"So as I sat there in my room… I thought about what would I tell that 13 year old kid who is about to go to high school. That kid who was nervous about fitting in. That kid who was a little bit unsure of himself. What’s the one thing I would tell them to give them the cheat code for the next 10 years… NEVER. STOP. LEARNING. BC ÉDUCATION IS THE KEY I DONT CARE HOW CORNY THAT SOUNDS. ITS THE TRUTH. you’re going to be faced with a lot of choices in these new places you’re going. You’re going to have to choose new friends. You’re going to have to choose what college you want to go to. Or if you want to go to college at all. You’re going to have to choose whether or not you want to fit in with the crowd. And the decisions you make are going to determine where you end up in life. And the only way to make sure you end up where you want to be is to NEVER. STOP. LEARNING. BC ÉDUCATION IS THE KEY. Start by learning about yourself and what you are passionate about. It won’t happen overnight. And you will change your answer a couple times. But that’s ok. Keep trying until you get it right. And you have to be curious. Explore what the world has to offer. Try new things. Step outside your comfort zone. Meet new people. Ask more questions. Because you’ll never know what’s possible until you decide to look around you and see. Travel more. Don’t limit yourself. You’ll be surprised how much stuff you can get for free if you just ask. Nothing is impossible. Impossible is just the opinion of people who forgot how to dream. Everything we previously thought was impossible was made possible by someone who asked « why not ». If you told people that you could make millions of dollars doing YouTube videos they would’ve told you that was impossible too. But you’ll never be able to do the impossible unless you NEVER STOP LEARNING. BC ÉDUCATION IS THE KEY. And finally, build your toolkit. Set goals for yourself. Whatever you want to accomplish you’re going to have to learn some new things to make your dreams a reality. Whether it’s business, how to make computer programs, or how to go viral. I don’t care if you like doing makeup (learn everything and be the best), if you like fashion, if you want to be a youtuber, if you like doing hair, if you like making people laugh, if you like being a sneakerhead, if you like art, if you like arguing with people. If you like french, if you like business, if you like building stuff. It’s possible. You can do it. There’s a lane for everybody. You each have an opportunity to create a life that you can be proud of. But the only way you’ll be able to create that life is if you have the tools to actually do it. And nowadays with google you’re never more than 2 seconds away from learning ANYTHING. And it’s your responsibility to educate yourself inside the classroom and outside the classroom. But you’ll never be able to create a life that you can be proud of unless you NEVER. STOP LEARNING. BC ÉDUCATION IS THE KEY."

My tips: 1. Leverage school projects or online courses 2. Do work for small businesses for free to get testimonials 3. Create your own white papers and research 4. Write articles about things in your industry to show your POVs and Opinions 5. Partner with people who already have a portfolio and use their work to get clients. You can throw them a percentage of the deal or split profits or give a commission. 6. Leverage personal projects and side hustles. If you liked this. You want to check out my 4hr Masterclass on how to position yourself and close more sales as a creative consultant without doing any extra work. DM me for deets. This video is dedicated to @glory.na from Namibia! Also Shout outs to @skottywelch and @abrahamneitarob. Skotty’s a dope multi disciplinary creative, designer, and musician. Bram is my cofounder. A serial entrepreneur, teacher, and investor. You def wanna tap in. As always. Own your power. Give back. Leave no stone unturned.

1. Customer service 2. Not hiring people and trusting them to lead 3. Not making informed product decisions 4. Not investing in product quality 5. Taking too long to make decisions and get feedback 6. Not thinking about customer lifetime value 7. Not segmenting personal revenue from business revenue 8. Stopped learning and growing 9. Not investing into paid ads 10. Not investing into optimization and testing

Recommended resources: 1. The 1,000 true fans essay 2. Start with Why Ted Talk and Book by @simonsinek Today’s shout outs go to: ✅ @s.mourtallah a data analytics wizard and wholesome brother out of NYC ✅ @cidotci a fashion and style icon in the making with looks that kill ✅ @_cunnuh my day 1 homie and a multi talented photographer and videographer ✅ the homie Bayo who got me the Start With Why book almost 5 years ago as a gift. Still cherishing it to this day. Own your power. Give back. Leave no stone unturned. Black Lotus Out.

Why Your Creative Process is the Key to Closing Bigger Deals

Well, the creme de la creme are getting recruited and headhunted. But for those on the offense, this video contains a breakdown of my textbook Job hunting strategy. I’ve seen this work consistently with the 100+ ppl I’ve coached. Key Tips: Get focused. Don’t apply to everything under the sun Don’t just go thru traditional routes. Get in front of ppl who are relevant to your desired role. Be they recruiters, team members, or ppl in the department youre interested in. Use your informational interviews to gather intel, sell yourself, and land a referral. Be aggressive in your follow up. When you get to the interview make sure you communicate: Why you want this job Why you want to work in this industry Why you want to work at this specific company What past experiences have prepared you for success Hope this info is helpful to anyone on their job search. If you liked this video, you may also like my Ultimate Career Toolkit course. It’s 12 hrs of content that break down everything from how to write the perfect resume to how to build your professional brand. DM me to learn more. Own your power Give back Leave no stone unturned. Black Lotus Out.

The psychology of personal branding (likes/followers don’t matter) Watch this if you’re someone who’s building a brand, or if you hate how the Instagram algorithm has affected your content/engagement, or if you’ve been nervous about putting yourself out there, or if you’re tryna figure out how you can convert your social media into actual revenue. This rant was inspired by @sxlly_442_ @john_kreutter and my new friend from Iran who discovered my content a couple days ago. The truth is.. likes/followers don’t matter as much as you think. People underestimate the power of micro creators with influence. What really matter is WHO KNOWS YOU. When people know who you are, what you can do, and what you stand for.... You are positioned to attract opportunities, grow, and monetize your brand/content. Over the last 10 years as being a content creator I’ve never had more than 2-3k followers. But I’ve created revenue, had countless viral content campaigns, and gotten my products in every single continent (except Antarctica). All while still having a fairly small audience and no real marketing budget. Don’t let the Instagram models fool you. So many people with huge followings have no idea how to capitalize on it and are actually struggling. We’re living through the golden age of the Internet. If you haven’t realized this you’re not paying attention. If you wanna take advantage, you need to share your truth and find your 1,000 true fans. Repetition > engagement. I mean think about it. If you spending all day on your phone anyway. Why not figure out how to get create some value off it? Probably wouldn’t hurt. Just a thought. Black Lotus Out.

Simple questions I’m always asking myself to guide my focus for the day.

Today in the inner circle, me @_cunnuh, and @_xprsv were brainstorming with Gabriel who is just exploring his creative side for the first time. Gabriel loves design, digital art, photography, and fashion. But he’s never had any formal training in these disciplines. So the question we were focused on, was how do you build your experience as a creative when you don’t know when to start. We shared 4 key tips to help Gabriel and any other creators in a similar position. Tip #1: focus on projects instead of courses. There are three types of projects you can work on: personal projects for yourself, projects that you’re working on on behalf of friends, or re-creating things that inspire you. Tip #2: Outside of different projects, you can also work on creating moodboards and cataloging your inspiration. This allows you to start building a design and visual language for yourself. This also allows you to start identifying what your taste and niche is. Tip #3: You should also make sure to document your progress along your journey, because that will help you in moments where it’s tough to hold onto inspiration. Tip #4: use leisure activities as a trigger for learning and development. So instead of watching Netflix use that as a trigger to go watch a video tutorial that is going to help you on your journey. The video explains these concepts in much more detail and gives you highlights from my journey where I’ve seen these principles pay off and pay dividends. Check it out and let me know what you think. Right now we’re living through a creative revolution, this is a golden age for the enlightened Creatives. Creatives are thriving now, and there’s no turning back. So if you’ve been on the edge for a while, questioning whether or not you can do it or whether or not creativity is some thing worth pursuing for you.... This video is going to give you some very actionable steps on how you can get started today. Hope this helps. Own your power. Give back. Leave no stone unturned. Black Lotus. Out.

Closing remarks for the UN keynote. Often when we introduce people to new concepts they immediately jump to all the ways it won’t work. But I wanted to remind us all that everything we need is already within us. You’re standing in your own field of diamonds. Just like the Persian farmer, Ali, who sold everything he had looking for something he had all along. You are the future. You are the variable. You are the multiplier. It’s that simple. But remember, it’s not going to be easy. However long you think it’s gonna take to get to where you want to go, it’ll probably take 10x longer than you think. So it’s important to find a process you fall in love with. Not a goal or outcome. Because getting to the top of the mountain will few like an unending endeavor. But such is life. We each have our path. The Creator doesn’t give us more than we can handle. In those hard times. Just hold on. Go a little harder. Meditate. Take a break. Know when to push harder and when to pull back. If it’s been done before, that means you can do it. Young Motiv8 believes in you. Own your power. Give back. Leave no stone unturned. Black Lotus Out.