attacked by a country for being who you were. And there are children in states right now that are trans children that are being attacked for being who they are. What do you wish rooms like this would have done for you when you were a little girl, when you were under attack for being black?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
That's a good question.
Hala Taha
Wow.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
That's a good question. So, like, let's just face it. I'm just gonna call it how it is. Most of the people in this room are white, right? White men. So I remember being a little Palestinian girl, thinking I was just a regular American girl. And I remember having parents, friends. They'd ask me, what's your heritage, Hala? Where are you guys from? And I'd say, I'm from Palestine. And literally, multiple times I've had parents say, palestine doesn't exist. Imagine being a little girl and being told that, like, your whole life is a lie and you don't even exist, Right? So one of the things that I would say is, educate yourself. Have some compassion, you know, Educate yourself about what's really going on. And the other thing that I would say is, for me, I'm in a really tricky place because I've seen things with my own eyes. I feel a very certain way about it. But I've been canceled. I didn't tell you guys every story of my life. You know, I've been canceled multiple times for talking about Palestine. And so I'm like, you could ask Darius. I wasn't even gonna mention it today. And he was like. He was like, you better mention it. I took it out of my speech because I was like, I don't want to get canceled. Like, my career's taken off. I don't want anybody to hate me. I love people, and I try to stay out of it because I understand that I'm not powerful enough to talk about it yet, but maybe some of you guys in this room are. And so I want to wait until I've got so much foundation that nobody can tear me down, because I've been torn down before. I've been Shadow banned on Instagram. Like, I literally. One of the reasons why I blew up on LinkedIn is because Instagram shadow banned me for so many years, and nobody saw my stuff. And so I know what it's like to be canceled. And so what I'd ask is that open your mind. Don't just look at the media. Don't listen to the same stories that everybody told you. Like, there's stuff going on in the world that you need to learn about and do research about and listen to the people who are going through it, and then be an advocate and stand up for them if you have the power and if you have the foundation where no one's going to Tear you down. But there are people like me and people who are transgender or Palestinian or, you know, whatever it is, whatever the minority group is, who don't have the power to stand up for themselves and who will be canceled and their life will be way more impacted than if you stood up for them. And I know it's a hard thing to ask because people are scared to speak out because everybody's trying to protect their livelihood. But at some point, people need to stand up for what's right and equal human rights across the board for everyone.
Audience Member 1
So I have a question. Thank you for your presentation. And as one of the non white male guys here, wearing my fucking NFT shirt.
Hala Taha
Okay.
Audience Member 1
Actually, serious question. Have you ever thought of, like, you know, having your voice on the blockchain where it is actually censorless, like you can't be canceled so you can actually have your voice out there?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Yeah, I mean, I've started to dabble in NFTs and getting involved, but I haven't figured out my master plan there yet. But I think that's a great opportunity for me to kind of speak out and not have as many as the risks as I would if I did it on, like, Instagram or LinkedIn. So. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
Event Moderator
I just had something to say.
Audience Member 1
Happy birthday.
Hala Taha
Thank you.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
It was yesterday.
Event Moderator
We could do belated Happy Birthday, couldn't we? It was yesterday.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Y' all have to sing it.
Event Moderator
Yeah, we gotta sing it though. You know, we're gonna sing you a belated Happy birthday. Come on, everybody, get up on three. One, two, three. Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday dear Hollah. Happy birthday to you.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Thank you, everybody.
Hala Taha
Thank you.
Event Moderator
All right, is there any other questions for Hala? Oh, let's go for it.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Sure.
Audience Member 2
You know, being counseled and all over and over again. You were quit. People quit on you and fired you. What was that thing that kept you going and believing in yourself?
Podcast Host/Interviewer
Honestly, it was my dad. It was knowing that my dad got out of poverty when all the odds were stacked against him. Like, he was literally the. Like, his dad didn't even have a first grade education, and he went off to become, like, chief of surgery of multiple hospitals. And so for me, I always felt like I had zero excuse to not be even 10 times more successful than he was. And so really, it was always my dad thinking about, like, everything that he sacrificed. Cause all he did was study his whole life, and all he did was give back his whole life. His whole life was, like, for his family and dedicated for his family. So for me, that was always the driving factor to make sure that nothing he did was in vain and that I would help build my family's generational wealth. And 10x it hopefully.
Event Moderator
Any other questions? We have one more. As you notice that you just sent
Podcast Host/Interviewer
me a LinkedIn message about 15 minutes ago.
Event Moderator
Congratulations.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
I didn't see you do that while
Hala Taha
you were on Facebook.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
I have a good team.
Event Moderator
She geo fenced the whole room. And you all have invites, too.
Podcast Host/Interviewer
That's so funny. Thank you, guys.
Event Moderator
All right, thank you,
Podcast Host/Interviewer
thank you.
Young and Profiting with Hala Taha
Episode: Hala Taha: The Mindset That Turned Rejection into a Multi-Million Dollar Business | Human Behavior | YAPClassic
Release Date: February 25, 2026
This powerful YAPClassic episode features Hala Taha’s keynote at MIT’s “Gathering of the Titans,” where she shares the candid, untold journey of building her multi-million dollar business, overcoming industry rejections, and the mindset shifts that kept her moving forward. Through deeply personal stories of her Palestinian heritage, early experiences with prejudice, and professional setbacks—including being fired, losing major media deals, and the loss of her father to COVID—Hala outlines how she harnessed grit, belief, and relentless execution to eventually build YAP Media and become a respected entrepreneur and podcast icon.
Hala’s Family Background (02:40–06:30):
Navigating Identity and Racism Post-9/11 (07:15–10:30):
Rejection Breeds Resilience (11:00–13:30):
Entering Radio & Early Media Hustle (13:45–20:00):
Hot 97 Firing: A Crucible Moment (20:05–22:30):
Building the Sorority of Hip Hop (22:45–25:45):
Coping with Another Door Slammed Shut (25:45–28:10):
Networking & Persistence Pays Off (28:10–31:40):
Corporate Ascent: Innovating Inside HP (31:45–36:00):
Pivot to Podcasting (36:10–39:10):
COVID-19: Family Tragedy and Renewed Purpose (39:10–46:00):
Pivot from Side Hustle to Empire (46:00–49:00):
Quest or Path? Manifesting the Future (51:02–52:40):
Future of Marketing and Social Media (52:46–53:55):
Dealing with Discrimination and Gatekeeping (Palestine, Trans Kids, Advocacy) (54:28–57:39):
On Persistence and Internal Motivation (59:20–60:17):
Embracing Uncensorable Platforms (57:49–58:21):
On overcoming gatekeepers:
“For the first time ever, I learned that gatekeepers don’t only exist at checkpoints.” (10:08)
On leveraging rejection:
“If it wasn’t for those ‘no’s, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” (46:01)
On mission and legacy:
“I always felt like I had zero excuse to not be 10 times more successful than he was.” (59:36)
On purpose after loss:
“Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed to feel that fire in your belly. Realize that life is limitless.” (50:13)
For entrepreneurs, marketers, and anyone sidestepping gatekeepers, this episode is a masterclass in grit, reinvention, and letting hard times fuel higher ambitions.