PP 050: Entrepreneurial Roots & Creating New Family Legacies with Demetrius Brown and Chuck Rivers
Quick Show Notes – Entrepreneurial Roots & Creating New Family Legacies with Demetrius Brown and Chuck Rivers
Demetrius Brown, Chuck Rivers and I discuss our entrepreneurial roots, creating new family legacies and the strategies we use to infuse Positive Productivity into our lives.
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Episode Transcription – Entrepreneurial Roots & Creating New Family Legacies with Demetrius Brown and Chuck Rivers
KIM: Welcome back to another episode of Positive Productivity! This is your host, Kim Sutton, and today I am thrilled to not just have one guest, but two. I have with me today: Chuck Rivers and Demetrius Brown, from Inner Success Radio. Welcome, guys! I’m so thrilled you’re here.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Thanks, Kim. Thanks for having us. Glad to be here.
KIM: Oh, I am so thrilled to be here. And as listeners know, this is a Positive Productivity podcast – it’s not all about perfection – and we have definitely just gone through that. Listeners, I normally record through Skype; Skype was giving us issues this morning. So Chuck and Demetrius have been so welcoming allowing me to come into their space and record for the first time – well, my first time, I should say – on Google Hangout. So this might be a new way of doing it in the future, so thank you again guys for your flexibility and everything.
Sure, sure,
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah. Thanks, Kim.
KIM: So, I would love to hear – and I’m sure the listeners would love to hear – your backgrounds. And I don’t know which one of you would love to go first, but I’d – we’d also love to hear about Inner Success Radio.
CHUCK RIVERS: So I guess I’ll hop in there first, Kim. So I’ve been podcasting now for about four years, and one of the things that actually led me into podcasting was – believe it or not, I had a speech impediment growing up. A stutter – and I still do from time to time. And for some reason, I was just one of those introverted people that – it was hard to hold a conversation with somebody because I would stutter every five minutes.
So I found myself secluding myself. I went to see a speech therapist, that didn’t work. And so naturally, I evolved out of stuttering a lot, and one of the ways that I forced myself to do that was to actually put on – start a podcast.
So the story with the podcast was it was originally on the air, it was just me a few years ago, and I took it off the air. And Demetrius reached out to me one day, and he says, “Hey, Chuck – what’s going on with Inner Success radio?” I was like, “Well, you know, I’ve been thinking about getting it back on the air. I’m not really sure, I have all this stuff going on.”
And Demetrius asked me a question – and I’ll never forget – he asked me, “When would ‘now’ be a good time?” Literally the next day, I started the process of getting the show back on the air. So we’ve been going full-force since about March of this year.
KIM: “When would ‘now’ be a good time?” That is such a powerful question. I love it.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yeah, and the rest is really the future. And it’s interesting when – you’re talking a two-part question – the first one you was talking about: How did the podcast come along? And since podcasts really started, I always wanted to start a podcast, and I always wanted to be on a podcast. But I didn’t know how, didn’t know the technical know-how’s, and Charles was the only person that I knew that – personally on my phone – that had one.
So it’s just the power of collaborating, and partnering, and losing your ego, and saying, “Hey, I don’t have to figure this all out. Let me reach out to somebody to trust and value their relationship.” And here we are.
Now, the flip side of that, the other question was: What’s my background? I’m a college graduate of Morgan State University. It took me seven years to get my four-year degree. I studied economics. I’m the type of guy who’s – I’ve been working pretty much all my life.
Started out in entrepreneurship very early – 10,11 years old. I was the kid that was in your neighborhood knocking on your door when it was snowing outside, seeing if I could shovel your you know your walkway, your driveway so you can get back and forth to work. I was the same kid in the fall season – when the leaves were falling, I had my rake knocking on your door asking, “Hey, can I rake your leaves?” I see a dirty car in your driveway – now I’m knocking on your door, walking up with my bucket of water, my washrag, and my detergent!
So as I just got a little bit older, my first job that I ever had – I was 13 years old. I got hired at a place called Johnny’s Pizza in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. And from there, I started working at almost every bank that you can think of: MBNA America, HSBC Bank, American Express, T.D. Bank – you name it. Name the bank, I probably worked there, right?
And – well, actually the last job that I ever had, I was a director of sales of a IT company in Iselin, New Jersey – there were 500 employees there. I was the only American working there. Talk about an incredible opportunity, talk about incredible compensation. However, what I realized at a very young age is, I realized that the more money these companies were paying me, the less time they were giving me to enjoy this money. And there, at that point, I realized the power of Time Freedom, right?
So I’m proud to say, because of a few good business decisions that I’ve made – most of them part-time – at the age of 28 years old, I was able to fire my boss. I’m 36 years old as of today-
KIM: Happy Birthday!
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. So yeah, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
KIM: So how did the two of you meet?
CHUCK RIVERS: So we actually met while – so we both attended Morgan State, back in 2007. I was in a parking lot waiting to get on the shuttle bus, and I see this guy walk up to me. He has a business card. And I think he asked me, “Would you like to make some extra money working from home?” And I’m like – I’m a college student – like, “Sure, I don’t mind looking at ways to earn additional income.”
So in 2007, we started – we were in business together – a network marketing company, and we’ve been in contact ever since. And even since we parted ways from working together in network marketing, we’ve been finding ways to connect on a project. And when Demetrius reached out to me back in February of this yea to start the podcast back up, we figured that was the best to connect on a project.
KIM: So Demetrius, was that you with the business card?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yeah, that was me with the business card.
KIM: So you’ve gone from carrying shovels and – so you had gone, not anymore – from your shovels, and rakes, and whatever else to a business card and just moving on up ever since. That’s so fabulous, I love it. (And can you teach my kids some of that? Especially my older ones?)
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yeah, we definitely can. And on our podcast, actually, a lot of what we talk about is geared towards giving – Charles is very adamant about…. We even had one of our podcasts – it’s funny you just said that – where he wanted to make… he was very adamant about making sure that we make things very practical.
Because a lot of the things that we’ve learned over the years, just in life – I’m pretty sure yours is the same – we didn’t really get that. We were shown what to do, but we were never really taught it. So a lot of what you hear on the Inner Success Radio podcast, it’s really just us really kind of just talking to our younger selves. Talking like what we would have liked to know at that age, and making it very simple, practical, and not over-the-top.
So outside of our podcast, if your children – I’m not sure how they are – but if your children need anything, they can always feel free to email us. Or you have our numbers – they can give us a call, and I’m pretty sure Charles is open to that as well.
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah, for sure.
KIM: I was telling Charles before before you joined, Demetrius – I actually have five. Together with my husband, we have seven kids.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
KIM: And my oldest is 14, and the next oldest is 11. And my five are the ones that live with us. But when the winner hit – this past winter had enough snow for me, here in Dayton, Ohio. And the boys would go out and try to get people to to hire them, and they would luck out. I think they got maybe one or two driveways to do, and they were thrilled with that.
Nice!
Bring it home, cash in with mom, and said, “Can I use your debit card and buy a video game?” You know. But yeah, no – I actually had similar roots. I mean, I was out there – I know my mom crazy, I know I did. I got – back in the day when you could get your Red Cross babysitting certificate at 12. (I don’t think you can do it at 12 anymore – I don’t know that I would trust my 14 year old to babysit!)
But yeah, I was out there, and I remember my first babysitting jobs – like, the parents or the parent just didn’t come home until about 5:00 in the morning. And I was 12 there, watching the kids – who, yes, had been put to bed. I knew better than that. But then I had a paper route at the same time, so Mom got up – because she wouldn’t let me go out by myself – and we were out there at 5 o’clock every morning delivering papers.
And that was fun too, and it got started really early. But as I became an adult – I’m still not an adult. (I might be late thirties, but I still don’t consider myself an adult! There’s still plenty more to learn, as I’m sure you both know.) But as I became an adult and graduated college myself, I never saw myself taking the entrepreneurial path. And it’s been an exciting one when it actually got started.
CHUCK RIVERS: And just to comment on that, Kim. What’s interesting is that, as Demetrius said, we’ve had several guests on in the past – and that’s one of the questions we ask: How did you become an entrepreneur? How did a person get to where they are?
And a common trend was that a lot of people – well, I wouldn’t say “born with entrepreneurial”, but it’s one of those things where we just get bit by this “entrepreneurial bug”, right? For example, you and Demetrius growing up, you guys had it somewhat growing up – but then as we become older, teenagers and adults, we get bit again. It’s like, “Oh, I know I need to go into entrepreneurship.” So it’s very interesting that you said that.
KIM: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And when I took the final leap into entrepreneurship, it… Unlike a lot of people who have a passion, and they know they want to follow it – my husband and I just honestly had a need for more money than we were currently making. We are each affected by the downturn of the economy in 2008, and I got my degree in interior architecture. And I’m in Ohio, which isn’t exactly the interior design “Mecca” of the country – by far.
So, I rolled burritos at Chipotle, I was an administrative assistant at Honda, and finally – I just looked at my options. It was working third shift at a gas station, or going out for freelance work – and I knew which one I wanted to do. But if I had to do the other, I would. So, yeah. It’s been a fun, amazing ride, and I wouldn’t change any of it, though. It’s been absolutely amazing.
So tell listeners, please, about Inner Success Radio and your “Why” over there. I’d love to hear more, and I’m sure they would too.
CHUCK RIVERS: So the major theme of Inner Success Radio – there’s three topics that we focus on when we bring a guest on, is: wealth, health, or inspiration. And the “Why” for the podcast is because – there’s a lot of negativity that’s out there, right?
If you open up Facebook, you scroll through your feed, you’re looking at some police shooting, you’re looking at – especially the past several months, the political stuff, and the negatives about Donald Trump, and the negatives about Hillary Clinton. It’s just a lot of negativity out there, so… And the “Why” for the podcast is specifically geared to offset some of that negativity.
And what better way than to do that through podcasting? Podcasting is going to be the new wave of how people consume information. They’re going to be – the smart-cars that are coming out in the future are going to have podcast apps within them.
KIM: Isn’t that so exciting?
CHUCK RIVERS: It’s amazing. It’s really, really amazing. And what’s even more scarier, Kim, is that a lot of people don’t know what a podcast is. I think the poll right now is: Anywhere between 30% and 40% of the population knows what a podcast is. So once these apps start getting into these cars, and people start their car, “Oh, what’s a podcast? Let me listen.” And they press on a podcast. And bam, you can listen to pretty much on-demand anything you want to listen to.
So: Positive message out there, plus with the getting in at the opportune time to take advantage of this opportunity, was the reason why Inner Success Radio was on the air.
KIM: Listeners, if you’re in your car, public service announcement: Please don’t text and drive.
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah, do not. Do not.
KIM: I don’t care if you’re at a red light. You can definitely switch back and forth between Positive Productivity and Inner Success Radio. That would be awesome. Be sure to leave your ratings and reviews on both, please.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yeah, please.
KIM: I just had to put that in there. So, as you’ve been on your podcasting journey, what have been – and even your own professional journeys – what have been your paths, individually, as far as keeping a positive and productive daily life? And I do want to touch back on what you were saying, Chuck, about the negativity that you can see on Facebook and on social media. Like right now, I’m in general avoiding the main timeline when I go into Facebook because I don’t want to see it.
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah.
KIM: But what do you two do to live a more positive and productive life?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Well, to live a positive, productive life – that’s a really good question: What do I do?
All right, I’ll throw myself out there – I don’t even think most people know this – but I’ve been in a relationship with my lady for a little while now, and like every other relationship, there’s ups and there’s downs. We’re talking about personal productivity. “What do I do?” And the example that I’m going to give you – it’s an example of everything else in my life, but this is the most recent thing that I’m doing that’s new and I’m trying.
A lot of times, people say – people have a bad look on therapy. People have a bad look on counseling. They only want to go to therapy and counseling when it’s really bad, and it’s the “last resort”. So my parents, actually – they said, “Well, we know both of you guys. What do you think? We start connecting once a week, and we start holding each other accountable as far as counseling, right? Towards maybe getting married one day?”
And I was totally against this for most of my life. But what I realized – and I keep saying this even on our podcast – Og Mandino, he says, the three most powerful words in the world is “Ask for help”. Now, in this particular case, I didn’t really ask for help, but I accepted the help when it was there – and we’ve been doing it for a few weeks now.
And what I’ve realized is that, when you get other people involved in the process – whatever it is, whether it’s your relationship, your business, or your life – when you get other people involved… And in my business, we say things like, “Hey, if you have a goal, tell it to as many people as you know. Tell as many people as you know.” If you have a goal and you’re going for a promotion, we challenge people to “tell it everybody that you know”.
So, personal productivity for me, what do I do? The same thing I’m talking about with this relationship counseling, or marriage counseling, or therapy, whatever the case is. I try to do that in almost every aspect of my life, and I try to do it before it’s a last resort. And I think that’s really big, whether you’re talking about entrepreneurs, relationships, or life. I don’t know you guys’ take on that, but that is what “personal productivity” means for me: Being open for help.
KIM: Oh, I absolutely agree.
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah. I agree, too. And for me, Kim, one of the things that I do is: I try to simplify my life. I try to simplify all aspects of my life.
So what that looks like, practically, is instead of having four or five emails, I have one or two. Instead of trying to manage three or four different calendars, I may have one – two at the most. Even down to the apps and the way I have my apps on my iPhone organized – it’s all – I have everything on one page.
And for me, it’s – I think there’s another podcast out there called “The Minimalists”, and they – I think that the whole theory of the podcast, the whole thing of the podcast is: What can you do to live a life with a less stuff as possible? And we’re not just talking about physical stuff – mental stuff as well.
We had a lady on was a – I can’t remember her name – she was… Her niche was decluttering. But it wasn’t just physical decluttering – she also talked about emotional decluttering, and also spiritual decluttering, mental decluttering. And episodes really stuck with me.
Because if we look at our lives, if we look around in our lives and we’re looking at the different aspects of our lives, we can realize there’s a lot of stuff that we can eliminate and still be just as impactful and just as as productive. That we thin ourselves out with different projects, the more we thin ourselves with – if we’re written like six or seven books at the same time.
If we just circle back and realize, “Okay, let me just put all my energy and focus on this one thing.” And the very amazing book, “The One Thing”, talks about, “What’s the one thing that I can do right now that will make everything else easier?” So that’s my take on “personal productivity”.
KIM: I actually just got finished recording an episode with Chris Wirth from No Quit Living. (That episode, listeners, won’t be out until January of 2017). However, we were talking about the fact that we both are really trying to cut our active books that we’re reading down to one or two. And for us both, it’s a challenge. I think I’m reading three or four right now. And I’m really trying, that when I finish one book, not to pick up another – because I really do want to get it down to one or two.
And you’re so right: The Minimalists, I’ve listened to that as well. And mental decluttering and physical decluttering are both so important. Actually, just this week, I finally – despite my husband not wanting me to, by myself… (My husband is very much a – he doesn’t like me to do physical labor. He says it’s a “man’s job”.) But I have this bookshelf in my office, and it was actually the last piece of furniture remaining from my previous marriage.
And I just wanted it gone – because it did have physical clutter, as far as I was concerned, and mental clutter. But I was finished seeing it. So I took everything off – I cannot deny that all that clutter that was on that clutter is now somewhere else waiting to be taken care of. But the instant I got rid of it, it freed up so much space – not just physically, but mentally – in my office, because I don’t have to look at it and think about it anymore.
(I don’t know if you can hear me: I keep on turning to look at it, and it’s not there!)
What type of daily routine that you both have in your lives – do you have a daily routine? Are you trying to have a daily routine?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: I have a good – I have a nice daily routine. Some of it fluctuates, some of it is stronger, some of it is weaker. But the core things that I really do, I got to make sure that I do each morning is: I got to at least pray. And I have to put some type of personal development into my head.
Like I’ll never – I guess a big one, a lot of people really love when I say this, and they can’t even fathom it. But before I turn on any social media, any social media at all, before I check my emails, before I check my text messages, I’m either reading a chapter or two out of a book, or I’m listening to some type of personal development. And then I get into whatever else the world has for me that day.
So I have other things that I do as well, but those are really just the core things that I would love for everybody to really consider for themselves, is: Get your mind right first.
Les Brown – he put the Forward on my “The Real Silver Dollar” e-book – he’s really passionate about… He tells us: The first – I think it’s like the first seven or 15 minutes as soon as you open your eyes – is when your brain is most impressionable. As soon as you open up your eyes, your consciousness is really dictated by what you do first.
So I’m really big on that, as I’ve heard him say that over the years. And if you guys want something out of my daily routine, just before you get into the world: Check yourself first.
KIM: Absolutely. And I actually just finished The Miracle Morning – reading it. It’s a book by Hal Elrod, I just finished reading it this week. And he talks about that very same thing: getting up and starting your day – getting your self first and getting your mind set first. And I love how you said “starting with prayer”, too.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yep. I got to get on my knees – and whether I’m in the shower, if I’m right next to my bed – I got to get down on my knees and just be thankful, ask for forgiveness, and just really plan out my day through prayer. Get my opportunity to really speak to God.
KIM: I actually start my day with the Serenity Prayer. I haven’t – I know often it’s affiliated, maybe unfairly, with AA. However, I think it’s a good prayer for anybody who’s looking for one. We can’t control everything.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Nice.
KIM: Yeah. What about you, Demetrius? What type of daily routine, if any, do you have?
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah, so that was Demetrius – this is Chuck, yeah so that was Demetrius that answered.
KIM: Oh, I’m sorry.
CHUCK RIVERS: No, it’s fine.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: We’re brothers!
CHUCK RIVERS: Yeah, we are. Yeah, that’s D1, I’m D2!
So it’s funny that you mention The Miracle Morning, Kim, because I was actually going to reference The Miracle Morning. I read that sometime last year. Took a little while for me to – that morning routine that he talks about, and I don’t do it in the exact order that Hal talks about it.
But first thing when I get up in the morning, I have a subliminal tape that I listen to – it’s about 10 minutes long. And then right after that, I’ll meditate for about five minutes. And I’m into some of the Eastern practices, as far as energy exercises, so I’ll do this neck practice. And pretty much what it is, is this flexibility exercise where it gets my neck loose and my spine flexible, so I can think clearly throughout the day.
And then I’ll usually Journal. Pat Flynn, he was giving away copies of The Five-Minute Journal, and I took advantage of that. So I try and journal in that every morning, and then I’ll usually – and it’s like 10 or 15 minutes of reading. Do I do it every day? No, but I try to do it at least a few times a week, so that way my day is starting out right.
And it really does make a difference. Like Demetrius said, once we – first thing we wake up, that’s when our minds are most impressionable. A lot of people like to put on the news first thing when they wake up. That’s the worst thing anybody can do, is put on the news right after they wake up in the morning. And even going going to sleep listening to news – I just can’t.
I’m adverse to watching news. I really get my news through either – if I’m on social media, or through somebody else. “Oh, did you hear about…” “No, I didn’t hear about it.” And then I’ll go and do minimal research – I won’t look into too much, but I’ll just try and go verify that what they told me is accurate.
KIM: Oh, I am the exact same way. I figure, if I need to hear about it, I will – but for the most part, I will avoid the news. How, Chuck, has your – I know you don’t do it everyday, but I do have to ask: How hard of a journey was it for you to actually get The Miracle Morning started?
Because my – even though I finished the book, and even though I’m trying to implement steps – and even in the Facebook group for The Miracle Morning, they talk about how it’s so great to do the whole thing. My hardest part is honestly just getting out of bed.
And I love what I do – don’t get me wrong – but when that alarm clock goes off, it’s just so hard some mornings. And I really do, I do want to get out of bed and get jumpstarted.
CHUCK RIVERS: What helped me was the fact that I had to – I think it goes back to identifying the “Why”. When we talk about goal-setting, we talk about vision, entrepreneurship – if we’re looking at changing any area of our life, we have to talk about “Why”.
We actually had a guy on yesterday we interviewed, and we asked him – he was in the entertainment business, helping entertainers promote their business with marketing, and PR work, and all that good jazz. And we asked him, “What’s the most important thing when you’re working with your clients that you help them develop?” He said, “I help them develop their “Why”. Their vision. Because without a “Why”, without a vision, the people perish.”
So for me, it was this end, right? The research shows that the people who have morning routines are more prone to living successful lives than those who aren’t. Now, we’re not saying that people who don’t have morning routines are not successful. We’re just saying that, statistically, the people who have morning routines usually tend to be more successful.
So it was that, coupled with looking at my current situation, like: “Okay. Well, man – I’m not satisfied where I am.” And the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So I was like, “Let me just give this Miracle Morning thing a try.”
And reminding myself and allowing myself to know that, hey, it doesn’t have to be perfect – and I don’t have to do it for a whole hour in the morning. If I did start out slowly, I do two minutes of meditation, three minutes of meditation. Do like a minute of affirmations. And I’ll read two pages of a good book.
So if you start small, I think you’ll be more inclined to, “Oh, okay. This is only going to take me 15 minutes to go through this whole thing?” And so that’s how I got the ball rolling.
And one of the things that I always tell, Kim, people when it comes to it – because I’m really big on meditation – and a lot of people think they have to start out meditating for an hour or two. It’s like: No, if you meditate for even two or three minutes, eventually it’s going to build up. If you do it consistently every day, if you’re going to get up in the morning and commit two minutes to meditation, eventually you’ll get up to five, to 10, to 15, then to half an hour, to an hour – if that’s your goal. But I think the the core of it, Kim, is starting out very small.
KIM: That’s a really great point. Because a lot of people talk about how they have used their Miracle Morning to start getting up at 4:30 and 5:30. And I don’t need to do that.
I think you’ve just inspired me to start again tomorrow. I can get up five, 10, 15 minutes earlier than I did today. It doesn’t need to be two, three, four hours earlier than I did today. Maybe it’s never that much earlier – hey, I like to work late. But getting up five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes earlier to fit that daily practice in – whatever it is – those are those little steps, like you were just talking about.
Going back to your “Why”. We’ve already talked about the “Why” of Inner Success Radio. What are your individual “Why”s?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: My individual “Why” is – like you’re talking about what drives me to do what I do every single day?
KIM: Yeah.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Well, I’ve had some really incredible people – like I’m standing on the shoulder of a lot of giants, maybe not monetarily.
My parents are doing extremely well. However, to this day, my family is not the type of family where – you know, you’re… We’ve been left behind things. Like some of my friends just growing up, their grandparents put them in the will, they left them a house, they paid for their college, and it kind of went down like a generational cycle.
And the one thing that I noticed about my particular family generation – which is a fact, whether we like it or we don’t – is that we’ve never been left behind anything. We never – if life is on a scale from 0 to 100, most of our generation’s – we’re starting pretty much at zero.
Basically, I want to break this generational cycle – and I know that breaking a generational cycle is not something simple. I know a lot of the people in my family who came before me have set out to do that. However, they weren’t able to. So for me, my “Why” – and the ultimate goal – is obviously I want to you know be the person that takes the industry of personal development mainstream. I want to commercialize personal development.
So really, what is really driving me, is that if I don’t make these adjustments, if somebody in my family doesn’t make these adjustments, if somebody in my family doesn’t make these sacrifices, look at what’s going to happen to the kids. I mean, not every kid that’s going to come through my family has the ambition as wired like me to just want to do something.
What about our kids that’s going to come through my family generation that – maybe they have autism. Or maybe they have some type of mental diagnosis. What are we going to do then? What are they going to be able to rely on?
So this drives me, and it pushes me to do everything that I do every single morning. Even though a lot of my family doesn’t understand the determination and the discipline that it really takes to pull this off, I still do it anyway. And it’s not even a second thought to me. It’s not even a second thought to me, that I have to put something into this every single day.
Maybe some of the things, if I looked through my family generation, a lot of them – although they were great people and did great things – they took days off. And for somebody to set a different standard for our family, it’s going to be somebody that can’t take any days, or weeks, or months off. And that’s me.
And I just give all to God to be the glory right. It’s tiring, it’s a struggle, you get questioned, you get ridiculed. But at the end of the day, I want my picture to be on my grandchildren’s, my cousins, my great cousins – I want my picture to be on the family wall like the Rockefellers.
The Rockefellers, you go on any one of their family members, you got John Rockefeller’s picture right there. Was he always available? Did he do things a little unorthodox? Absolutely. But he gave them an opportunity for generations, to generations, to generations for them to have something to stand on.
So that’s my “Why” – and the ultimate goal of commercializing personal development: It will come to be.
KIM: Wow to your “Why”! That is so powerful. I love it.
CHUCK RIVERS: And mine is similar to Demetrius as well. Growing up, I didn’t grow up in the most ideal situation – although I was never homeless, we moved about seven or eight times in a matter of 10 years. Single mom – well, I mean, my dad was in the house – but he pretty much wasn’t contributing that much.
So single mom with five kids, and seeing her struggle throughout the year working double, triple shifts – and us just barely making ends meet. And experiencing that and looking at – or knowing what I know now – one of the words that we throw around on our podcast, Kim, is “legacy”. What type of legacy do we want to leave when when our time is up?
I listen to Dave Ramsey a lot, and he talks about changing your family tree. And that’s what I want to do – and it’s not just about money. It’s more so about fulfilling one’s potential, doing the things that we know we’re capable of doing.
And if I were to have children, I want them to know that, “Hey, dad (potential dad) went out there and gave 100% every single time, every single day.” And that makes a huge, huge impact. Because when we’re talking about generations, generations, generations – for your children, and your children’s children – typically they’re going to live up to it, if not surpass that.
There’s a guy named Eric Thomas – he’s a motivational speaker, author, PhD – and he was the first one to graduate high school. And then he went on to get his Master’s and to his Ph.D., and he put the pressure on his son. He had a son, he said, “Hey, son. We’re not going to” – no, I’m sorry. No, no, so Eric Thomas didn’t – he got his GED, and then he went to get his Master’s.
But he pushed his son to say, “Son, you can be the first person in our family to graduate high school.” And he pushed his son, and the son graduated high school. So he set the bar for his family now, so now his son’s children are going to go higher than that.
So for me, Kim, again – this is going back to “legacy”. What type of legacy do I want to leave when my time is up? When you hear the name “Chuck Rivers”, “Charles Rivers” – what did he stand for? I want it to be something positive. I want it to be, “He made an impact in my life.” “He helped me get out of debt.” “He helped me realize my true potential.” “He helped me overcome the limiting beliefs that I have.”
Because I’ll throw this out there, Kim, being transparent: I have a couple of health challenges. I have one – I have a skin condition that’s called “neurofibromatosis”, and it’s where tumors attach themselves to the nervous system – and they appear on the skin. So if I’m out and about, I’m getting stared at, people are talking about me, especially little kids staring – so it gets uncomfortable.
The second thing is, I also have epilepsy. So I’m making sure – I have to man the stat, making sure I get enough sleep and get enough rest. That – to say this is – because even with those two things, I could use those as excuses to not do a podcast or not to pursue entrepreneurship. But what purpose would it serve me?
I have to look beyond my situation and say, “Hey, Charles, this is bigger than you. You’re here to leave a message for other people who may not have the things that you have, but they’re still making the same excuses.” So if you’re looking at somebody, “Well, what excuse do you have?” So that’s my “Why”, Kim – I know it’s jumbled everywhere.
KiM: No, I love it. It’s so absolutely powerful.
I haven’t really shared much about it, but my husband came from a family that – nobody had gone through college. And he himself actually dropped out of high school. After he and his high school girlfriend got pregnant, he had to go to work.
He later, on 9/12 actually, enlisted into the Air Force, but he had to get his GED in order to do that. And then not until they were in their 30s, both he and his sister both went and got their college degrees at the same time – becoming the first two in the family to ever graduate or go to college. So as far as the Sutton line goes, he has started that legacy, and it’s just so outstanding.
But backing up from that a bit, I mean, growing up – he lived with his mom for a bit, and he would see drugs going in and out of the house. He would be dropped off places while she was doing drug deals or picking up, and he would be with strangers.
And he could have easily kept up that same family line. He could have easily followed the same lifestyle, but he decided, “No, that’s not for me.” And it’s our responsibility to do that for our future generations. And I love how you both are embracing that and moving forward to create your own legacy, and make it a phenomenal one. That is so amazing. I love it.
CHUCK RIVERS: Thanks. Thanks, Kim.
KIM: I want to thank you both for being here today. Where can listeners find you – both Chuck and Demetrius individually – and also your podcast and Inner Success Radio?
CHUCK RIVERS: So they can go to – so of course, we’re on Facebook at Inner Success Radio. They can head over there, drop us a comment – we’re very active on Facebook. They can go to the website InnerSuccessRadio.com. We’re also on Instagram at InnerSuccessRadio, and Twitter – the Twitter handle is @InnerSuccessRad. (We couldn’t get the whole “Radio” thing in there.) So it’s @InnerSuccessRad. And also we’re – and this is interesting – Demetrius, do you want to tell Kim about the experience you had in the cab?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Wait in the cab?
CHUCK RIVERS: In the Uber, remember? You were talking about the podcast.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was headed to a flight, and I was in a Uber. And this young lady, she was – she’s a singer in the U.K., and she has music, and all that.
So I was like – I was feeling kind of different, like, “Oh, man. She’s really got it going on.” And I told her, “Hey, yeah, we got this podcast Inner Success Radio.” And when I said – like she was just like kind of normal, like, “Oh, just another guy with a podcast”, right?
And when I said, “Yeah, we’re available on iHeartRadio,” she said, “You’re on iHeartRadio?!” And her whole posture – and her whole look at us and our podcast – just went up to, like, a 10. So I’m still excited about the iHeartRadio. Every time I think about that moment, it’s just like: Wow. People may not know what a podcast is, but they know iHeartRadio.
So if any of your listeners are on iHeart, yeah, they can definitely check us out right there. Inner Success Radio on iHeart.
KIM: Fabulous. Yes, definitely.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: And I just – can I just share one last thing?
KIM: Oh, please.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: I was just – I was watching… You guys ever seen the movie “Alive”?
CHUCK RIVERS: Yes.
KIM: Is that the airplane crash?
DEMETRIUS BROWN: Yeah, that’s the airplane crash. Listen, we talk about “personal productivity”, “positive productivity”. There’s this one part in this movie that I absolutely love.
I love the movie. While most people think of the movie as, “Oh, that’s that movie where eating people.” “That’s that movie… whatever,” right? I look at that movie – I’m fascinated by the way they survived. And if we remember the movie, if we recall – and if you can’t recall it, go watch it again – this part in this movie is so incredibly important to “positive productivity”. And I just threw it on my Instagram page, a clip of it.
There was a part when he says, “I have great news, guys.” He huddles everybody up, all the remaining survivors at that point – he says, “All right, everybody huddle up. I got some great news.”
He said, “The rescue team is not coming to save us. The search is off.” And everybody is looking at him like, “What do you mean, that’s ‘great news’? What do you mean?” And they start arguing, they’re like, “What do you mean this is ‘great news’? They’re not coming to save us?”
And when we think about positive productivity, productivity is way different than anything else. Productivity is progress, little by little – something is always happening, little by little, little by little.
And in that moment of that movie “Alive”, if you pay attention close enough – and it’s a true story – when the moment when he said, “I got great news: Nobody is coming to save us.” That is when they started being resourceful. That’s when all the cream came to the top. That’s when they started figuring out new ways.
Because when they thought the rescue team was coming for them, they was having a good time, they was not portioning food, they was drinking all the liquids. But guess what? When he came in with the “great news”, that nobody was coming to save them, they started to really tap in to the power of what a human being can do when they’re focused on a common goal.
So positive productivity – just at worst case scenario, even if it’s not true for you – just work every single day, and do something every single day to whatever you’re working on, as if nobody was going to help you.
KIM: You know, I find that really interesting because there’s also – outside of “Alive”, there’s also a story that I hear once in a while about a man who is stuck in a flood, and he’s on top of his house. And people keep on coming by, and they’re like, “Do you need help?” And he keeps on saying, “No, God’s going to send help,” and he keeps on praying. And another person comes by, and he says the same thing. And another person comes by. And finally, he looks up to the sky and shouts, “God, why are you helping me?” And God booms down at him, “I’ve sent three to four tries to help you, you dummy!” Right?
Positive productivity! You got to take the action. I mean, the gifts are out there – you’ve just got to open up your eyes, and see ’em, and act on them when they show themselves.
DEMETRIUS BROWN: That’s awesome.
KIM: Thank you so much again. All these links, and books, and all the great resources that we’ve talked about will be in the show notes. You can find the show notes at TheKimSutton.com/PP050. Guys, you’re my 50th episode. So that’s huge! Yay!
CHUCK RIVERS: Oh, wow! That’s awesome. That’s so awesome.
KIM: Thank you. I didn’t even realize – I just looked at my spreadsheet, and I saw that you are number 50. That is so huge, and I couldn’t imagine it being any better. So thank you so much.
CHUCK RIVERS: Thanks for having us.
KIM: And listeners again, it’s TheKimSutton.com/PP050. And if you haven’t already gone over to Inner Success Radio – on iHeartRadio or on iTunes – I definitely recommend.
