RULE 4

Don’t Just Get a Job—Be Entrepreneurial

I don’t like it when people refer to me first and foremost as an author, or a philanthropist, or a community leader, or an adviser to governments, or even a thought leader, as much high regard as that involves.

I am and always have been, first and foremost, an entrepreneur.

This is the attitude that has allowed me to survive, that has sustained my life, and, most of all, that has given me the continual edge on everyone trying to take my seat at the table of opportunity. It is my advantage when all the world is changing and closing in around me.

What everyone needs today—especially anyone looking to leave the Invisible Class—is to be entrepreneurial. It is a crucial survival skill in the twenty-first century when the only thing that is certain is change.

It really does not matter whether you want to be an entrepreneur. Regardless of what you do in life, you can benefit from thinking the way entrepreneurs think, from the way they approach life, solve problems, and even how they see problems. From the way they approach challenges and overcome things. From their optimism about everything.

It does not matter whether you are running a small bakery, or your household budget, or a government agency, whether you are managing a manufacturing plant or a Walmart shift. An entrepreneurial mind-set is precisely what you need in order to win in the twenty-first century.

The World, According to an Entrepreneur

Here are some of the ways that I as an entrepreneur see the world:

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Most people believe that success is some grand, endless shopping spree. That is actually the perfect way to go broke. Most entrepreneurs are so busy chasing the dream and building out ideas for their lives that they have little time for much else (which is also a problem, but one for another day).

Real success is more about managing failure and disappointment without having it crush your spirit than it is about managing success (there is nothing very difficult about going on long vacations and enjoying the fruits of your labor).

As I quoted my friend Fred Smith, former president of Operation HOPE, in my book Love Leadership, “Success is all about managing pain, the pain we create for ourselves, and the pain visited upon us by others.”

I agree with Fred wholeheartedly. If you cannot successfully manage pain, then you cannot live a successful, sustained life.

Rainbows come only after storms. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first.

Managing pain in a mature way gives one perspective on life. You understand that pain is not some penalty that God is visiting upon you. No one is punishing you. The universe is not targeting you. It is just simply a part of life—the storm before the rainbow.

When you have an entrepreneur’s perspective, you wake up every day assuming that there are going to be problems and disappointments. You assume that you are going to get knocked down. You assume that those you love, and who say they love you, may end up kicking you when you are down. And that those who see you as a threat will undermine you, even when undermining them or anyone else was the last thing on your mind. An entrepreneur’s mind-set teaches you—no, trains you—to do something that will not feel totally natural in these situations.

Your mind may suggest fear, and, thereafter, flight. But if you have an entrepreneur’s mind-set it will almost instinctively instruct your spirit to get back up and to keep fighting. It does not instruct your body to do anything. It doesn’t instruct your emotions to do anything. It instructs your spirit to double down with internal strength—your inner capital.

An entrepreneur’s mind-set helps you to see a silver lining in each and every situation presented to you. Think about it this way: even a knockdown (or a knockout) has the benefit of waking you up to ways to do things better the next time.

I take “no” for vitamins.

My friend Sally Mackin of the Woodlawn Foundation told me this, and I never forgot it: “I take ‘no’ for vitamins.”

It does not matter what you tell me or say to me or how many times you tell me NO, I am still going to achieve my dreams! This was precisely my mind-set after my experience with homelessness at age eighteen.

I was homeless for six months due to believing too much of my own press, for wrongly being focused on “busyness” instead of real business. But I learned my lesson and got my head straight. I also became immune to failure after that. It just didn’t bother me anymore.

I mean, what are you going to tell me when I walk in your door? You are going to tell me “no”? Well, I had “no” when I walked in the door. You cannot fall from the floor.

I decided I was good. I decided that I was enough. I would start where I stand. And then, I would stand taller.

It’s hard to hit a moving target.

Fear is a punk. It is lazy, and it sits in the pits of the stomachs of those who allow it to immobilize them and their lives. It takes over people who become like deer caught between headlights. They cannot move. But fear is useless against a believer. Or as I wrote in Love Leadership, “Courage is nothing more than your faith reaching through your fear, displaying itself as action in your life.”

My approach is simple: Fear is lazy, and I am not. I am not lazy. I work. Hard. All the time. I keep moving, and it is hard to hit a moving target. So keep it moving.

Persistence and resilience are more powerful than pedigree and raw intelligence.

President Calvin Coolidge once famously said, “Press on: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” (“Those Persistent Coolidge Scholars,” Kai’s Coolidge Blog, June 14, 2012).

I have honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and special degrees and certificates from major universities, and I regularly do college commencement addresses at graduation, but the reality is that I have a GED high school degree. Comedian Chris Rock calls it a “Good Enough Diploma.”

That said, my level of hustle is well known. As is my persistence. I will outwork you, outrun you, and outmaneuver you. I will wear you down on merit. Put me in a room filled with MBAs and PhDs, and I will run circles around them—not necessarily because I am smarter but because my level of persistence, resilience, and hustle is on an entirely different (higher) level.

What is your level of resilience and hustle? How persistent are you? Do you just throw your hands up at the first sign of injustice, of bias, of discrimination? Well, if that’s the case, you will be dealing with nonachievement for the rest of your life, as the three things life will guarantee you are death, taxes, and unfair challenges.

Get over it, or get run over by it.

Life is 10 percent about what life does to you and 90 percent about how you respond to it.

People of the Invisible Class: you have to stop focusing on how you are treated and whether it is fair or right.

Assume that you will be treated unfairly.

Assume that life will be mostly unfair.

Assume that others won’t do what is right.

Now what? I tell you what: Now, you change the game. You flip the script. You decide that while you cannot control what others do, you can absolutely control your response to those things. Life is 10 percent what life does to you and 90 percent how you choose to respond to life.

What is your response going to be?

Take your power back. Know that any reaction will be emotional and any decision made emotionally will be the wrong one. When you respond from the neck up, you take back your personal power over your own life. You regain control.

How full is your glass?

How you see the world absolutely determines your place in it and your ability to either move through your problems, get out of them, or remain trapped.

And here is a very simple truth: If you see the glass of life as half empty, then you are in a world of trouble. You are negative. You lack faith. This world will eat your lunch.

But if you see the world as a glass half full, well, then you are in luck. You are an optimist. You have belief. You have hope. As a result, you see ways through and out of problems. You are a problem solver. You will own this world.

An entrepreneur works eighteen hours a day to keep from getting a real job.

Entrepreneurs will work for free because they figured out what they were good at, and, more so, they found something they would do for free because they loved it. They love what they do. And for this reason alone, an entrepreneur or someone who is entrepreneurial has an advantage over the rest of the world.

Someone who is entrepreneurial will get up earlier, stay up later, think more intently, be more focused, behave more creatively, live more intelligently, and reimagine everything. Entrepreneurs love what they do so much they are willing to work for free if it means they don’t have to get a traditional job. They want a purpose in and for their lives and not just a gig or a job to show up to.

What is your passion? Whatever that may be—whatever that passion is—it will be aided by the adoption of an entrepreneurial mind-set.

Get a job—or create one.

I have always said if you cannot get a job, then create one.

Those in the engrained power structure in any city or state always get the big jobs in the office towers. All the big jobs with existing benefits go to those within the power structure and those who know those within the power structure. In other words, people in the Invisible Class are left hanging.

So, what do you do if you can’t get a job? You create one, just like the immigrants who came to America in the twentieth century in search of a better life.

From Ireland, Italy, Poland, and so many other parts of Western and Eastern Europe, these immigrants didn’t know anyone. They had no power, no power structure, no power circles.

They were poor people who for the most part knew other poor people. But they also came looking for the American Dream with confidence and a measure of self-esteem (otherwise they would not have reached America’s shores).

And so they created their own opportunities. They could not find jobs worth having, so they had no choice but to create their own jobs. And so, they hustled. They sold things. They made things. They traded things. They innovated; they made new things. They were entrepreneurs.

This wave of immigrants of the early twentieth century almost single-handedly seeded an entire generation of economic growth and jobs in America. They grew from nothing into something. They took an idea and turned it into a small business, and later grew that small business into a big one. In later periods, immigrants came from parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and they responded to the same office tower challenge in the same way as those who came before them. And now, these immigrants from all over the world are the ones driving and powering the largest economy on the planet.

Drug Dealers Are (Illegal) Entrepreneurs

Speaking of creating jobs, at a recent Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) meeting, I spoke about my vision for the rewinning of America, and I gave the example of an inner-city drug dealer.

As we were talking about the power of the American idea, small business, entrepreneurship, and the thing we all need now—job creation—the simple question I posed to the audience of more than a thousand leaders was, “What do you think a drug dealer is, if not an illegal, unethical entrepreneur?”

The whole idea of drug dealers, and the gangs I grew up around in Compton, California, and South Central Los Angeles, actually turns my stomach. George, my-best-friend-from-childhood George, was killed while hanging out with the neighborhood drug-dealing thug. I believe drug dealing is both immoral and unethical, and there is a special place in hell reserved for anyone who sells death to their own people, in their own community, and in our schools.

That said, if someone is a “successful” drug dealer, the one thing that person is not is dumb.

These drug dealers understand import, export, finance, marketing, wholesale, retail, customer service, markup, up-selling, geography, territory, and of course security. They understand how to take an idea and, with very few natural resources available to them, make it real (maybe a bit too real) in people’s lives.

In doing all of this—and yes again, it is unethical and illegal to its core—they do actually succeed in creating jobs for themselves and several others around them.

Of course, none of this is sustainable. There are no retired drug dealers. Their long-term options are prison, parole, or death. And given that they aren’t paying their fair share of taxes on their ill-gotten gains to the Internal Revenue Service, their “careers” won’t even continue for very long. Remember that the federal government did not finally convict gangster Al Capone for his long history of murder and mayhem but for tax evasion. The government will finally get you, one way or the other. I would rather simply pay my taxes (smile).

So why do so many of our low-wealth kids today want to be drug dealers, pop or rap stars, and professional athletes? It’s a generalization that sadly happens to also be true. The answer is simple.

They want success just like you and I do, but where they live they are unfortunately modeling themselves on what they see. We need to give them something different to see.

At their core, the drug dealers and gang organizers in the inner-city neighborhoods of my childhood were brilliant organizers, strategists, and enterprise builders. They were natural hustlers and entrepreneurs. I heard of one particularly talented drug dealer who even issued corporate paychecks, complete with withholdings, to his “employees.”

But, unlike myself, these young entrepreneurs-in-the-making had horrible role models, even worse home family environments, and ultimately a corrupt and unsustainable business model built on what I call “bad capitalism.”

I was fortunate to grow up in a stable, albeit financially struggling, household, where my mother told me she loved me every day of my life, and my dad was a small business owner. My success path had been placed right in front of me. All I had to do was follow the path and not screw up. Most of my friends had it much worse.

Now, as I look for real and sustainable solutions to the poverty and lack of opportunity I see every day in my work at Operation HOPE, in our inner-city and rural communities across America, I am slowly coming to a strange conclusion.

These individuals, who are single-handedly destroying the very communities and the strong family structures that I am desperately trying to save, could also potentially help save it.

In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be a contrarian, an out-of-the-box thinker (and doer), someone who takes risks, who is persistent and innovative, super hardworking, and someone who has a vision for themselves—the same traits you find in drug dealers and gang organizers.

As a nation, we are literally locking up (for nonviolent offenses) and tossing aside the 20 percent of society—young people with hustle and natural entrepreneurial energy—with the very same character traits that are required to raise up poor communities, create new jobs and markets, and grow local GDP.

What’s often left over in underserved communities after we lock these young men and women up are the elderly and the infirm, the too-young-to-know-better, broken families, and traditional nine-to-five job seekers. Respectfully speaking, this is not exactly a prescription for economic growth and a stable tax base.

According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point, it takes only 5 percent of role models to stabilize any community. Not 80 percent or 50 percent of models or 25 percent or even 10 percent. Just 5 percent. That’s completely doable.

What would have happened if all the otherwise brilliant young people who wanted to become drug dealers, rap stars, and athletes (because these are the symbols of success that they see in their communities) had proper business role models or business internships growing up?

Maybe it would have changed everything. It did for me.

Embracing the Gig Economy

An entrepreneurial mind-set is crucial for everyone, but frankly not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur. That makes perfect sense, as entrepreneurs who build things also need committed groups of employees who can be collaborative builders of things.

The beauty of this new world we live in is that it is easy to be even a part-time entrepreneur on your own terms and start generating true wealth. That is what the gig economy is all about. It is a huge part of all the change and transformation going on, and you can make it work for you.

What does employment look like in this new world of ours? I can tell you what it is not: it is not a career at one company for twenty-five years. In fact, sometimes it barely even resembles traditional nine-to-five employment.

The gig economy is a labor market characterized by short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. Getting in on the gig economy can help you create your own economy. You are creating your own wealth, making your own choices, and, as a result, opening your eyes to the real possibilities and opportunities in the world.

Many of these short-term jobs and opportunities will not last, but a few of these jobs will turn into new occupations and even careers. And a few of these new small companies will become our traditional big companies of the future.

Uber and Lyft car services are excellent examples of gig economies.

I know countless Uber drivers who are not only making a decent living, they are also building wealth.

One Uber driver in Denver left a six-figure job at a major bank to create more freedom and choice and a better lifestyle for himself. A couple of years later, he had several cars under his Uber contract, was doing $1 million in revenue a year, and—of great importance to him—was creating jobs, choice, and more freedom for those he cared about in his local community.

Another Uber driver in Washington, DC, started out as the doorman at the Park Hyatt Hotel. He learned from the hotel guests how inefficient the taxi services were in the area as well as how—if given the chance—he could do better by them. And so, he did. He is now one of the top Uber drivers in the city.

And then you have gig economy jobs that actually feel like traditional-economy company opportunities. For instance, companies like Primerica Life Insurance Company allow you to be trained and certified in the insurance field, to receive an official franchise from a reputable company, and to start your own business building a sustainable income stream and, hopefully, a future foundation of financial wealth, all for a $100 investment. (Disclaimer: Primerica is a partner with Operation HOPE.)

Dermalogica, another partner with Operation HOPE, is steeped in the personal care, beauty, and wellness industry, which is not going away anytime soon. In fact, it is one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable industries in the world, and Dermalogica provides a wonderful, game-changing business ownership opportunity for entrepreneurial women who want to be a part of it. While automation is on the rise in many fields and will replace many job titles over the next couple of decades, no computer or robot is going to be giving you or me a facial anytime in the near (or far) future.

Dermalogica was started by my friend Jane Wurwand, who came to the United States with a little money, lots of moxie, a passion to become a change agent, and a marketable skill in skin care. Within a year, she and her mate started a business teaching others how to enter the skin care field. Today, Dermalogica benefits from both ends of the sales cycle: product development and sales, and skin therapist training. With more than 100,000 trained and certified skin therapists in the field today, around the world and on every continent, Dermalogica is one of the largest producers of trained skin care professionals in the world.

Personal campers, powerboats, and condos for rent are all examples of a gig economy.

Airbnb allows families and individuals to enhance their incomes while paying for a portion of their living expenses on their primary residences, or for the mortgages on their vacation homes. I have seen people rent their home, a room in their home, a shared room, or a camper in their driveway; there is even one person I know of in the Buckhead area of Atlanta who rented his finely crafted treehouse!

For the better part of three decades, I would see a camper driving on the freeway or a camper parked in the driveway of a home in the city, and I would think that this vehicle was at most a once-a-month-excursion recreation vehicle. I assumed that such a recreational vehicle was akin to a treadmill purchased and set up in your bedroom: once a fantastic dream, later converted into an expensive, useless clothes hook. But I was wrong.

One day I decided to take my family out to a racetrack where I planned to drive my Ford Shelby GT350R track car for the weekend outside of Atlanta. That said, I did not want my mother and family to freeze in the cool Georgia winter. And so, I decided to see if I could find a recreational vehicle with sleeping facilities for rent in Georgia. My computer exploded with possibilities.

I was shocked to learn that there were countless companies, including RVshare, Atlanta RV, and Cruise America, that did nothing but represent and rent these campers on freeways and campers in driveways while they were not in use by their owners. I paid a small fortune to rent one of these campers for that long weekend, so it is not hard to imagine that many owners might be able to pay for the cost of their vehicle over a short time simply through occasional yet consistent rental income from people like me. Brilliant. And this elegant little business model has now been applied to rental speed boats, houseboats, condos, and who knows what else?

Virtual assistants (VAs) are smart and capable people who generally work from home and on their own schedule. They work with clients that have specific needs—from administration to scheduling to project management. They are paid a good living wage, and they work under contract, meaning they or their clients can change the arrangement when they like. I know it works because I used VAs for me and other members of my senior leadership team at Operation HOPE over a period of a couple of years.

Grubhub, DoorDash, UberEATS, and Yelp Eat24 are even more examples of a gig economy. These food-delivery services are innovative solution makers for an increasingly busy, changing, and specialized, service-hungry world. They are also innovators that cut in on the traditional delivery model by doing things that had not previously been done—for example, creating centralized hubs where hungry people can search for, order, and pay for all different kinds of food in one place through the Internet—and, evidently, in a way that many people wanted. In so doing, they helped to create economic energy and expanded opportunity for restaurants and food-delivery service providers. More GDP. More gigs.

I heard of TaskRabbit through a close member of my family. When I met the representative they sent, a supersharp young man named Trevor Travers, it confirmed for me that there were hidden talent jewels in every corner of every city. Trevor soon stopped working for TaskRabbit and began working for me at Operation HOPE. He now works at HOPE while also earning extra money doing gig work with me in other areas, including special projects around my motorsports passion. Soon after, Trevor’s friend David Triplet, who is equally skilled and super smart, joined the team. Together, they are now the core of my information technology (IT) team in Atlanta. Young, hungry for knowledge, and all “gigged up.”

Etsy is essentially a virtual part-time store for innovators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners who don’t have the capacity to do what Etsy does on their own. It is an online marketplace, a central portal for customers and providers alike, a sophisticated yet approachable marketer of specialized goods, a special place for innovators, and a trusted source for those who desire something unique.

These and other examples of gig economies are practical solutions to an economy that has fractured and torn in real time (as first observed by the mobile notary Eric McLean in my last book, How the Poor Can Save Capitalism). They are practical examples of how to get ahead in an economy that has shed jobs and entire sectors from the Industrial Revolution of the twentieth century and is busy mapping the demise of another 30 percent of jobs and sectors in the twenty-first century.

But as I have written in other parts of this book, new jobs are always being created, and entire new global industries—and new sectors—are emerging in their place. We are talking trillions of dollars of future GDP. And with a global economy at approximately $75 trillion today and a future global economy estimated to be more than $200 trillion, the only real questions are: Who will get their share of the remaining $125 trillion? And how can you make sure that it’s you?

The answer? You make sure it’s you by being entrepreneurial.

Here’s a line, based on the Memo, for you to memorize: There has never been a global leader who was not an economic leader first.

Sometimes gifts and opportunities for the future feel like pain today. But that does not mean that they are not precisely that: opportunities for YOUR future.

Don’t just get a job or just work at a job. Be entrepreneurial. Be resilient. Hustle. Take “no” for vitamins. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to create your own economy. Understand that rainbows only follow storms, that you cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. It’s not only good theory (and a nice story) but hard science and physics, too. It is part of getting the Memo.