Best-Selling Author and Motivational speaker Johnny Wimbrey Shares the 'secrets' to success, increase and taking ownership with BPRS
By Nycole Hutchens
When it comes to building a brand or representing a client or any endeavor, we can learn a thing or two by Johnny Wimbrey. Johnny Wimbrey is a successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker and celebrity life coach.
BPRS's
Nycole Hutchens caught up with the mogul for insight on key principles that can help us not only succeed but be inspired and motivated in any area of life.
Nycole Hutchens:
You are a best-selling author, celebrity life coach, and motivational speaker. How do you maintain it all?
Johnny Wimbrey:
Man, I wish I had an articulate answer for that question. The bottom line is a team. Having a team in place that helps me. The way that I describe myself that helps people understand my personality is that I'm the bullet in the chamber. I don't design the gun. I don't care what kind of metal it's made out of, it's not important to me about the quality of it. What's important to me is that I have a team that's in place that will aim me towards a target that's in my best interest. The good news is that I'm going to hit the target, the bad news is I need that target to be in my best interest. So having a team in place that knows my heart beat, that knows the essence of what keeps me up at night, which is to serve people that team is very important because it's easy to aim me toward a target that's in someone else's best interest and I'm very, very aware of making sure that the team only positions me in to a place that's in my best interest. Like this interview. This interview can go out to a million of the wrong people which makes me not interested. So this interview is an example of what's in my best interest it's designed to serve people which is bigger than me.
NH: For those who are not familiar with your amazing story and background which you go into depth in your best-selling book, "From the Hood to Doing Good". Share with us your story.
JW:
I wrote the book "From the Hood to Doing Good". The essence of the book, the acronym "Hood" is actually "Hazardous Obstacles Of Destruction." The whole reason is I didn't want my book to be cornered into a market of the street, even though I'm from the street. So I was pretty careful with how I wanted it to reach audiences because I am a successful entrepreneur and I just didn't want to teach individuals who were you know, in schools or in prisons but I did want to reach them too. I also wanted to reach the CEO's and the executives and I wanted to teach how I created an organization in over 46 countries around the world with over one-hundred thousand salespeople and distributors that's worth over $40-million a month in revenue so I do want to hit those markets too. So the whole essence of the book you know, my earliest memories in life was living out of a battered women's shelter, made a lot of bad decisions in life. By the time I was 8-years-old I was smoking weed, I failed the 2nd grade, I was introduced to a lifestyle that no kid should even know exists at that age. A lot of the things that I went through in my teenage years were things that I opted into, I subscribed to and made a lot of bad decisions. By the time I was 14 I was selling crack cocaine in the street. By the time I was 16, I had people selling drugs for me, so I always had that entrepreneurial spirit, I just didn't know what I didn't know. I talk about the stories that happened in my life they'll read in the book "From the Hood to Doing Good", you'll start to realize that the book is about the principles I use in my life to overcome the obstacles in my life. The subtitle of the book is "from adversity to prosperity through the choices you make." So the choices that I made that took me down the wrong path but it was also the choices that I made that created an extreme path of success because the exact same fight I had in the street is the same thing I brought into the business world. I find that most people who change their life around they feel like they have to lose the fight and the last thing that I want people to lose when they redirect themselves to a new path is to lose their fight. The number one reason why people are not successful is because they're afraid to take risk. As a drug dealer, especially as a teenage drug dealer, every day was a risk. Every time I got out my car it was a risk, my life was a risk and my life was in danger at all times, so when I entered the business world I was not afraid to take a risk. My entire life had been a risk up until that point. So I teach people the art in taking calculated risk and the worse thing that I want people to do is lose their fight when they enter the business world. I say all this to say you'll learn a lot about me in my book. You'll learn the moment that my homeboy was murdered when I was a junior in High school. You'll learn about the moment I gave my gun to a preacher and I walked away from the lifestyle at the wake in front of the casket. You'll learn the next day I would meet a young lady named Krystle who is now my wife for over 20 years, you'll learn that story. You'll learn the moment of where I switched my directions in life. I pivoted my directions in life but what I do, it's not a book on my life it's a book that teaches the principles that I use in my life. You learn a lot about me but it's not a book about me. The book is about the principles like mastering the mind, overcoming adversity, how to distinguish a friend from a foe. A friend is a person, place or thing that pushes you toward your destiny. A foe is a person, place or thing that's pulling you away from your destiny. I literally in that book help you equip yourself in the now how do you make right now decisions. That's the essence of the book that has sold well over 100 thousand copies.
NH:
When it comes to entrepreneurship or creating 'your own thing', we hear lots of young people complain about not receiving the support from their friends and family like they thought they would. It seems like the most support comes from outside a network of loved ones. Have you personally experienced that?
JW:
Just legit, if you start a business with the intentions of your family, don't start the business. If you start a business with the intentions of your friends, don't start that business. Start a business with the intention of your passion. If you'll open up a restaurant thinking that I have 100 friends and that's enough people to have as customers to launch my business then you're launching with the wrong mindset. I've never started a business thinking about my family, I've never started a business thinking about my friends. I start a business thinking about prospects and opportunities. If my friends say no I'm not hurt because I didn't think about them in the first place. It's a bonus it's not a necessity, your business should serve a purpose that's bigger than your circle. Problem plus solution equals opportunity. Lightbulbs exist because of the problem of darkness. The second part of it is you should have the mindset to be parachuted out of an airplane in any country with any language and your so passionate about a project you can promote your business there. If you don't feel that in your heart, don't do the business.
NH:
You are an advocate for teaching a fundamental message of 'increase'. A lot of people are trying to master that. It's not always about money, but to keep it in context, we live in an innovative era that's creating younger successful people every day, yet American's still struggling with this. Why do people seem to be stuck in this state of 'brokenness' or 'lack'?
JW:
Whatever you subscribe to is what you manifest. If you subscribe to the fact that it's better to have an empty bank account but carry a purse that's worth more money than you have in the bank account and subscribe to that, then that is what you're going to manifest. Here's the problem, the problem is we created a generation and we are all responsible for this, we have participated in a generational thought or thinking that it's more important to invest exteriorly than the internal part of you. It's more important to impress people with what you have then to impress people with who you are. Jim Rohn says if you empty your pocketbook into your brain you'll never be broke. In other words, you invest in you. Most people reinvest in their hair, building their look or their wardrobe. All of that can be burnt. But what I have in my head can never be taken away. I can lose a million dollars and whatever caused me to get that million dollars the thinking can get it again. The bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. I believe that but let me change a word to give you a vision. What if it's the lack of money that is the root of all evil? Lack is a mindset. Think about Bernie Madoff , he has billions, but it wasn't enough. You could have a million dollars but still, have a mindset of lack. Lack is the root of all evil. You should have a mindset of abundance not of lack. My mindset of increase has nothing to do with wanting to take advantage of people. My mindset of increase is that I'm going to increase in some shape, form or fashion.
NH
You're already establishing an amazing legacy but when it's all said and done what do you want people to remember about Johnny Wimbrey?
JW
: It's going to sound completely selfish and arrogant but I'm going to say it. I want streets to be named after me. Why? The only people who have streets named after them is because they did something greater than themselves. They served a purpose that was greater than them. If I serve a purpose that is greater than me and I sacrifice my life to that purpose there will be streets named after me. You have to serve something that outlives you. So my legacy is to serve something that outlives me so my children's children can be part of.