Being successful often means learning from those who have already achieved their goals. Use these tips for success to help get you started as an entrepreneur!

Advice

Get tips on how to become an entrepreneur.

It is important to balance what you want with what you'll sacrifice. List what you want in life & prioritize from most to least important. Do priorities change if you can only have the top 3?

Career

Prioritize your goals.

Find a music nonprofit with a mission that you care about and volunteer! Enter in your location at the top of this list to find a place near you. What kind of nonprofits are most interesting to you?

Find a music organization and volunteer!

Chief Executives

Determine and formulate policies and provide overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations within guidelines set up by a board of directors or similar governing body. Plan, direct, or coordinate operational activities at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate executives and staff managers.

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Second Interest High-Point

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

First Interest High-Point

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Third Interest High-Point

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Management Occupations

Top Executives

Direct or coordinate an organization's financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.

Confer with board members, organization officials, or staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems.

Analyze operations to evaluate performance of a company or its staff in meeting objectives or to determine areas of potential cost reduction, program improvement, or policy change.

Direct, plan, or implement policies, objectives, or activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, or to increase productivity.

Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding or implementation of programs.

Direct or coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.

Negotiate or approve contracts or agreements with suppliers, distributors, federal or state agencies, or other organizational entities.

Review reports submitted by staff members to recommend approval or to suggest changes.

Appoint department heads or managers and assign or delegate responsibilities to them.

Direct human resources activities, including the approval of human resource plans or activities, the selection of directors or other high-level staff, or establishment or organization of major departments.

Preside over or serve on boards of directors, management committees, or other governing boards.

Prepare or present reports concerning activities, expenses, budgets, government statutes or rulings, or other items affecting businesses or program services.

Establish departmental responsibilities and coordinate functions among departments and sites.

Implement corrective action plans to solve organizational or departmental problems.

Coordinate the development or implementation of budgetary control systems, recordkeeping systems, or other administrative control processes.

Direct non-merchandising departments, such as advertising, purchasing, credit, or accounting.

Deliver speeches, write articles, or present information at meetings or conventions to promote services, exchange ideas, or accomplish objectives.

Serve as liaisons between organizations, shareholders, and outside organizations.

Nominate citizens to boards or commissions.

Interpret and explain policies, rules, regulations, or laws to organizations, government or corporate officials, or individuals.

Make presentations to legislative or other government committees regarding policies, programs, or budgets.

Refer major policy matters to elected representatives for final decisions.

Administer programs for selection of sites, construction of buildings, or provision of equipment or supplies.

Direct or coordinate activities of businesses involved with buying or selling investment products or financial services.

Direct or conduct studies or research on issues affecting areas of responsibility.

Attend and participate in meetings of municipal councils or council committees.

Organize or approve promotional campaigns.

Conduct or direct investigations or hearings to resolve complaints or violations of laws or testify at such hearings.

Represent organizations or promote their objectives at official functions or delegate representatives to do so.

Prepare bylaws approved by elected officials and ensure that bylaws are enforced.

Review and analyze legislation, laws, or public policy and recommend changes to promote or support interests of the general population or special groups.

10-key calculators

Desktop computers

Laptop computers

Personal computers

Personal digital assistants PDA

Smartphones

Universal serial bus USB flash drives

Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat

AdSense Tracker

Atlassian JIRA

Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge

ComputerEase Construction Accounting

Database reporting software

Databox

Email software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Exact Software Macola ES Labor Performance

Extensible markup language XML

Fund accounting software

Graphic presentation software

Halogen e360

Halogen ePraisal

HCSS HeavyBid

HCSS HeavyJob

Human resource information system HRIS

Infor SSA Human Capital Management

Intuit QuickBooks

Listserv software

Lyris HQ Web-Analytics Solution

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Dynamics AX

Microsoft Dynamics GP

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft FRx

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft Word

Nedstat Sitestat

Norchard Solutions Succession Wizard

Online advertising reporting software

Oracle E-Business Suite

Oracle PeopleSoft

Oracle Siebel Server Sync

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Relational database management software

Sage 50 Accounting

Structured query language SQL

Web browser software

Of the people I went to HS with, I was probably the most unlikely to succeed

Hip-Hop Mogul

What do you wanna do with your life? You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, blah, blah, blah. [MUSIC] >> The road other people expect you to take in life is not necessarily the one that will make you happy. [MUSIC] Last summer, three groups of friends from the U.S., England and Canada went on a roadtrip across North America to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. >> On the road, we spoke with inspirational people to find how how they found their way. This is Roadtrip Nation. [MUSIC] >> I've considered doing a lot of things in the last year and a half, some more seriously than others. But for example, I thought about going to journalism school, I thought about going to law school, I thought about going to film school. I thought about getting a master's degree in philosophy or some kind of liberal arts thing, and being a teacher. I thought about being a rabbi, or a religious educator. Going into business, getting an MBA. I mean those are the main ones but there are a couple more, probably. Having all those options out there is very exciting and very scary. It's an exciting possibility, knowing that I might be able to figure it out in the next 30 days. [MUSIC] >> Heading to Damon Dash's Rocawear headquarters. [MUSIC] >> I was ridiculous when I was young, I was crazy. I'm quite sure the people I went to high school with, in school, I was probably most unlikely to succeed, you know what I'm saying? I was such a clown and I was such a smart ass. Even when I was little, like ten, I used to always introduce myself as Damon Dash. Like I'm Damon Dash and they'd be like, and? I'd be like I'm just saying I'm Damon Dash. >> We want to talk to you about the period of time in your life when you maybe didn't know what you were going to be. >> I still don't know what I'm gonna be. All I knew, all my life, was that I was gonna be rich. That's all I knew. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know how I was gonna be rich. I didn't know how I was gonna make my money. I just knew that there were opportunities that would present themselves and that I would capitalize and that I never wanted to have a boss. And if I did have a boss, he'd have to be paying me money like I was the boss. >> How and when did you develop this- >> Entrepreneurial spirit? Hanging out in Harlem. We have this attitude in Harlem, you have to have this swagger, you have to have the best clothes, the best cars, the best girls, the best jewelry. And you have to make money to get those things, so everyone's always trying to get money. Like before, I used to hang out on a stoop, I used to hang out on the corner, this is my stoop now, I'm in an office, you know what I'm saying? I get paid for this, how could I knock this hustle? >> Can you talk a little bit more about the harder times, like growing up maybe? >> The hardest things that have ever happened to me have been the tragedies in my life. I don't necessarily think I went through anymore pain than anybody else did but I just know that when it hit, [BLEEP] hit hard. I've caught a couple of bricks. When you get obliterated, like when as a child, you loose your mother, and I lost my mother and I was obliterated but I was in pain and at that point, I became fearless. You know what I'm saying? I'm not scared of nothing, like what I was scared of already happened. At that time, really when my mother died, one of my things was, damn, I don't have the security I had. I always knew that if I didn't have money, my mother would take care of me, you know what I'm saying? So I was like, who's gonna take care of me now? So, actually, yeah, that might have been the moment I turned into a pure, I gotta get money. >> At what point in your career have you felt most successful, and why? >> I never really feel that successful. It's almost like the smarter you get, the dumber you know you are, you know what I'm saying? The minute I have success, I'm like damn but now, I'm around people that are having ridiculous amounts of success. >> You know you don't say your successful but from the outside people look at you as like a mogul and an icon for our generation, for your culture. You're sitting here on top of Manhattan, are there still things that you fear and doubts that you still have? >> No. >> Nothing, I mean even on a personal- >> There's no doubt in my mind that I'm gonna be a billionaire, I know it. It's just how long it's gonna take. I know I'm gonna have $1 billion when it's all said and done. >> If you were born with $1 million, just the day you were born, what would you do with your life? >> I probably wouldn't appreciate a lot of things. The reason why I have so much fun is cuz I went through, I saw so much. I know how it feels to not have a lot of money, I know how it feels to struggle. I know how it feels to just overall have a lack of something, so I appreciate it. >> It's like everything I got is just because I fought for it. I didn't go to school for none of this, you know what I'm saying? Not for music, not for fashion. I've directed movies, it's crazy to me. You know what I'm saying? I just did it. You know what I'm saying? School is great but if you don't know what you wanna be or if you do know what you wanna be, you have to go live it. You gotta go do it. The best school is experience, and you, to a degree, have to start from the- Despite who I am and what I got, every business I went to, I started from the ground up. And then overall, I just think I'm also better than everyone who's doing it. I don't want to undermine anything that anyone's done but to me, none of this is just brain surgery. If they could do it, I could do it. I can probably do it way better. The experiences that I have made me the man I am today. Those experiences are the things that I sell. To me, life now is a constant test. You test it every day to see if you're gonna do the right thing or the wrong thing and I know, for sure, what goes around always comes around. I believe in karma. I believe in do unto others as you want them to do unto you and that's exactly what happens. You lie to somebody, they're gonna lie to you. You steal from somebody, somebodies gonna steal from you. As it relates to business or just living, always be honest, no matter what. Just have good intent when you do things and good things will come to you. But then, as far as work and work ethic, you have to work hard. You know what I mean? Always work hard, don' t expect anybody to give you anything. You know what I mean? And if you believe in something 100%, like 100%, some people believe in things because they can make money because they wanna make a dollar. But that's not how you really make money. If you really believe in something, believe, believe in something, then fight for it. You know what I mean? Don't let anybody tell you any different. [MUSIC] >> Oh my God. Oh my God. >> I'm mind boggled. He pummeled us. >> We thought he was gonna give us five minutes. I don't know what Laura thought. >> I think I have a very different perspective than you guys because I didn't know very much about him. He doesn't need $1 billion, no one needs $1 billion, that's just money hungry. >> Despite all that, you don't know what he's been through, seeing people get shot in the head. He's had such a different life, so yeah, our morals clash, what we believe in certainly clash, because we didn't grow up like him. I grew up in Forest Hills, that guy grew up in Harlem, big difference. It's crazy how driven he was towards money. >> Crazy! >> Almost solely, that was it. >> Yeah. >> But at the same time, it was good to see someone just honest about it, finally, someone says I want money, I love money. >> I don't even necessarily want to get into it, cuz I think we all agree more or less on some of this stuff but I also think it's important to think about it, you have to feel the flash and know where it comes from [MUSIC] >> We're meeting with Raymond Kelly, he's the NYPD Commissioner down at police headquarters. That's 4:00, and- >> Where is that again? >> It's at One Police Plaza. >> This'll be a really interesting experience. [MUSIC] >> I'm the youngest of five For children born on the west side of Manhattan when the west side was not nearly what it is today. It was a dangerous place. It was kind of a Westside story environment, where ultimately when I was 13 we moved out of there to Queens, because it was so bad. But, my three older brothers were all in the US Marine Corps. And that was kinda something that by dint of just being in the family I kind of wanted to do that. The police department advertised for the first time for a police cadet program. The idea was to get college graduates into policing. So I joined the first police cadet class ever. And it became a very exciting, interesting job for me. I realized that I really loved being a cop. I loved the excitement, the action, the activity. There's something about having flow and going to a call, responding on the radio to something, somebody with a gun or whatever. I mean your heart pounds but it's exciting and it probably is not unlike the feeling that I had in the Marine Corp. Certain people are attracted to that sort of work and I guess I'm one of them. [MUSIC] A lot of people, believe it or not, don't think about it. They don't think about what makes them happy, what they wanna do. They do it because their father did it or because they had family do it or go into family business or they go to the family school. There comes a point and time ideally if you can sit back and say what do I wanna do and it's not about money. This is never about money. Anybody that I know that's made a decision based on money. Don't get me wrong. It's nice to have it, but it's just no longer that important in this society. It's always, I've got more than this guy and so what? There's always somebody who has more than you. I think, if you think about it and focus on it, you'll find something naturally, just the right thing for you. But there are certain things that you find attractive, comfortable doing, those things are where you're gonna be happiest. [MUSIC] >> I feel like this is the worst morning of my life. Sweat and gunk is pouring out of my body. There's no breeze, still air it's like being in a dessert in the middle of Manhattan. See, I'm at the point where I'm just gonna knock on someone's random condo or apartment. [MUSIC] >> We're living off a mobile home. Our shower is broken. We haven't showered for a couple of days. >> Do you wanna take a shower? Go to my place, take shower. >> You know the guy who designed those three glass buildings? >> Yes. >> We're interviewing him at 3 O'clock, we wanna hose off. [MUSIC] >> We just showered on the streets of Greenwich Village with ahose from a body shop, mechanic's shop. We're actually a block away from Richard Meier's swanky building who have made this afternoon. [MUSIC] >> When I was growing up my parents had a basement in their house and I had a drafting board where I would make drawings. And I made model boats and model airplanes. And I just liked making things. I decided that architecture was what I wanted to do. I wanted to make things, I wanted to build things, I wanted to contribute to society. I wanted to make the world a better place if that's possible in architecture, and then I went to architecture school and I never looked back. I always felt that's what I wanted to do and I feel very fortunate. And I began by designing exhibitions, and one thing led to another and so I don't know where the next job is coming from, but somewhere, somehow it appears. Architecture can in a sense allow us to see things that perhaps we wouldn't see without architecture, that it heightens our perspective and our perceptions. >> And then personally why do you think you're attracted to that? >> Oh, cuz it gives me pleasure. It's the same reason I paint or I make drawings or collages. It's sort of my view of the world no matter what it is. I think I strive for a certain sense of order, try to take a certain amount of chaos that is all around us, and give it a sense of order. And I think that buildings, as I said, can reach out and create more order in a city that desperately needs it. It just helps everybody. >> It seems like you've done so much to be proud of. What would have been the most thrilling things for you and professionally and personally? >> It's always the last thing that you finish that's the most satisfying. Right now we're working on a house in Palm Beach. I'm as excited about working on that house as I was on working on a house 30 years ago. The Getty is very important to me, it always will be. But it's the past, there's nothing I can do there anymore. So it's the really the things that are happening now that are the most exciting. The funny thing is that, you know, with all of the things that I've done I still worry you know what are we gonna do next week, next month. What happens in September when we finish I know what are the things we're doing, what am I gonna do then? So I guess you fear that, somehow, you won't have enough to do. >> If we're giving you a microphone to speak to our generation of people who are trying to figure it out what they wanna do with their passion, what kind of things would you say? >> Well first of all, there's no one way. There's so many things you can do, there's so many things you can do well, but you can't do them all. It's not so much what you do, it's how you do it and what your attitude is about it. I think that if people just decide, this is what gives them pleasure, that's what they should be doing. [MUSIC] Me and Questlove, the drummer for The Roots and that we just, sort of the last minute decision. On our way to Chicago, we're gonna wing it back to Philly, and meet up with him this morning. And then head out to Chicago, so it's kind of a last minute change, but we're pretty excited. And he's not just a drummer, he arranges a lot, plays a lot of instruments. Very talented and cool guy. [MUSIC] I don't know if anyone who's truly successful feels a sense of completion. I think it's just a constant mission to stay ahead. Always work. Never sleep. Cutthroat. More more more, more more more. I don't know if I'm just insatiable by nature, or not, but average day I do 18 to 20 hour days. A lot of it is also just due to the fact that I'm sorta like the hamster on a treadmill going 300 miles per hour. And if the treadmill is taken up at a tally of how many miles I've done, I've not stopped to say, okay, how many? Oh man, 4,000 miles. Okay, you know. Obviously this is further than I would imagine 17 years ago. I started drumming at the age of two. I got my first drum set when I was eight. I had to go downstairs and practice every day from like three to five hours. The year that Michael Jackson won all those Grammy's, I think in 83, Wyn Marsalis had also won and man, I'd to this day I wish we'd just turned the channel. The first thing Wynton Marsalis said is you know as I stand here I really Want to thank my father for making me practice eight hours a day. And my dad's like [SOUND] >> Oh my god. [LAUGH] >> And I knew that my father's plan for me was to be like a top session musician. And I didn't even mention a word of the Roots to my father until probably 1992. We literally played on the streets of Philadelphia, had a shoebox out there, oh my god, if someone put a 20 out, that was Donald Trump city. All we wanted was date money. We just wanted to take our girl to a movie theater and go to McDonald's afterwards. Literally, I swear that's all we wanted to do. Just during that whole period, I had those feelings of anxiety. I had those feelings of we're not gonna make it. I mean my father was hard on me. Around that point that was a crossroads for me because, I got accepted to Julliard up in New York, but because of my financial situation I couldn't afford to live in New York City and attend that school. And then we got a record deal. So when we started, we moved to Europe and stayed in two-star whore houses, flipping over, okay, you get the bed, you get the comforter, you get the pillow. That was the lesson that we had to learn for three years. And then, eventually the ray of light came in 1999. I just thank God that we had some sorta focus of what the end result, not what the end result should be, just that there's something else better than this. And that is what enabled us to rise above water level and not drown. I think at the end of the day I just wanna be recognized. I will be happy if we are just remembered in the history books. I feel as though we're very fortunate to have longevity. But I definitely treat it as though each year is like Russian roulette. [SOUND] Okay, one year goes by. [NOISE] Oh, damn, 2009. [NOISE] 2010. A lot of the reasons that prevented a record label from just pressing the button that will cause the guillotine to slice our heads off was the fact that these albums are in Time Magazines ten best records of the year whatever. Then it's like I would kill the Roots, but this album got Album of the Year in over 300 critics pools. This industry taught me how to be a chess player. And even my girlfriend rags me like two members of my group just recently had children in the last three weeks. And I'm thinking, man don't they know that June is one of the most crucial, lucrative times? I told both of them, if you two want to have children you need to consummate it in April. >> [LAUGH] >> That way, during the slow down period of December through February you can have your children, we won't be on the road. And that's just how I think. I think like a chess player. I gotta think 12 steps ahead. I think the true answer to life is proper planning. Everyone on my block that I grew up with was either dead or in jail by the time we all turned 21, none of them are around. Two people in particular. Two of the greatest thinking minds are both doing 25 to life. For just a tiny bit of inebriation and a little bit of pride in front of a female. That's why I always use the chess analogy. People always move in the heat of passion. I've learned that it's so much better to properly plan out your life. Proper planning is my answer. [MUSIC] Life on the road has given me a lot of time to reflect, which is crucial. It's focused more life just experience. I think that's a big thing. It's like, this is the first time where you actually can pour all of your energy into the experience itself. That's actually the goal. And I'm still figuring out what that feels like and I'm still figuring out even if I'm comfortable with that because I've never really lived like that before. [MUSIC] >> From Illinois we went down into Iowa. I know Iowa from Field of Dreams and Kevin Costner. That's it. So Iowa was pretty wacky and we're getting out west and I never been really west of Chicago my whole life. And driving out to Kansas, tornado town. It was cool. [MUSIC] You get a lot of thinking done on the open road just driving for hours and I kinda like it. [MUSIC] >> An open road is a empty road in some ways. It's a place where you don't know what's ahead of you. And you have the opportunity to go forward unhindered, and you have the opportunity to turn back if you desire. >> We've seen like the whole spectrum of American culture in the last few weeks, 20 states, the Atlantic to the Pacific. >> Be open to any opportunities that present itself and build yourself up into a sorta human being that eventually can make a real difference. >> When you have a gift, I think you just have a gift in something and you'll feel it. >> And if you think, oh, I might be interested in that but, oh, I'm not sure, just go and try it. >> Is to basically kinda find where your limit is and then that's your starting point. [MUSIC] >> For more information on Road Trip Nation, and to learn how you can hit the road, go to pbs.org. [MUSIC] 

<p>The Canadian team reaches New York City where they interview Damon Dash, hip hop mogul and entrepreneur. Next they interview Ray Kelly, NYPD police commissioner. The team also has the opportunity of meeting with Richard Meir, architect of the Getty museum. The team heads back to Philadelphia to interview Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, drummer for The Roots.</p>

New York City - Philadelphia

At what point in your career have you felt most successful and why? >> I never really feel that successful. It's almost like the smarter you get, the dumber you know you are. You know what I'm saying? So the minute I have success I'm like damn, but now I'm around people that are having ridiculous amounts of success. >> You know, you don't say you're successful, but from the outside people look at you like a mogul and an icon for our generation, for your culture? We're sitting here on top of Manhattan. Are there still things that you fear and doubts that you still have? >> No. >> Nothing? >> I mean, you've been on a first- >> There's no doubt in my mind that I'm gonna be a billionaire. I know it. It's just how long it's gonna take. I know I'm gonna have a billion dollars when it's all said and done. >> If you were born with a million dollars, just the day you were born what would you do like with your life? >> I'd probably wouldn't appreciate a lot of things. The reason why I have so much fun is cause I want to saw so much. I know how it feels that didn't have a lot of money and I know how it feels to struggle. And I know how it feels just overall have a lack of something so I appreciate it. It's like everything I got was just because I fought for it. There was no protocol for it. I didn't go to school for none of this, you know what I'm saying? Not for music, not for fashion. I've directed movies, it's crazy to me, you know what I'm saying? I just did it, you know what I'm saying? So, school is great. If you don't know what you wanna be, or if you do know what you wanna be, you have to go live it, you gotta go do it. The best school is experience and to a degree have to start from the, like despite who I am and what I've got every business I went to, I started from the ground up. And then overall I think I'm also better than everyone that's doing it. I don't want to undermine anything that anyone's done, but it's like to me, this is just a brain surgery. So when I think I do it, I can do it, I can finally do it way better. The experience that I have make me the man that I am today. Those experiences are the things that I sell. So to me life now is a constant test. You're tested everyday to see if you're gonna do the right thing or the wrong thing. And I know for sure what goes around always comes around. I believe in karma. I believe in do unto others as you want them to do unto you. And that's exactly what happens. You lie to somebody, they're gonna lie to you. If you steal from somebody, somebody's gonna steal from you. As it relates to business or just living, always be honest no matter what. Just have good intent when you do things and good things will come to you. But then, as far as work and work ethic you have to work hard you, know what I mean? Always work hard, don't expect anybody to give you anything, and if you believe in something 100%, like 100%. Some people believe in things cuz it can make them money, cuz they just wanna make a dollar, but that's not how you really make money. If you really believe in something, believe believe in something, then fight for it. Don't let anybody tell you different. 

Determination

Experience

Fear

Hard Work

Perseverance

Struggle

The Best School Is Experience

[MUSIC] So come out with your purpose and start a buzz. And I might not know the people you do. I hang in crowds you might expect me to. >> I was ridiculous when I was young. I was crazy. I'm quite sure like the people I went to high school with, in school I was probably the most unlikely to succeed. You know what I mean? I was such a clown. I was such a smart ass. When I was little, like ten, I used to always introduce myself as Damon Dash. Like I'm Damon Dash. And they'd be like, you know, and, you know what I mean? I'd be like, I'm just saying I'm Damon Dash. >> [LAUGH] >> We wanna talk to you about the period of time in your life when you maybe didn't know what you were gonna be. >> I still don't know what I'm gonna be. All I knew all my life is that I was gonna be rich. That's all I knew. I didn't know how I was gonna be rich. And how I was gonna make my money, I just knew that there would be opportunities that would present themselves and that I would capitalize, and that I never wanted to have a boss. And if I did have a boss he'd have to be paying me money like I was a boss. >> How and when did you like, develop this like, the- >> The entrepreneur spirit? Hanging out in Harlem. We have this attitude in Harlem, like you have to have the swagger. You have to have the best clothes, the best cars, the best girls, the best jewelry. And you have to make money to get those things, so everyone's always always trying to get money. Like before, I used to hang out on stoop, I used to hang out on a corner. This is my stoop now, I'm in an office, you know what I'm saying? I get paid for this. How could I knock this hustle? >> Can you talk a little bit more about the harder times, like growing up maybe? >> The hardest things that have ever happened to me have been the tragedies in my life. And I don't necessarily think I went through any more pain than anybody else did, but I just know that when it hit, this hit hard. I've caught a couple of bricks. When you get obliterated, like when, as a child, like, you lose your mother, and I lost my mother and I was obliterated. But, it was like, I was in pain. And at that point I became fearless, you know what I'm saying? I was like, I'm not scared of nothing, what I was scared of already happened. And at that time, really, when my mother died, one of my things was, damn, I don't have the security I had. I always knew that if I didn't have money, my mother would take care of me, you know what I'm saying? So I was like, who's gonna take care of me now? So actually, yeah, that might have been the moment I turned into a pure, like, I gotta get money. >> At what point in your career have you felt most successful, and why? >> I never really feel that successful. I feel like the smarter you get, the dumber you know you are. You know what I'm saying? So the minute I have success, I'm like damn. But now I'm around people who are having ridiculous amounts of success. >> You don't say you're successful. But from the outside, people look at you as, like a mogul and like an icon for our generation, for your culture. You're sitting here on top of Manhattan, are there still things that you fear and doubts that you still have? >> No. >> Nothing? Even on a- >> There's no doubt in my mind that I'm gonna be a billionaire. I know it. It's just how long it's gonna take, but I know I'm gonna have $1 billion when it's all said and done. >> If you were born with a million dollars, just the day you were born, what would you do with your life? >> I probably wouldn't appreciate a lot of things. The reason why I have so much fun is cuz I saw so much. I know how it feels to not have a lot of money. I know how it feels to struggle. I know how it feels to just overall have a lack of something. So I appreciate it. It's like everything I got is just because I fought for it. There was no protocol for it. I didn't go to school for none of this, you know what I'm saying. Not for music, not for fashion, not for movies. I've directed movies, it's crazy to me. You know what I'm saying, I just did it. You know what I'm saying. School is great if you don't know what you wanna be or if you do know what you wanna be. You have to go live it, you gotta go do it, the best school is experience, and you to a degree have to start from the. Despite who I am and what I got, every business I went to I started from the ground up. And just think I'm also better than everyone who's doing it. I don't wanna undermine anything that anyone's done but to me it's like none of this is brain surgery, so if they can do it, I can do it, I can probably do it way better. The experiences that I have made me the man that I am today. Those experiences are the things that I sell. So it's just like to me, life now is a constant test. You're tested everyday, to see if you're going to do the right thing or the wrong thing, and I know for sure what goes around always comes around. I believe in karma, I believe in do unto others as you want them to do unto you and that's exactly what happens. You lie to somebody they're gonna lie to you. You steal from somebody, somebody's gonna steal from you. As it relates to business or just living always be honest no matter what. Just have a good intent when you do things and good things will come to you. But then as far as work and work ethic you have to work hard, you know what I mean? Always work hard, don't expect anybody to give you anything, you know what I mean? And if you believe in something 100%, like some people believe in things cuz it can make them money, cuz they just want to make a dollar, but that's not how you really make money. If you really believe in something, believe believe in something, then fight for it, you know what I mean? Don't let anybody tell you anything different. 

Goals

Money & Financial Security

Interview

[MUSIC] I was ridiculous when I was young. I was crazy. I'm quite sure the people I went to high school with and school, I was probably most unlikely to succeed, you know what I'm saying? I was such a clown and I was such a smart ass. Even when I was little, like ten, I used to always introduce myself as Damon Dash. I'm Damon Dash, and they'd be like, and? I'm just saying, I'm Damon Dash. I always- &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; We want to talk to you about the period of time in your life when you maybe didn't know what you were gonna be. &gt;&gt; I still don't know what I'm gonna be. All I knew all my life was that I was gonna be rich. That's all I knew. I didn't know how I was gonna be rich. I didn't know how I was gonna make my money. I just knew that there would be opportunities that would present themselves and that I would capitalize, and that I never wanted to have a boss. And if I did have a boss, he'd have to be paying me money like I was the boss. &gt;&gt; How and when did you develop this ent- &gt;&gt; The entrepreneurial spirit? Hanging out in Harlem. We have this attitude in Harlem. You have to have this swagger. You have to have the best clothes, the best cars, the best girls, the best jewelry. And you have to make money to get those things. So everyone's always trying to get money. Before, I used to hang out on a stoop. I used to hang out on the corner, this is my stoop now I'm in an office, you know what I'm saying? I get paid for this, how could I knock this hustle? 

This Is My Stoop

Can you talk a little bit more about the harder times growing up, maybe? >> The hardest things that have ever happened to me have been the tragedies in my life. And I don't necessarily think I went through any more pain than anybody else did. But I just know that when it hit, it just hit hard. I've caught a couple of bricks. When you get obliterated, like when as a child you lose your mother. And I lost my mother and I was obliterated, but it was I was in pain and at that point I became fearless. You know what I am saying? I was like I am not scared of nothing what I was scared of already happened. At that time really when my mother died one of my things was damn I don't have the security I had I also knew that if I didn't have money my mother would take care of me. You know what I am saying? So I was like whose going to take care of me now? So actually, yeah, that might have been the moment I turned into a pure I gotta get money. 

Obliterated

All I knew all my life was that I was gonna be rich. That's all I knew, you know what I'm saying? I didn't know how I was going to be rich, I didn't know how I was going to make my money. I just knew that there would be opportunities that would present themselves, and that I would capitalize, and that I never wanted to have a boss. We have this attitude in Harlem. You know, like, you have to have this swagger. You have to have the best clothes, the best cars, the best girls, the best jewelry. And you have to make money to get those things, so everyone's always trying to get money. Like, before, I used to hang out on a stoop, you know. I used to hang out on a corner. This is my stoop now. I'm in an office. You know what I'm saying? I get paid for this. How could I knock this hustle? The hardest things that have ever happened to me have been the tragedies in my life. When you get obliterated, like when, you know, as a child like you lose your mother, and...and I lost my mother and I was obliterated. But you know, it was like... I was in pain. And at that point I became fearless. The reason why I have so much fun is 'cause I went through--you know, I saw so much. I know how it feels to not have a lot of money. I know how it feels to struggle. I know how it feels to, um, you know, just overall have a lack of something, you know, so I appreciate it. 

Damon Dash Highlight

The thing about it is I don't really consider anything a failure, you know what I'm saying? To me, a try is a win, you know what I'm saying? The fact that I'm doing something that I've never done before, that I don't know the protocol of. And the fact that I had enough courage to do it, if I lose at it, then I learned from it. But I think the loss is when you don't play the game. I'd rather lose at the game, then not know whether I would have lost or won. So I can say one venture that I didn't make money and I couldn't do right by Charlotte Ronson, which was clothing. I couldn't figure out how to make a boutique as it was related to apparel that only did boutique. I'm used to selling and making a lot of money, so I didn't know how to make that be profitable, you know what I'm saying? So I loved the clothes that was executed, the press was good, she was in all the stores, the boutique stores. But, at the end of the day, I couldn't figure out how to make money. I was like yo, go somewhere where they can help you do what you need to do. I don't know nothing about this, I know about federated and I know about specialty stores and that kind of thing. You know what I mean? So I just, I don't consider it a failure, I learned a lot. I learned a lot. I lost some money, though, I learned a lot. 

Failure

Trying Is A Win

What would you say to someone who feels they don't know their future and what business they're gonna pursue, whether it's being a lawyer or being an entrepreneur? &gt;&gt; I guess I would say, you better get a plan, you know what I mean? But it's hard for me to say that cuz I never have a plan. I could say this, your twenties feel like they'll be here forever, but they won't. And its corny to be starting something when you're 30, you know what am saying? Like I'm glad, I'm 34. Yeah I'm 34. I be forgetting. I'm 34 but I'm happy that I've done so much but let's say I'm 34 and I haven't done anything cuz nothing happens overnight. So if you're gonna plant a seed you cant expect to grow overnight. If you have patience, and you're gonna be able to nurture something properly, you better think five years at least to get it where you want, where it's profitable. So you better start now. 

Planning

Not monetary happiness, what's other type of happiness? &gt;&gt; My kids make me happy. &gt;&gt; Really? &gt;&gt; Yeah, there's a degree of fear when you got kids. You have fear cuz those are things that you have to protect. They make you very, you put your chin out there man, you could catch a brick. The more people you love, the more opportunities you have to get hurt, you know what I'm saying? But I love my kids and to see them, there's nothing better than being with your kids, you know what I'm saying, nothing. So, my kids make me truly happy. And the fact that they're happy, well, if they're happy, I'm happy, you know what I'm saying? That's all that really counts. 

Family

Fulfillment

My Kids

I believe in people, the purpose of being on this planet is to evolve your soul. And the only way to evolve your soul is just to constantly do the right thing, and also paying the fines, the individual as well. So I was just curious, why is there so much pain in this world? Why is nothing easy? So it's just like, to me, life now is a constant test. You're tested every day to see if you're gonna do the right thing or the wrong thing. And I know for sure what goes around always comes around. I believe in karma. I believe in do unto others as you want them to do unto you. And that's exactly what happened. You lie to somebody, they gonna lie to you. Steal from somebody, somebody's gonna steal from you. 

Damon Dash

Hip-Hop Mogul

Videos

Damon Dash

Milestones

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Entrepreneurship

Music

Accomplishing Goals

Hurdles

Challenges I Overcame

Learning Issues

Interviewed By

Uncertain, Undeterred