00:00:02another edition of modeling the masters
00:00:04today we’re going to look at how a man
00:00:06went from living on welfare to being the
00:00:09first African American to crack the
00:00:11Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people
00:00:14in the world by the time he died who was
00:00:16worth over six hundred million dollars
00:00:19this is a story of publishing giant John
00:00:21Johnson and the top three lessons that
00:00:24you can learn his success John Johnson
00:00:39was an American businessman and
00:00:40publisher he was the founder of the
00:00:42Johnson publishing company and in 1982
00:00:44the first African American to appear on
00:00:47the Forbes 400 list of the richest
00:00:49people in the world from an early age
00:00:51Johnson learned what it was to overcome
00:00:53obstacles in life when he was just eight
00:00:55years old his father Leroy Johnson was
00:00:57killed in a sawmill accident his mother
00:01:00moved them from Arkansas to Chicago in
00:01:02the middle of the Great Depression and
00:01:03they were forced to rely on welfare for
00:01:05two years they would determine not to
00:01:08stay on welfare and work towards
00:01:09building a better life for themselves at
00:01:12the age of eighteen Johnson met Harry H
00:01:14pace the president of Supreme Liberty
00:01:16life insurance company the largest
00:01:18black-owned business in the north at the
00:01:20time when pace heard about Johnson’s
00:01:22desire to attend University
00:01:24but his inability to do so because of
00:01:26the high cost of tuition paste hired
00:01:28Johnson part-time working at supreme
00:01:31Cave Johnson the idea and the confidence
00:01:33to start his own business in 1942 he
00:01:36went to the bank to ask for a $500 loan
00:01:38to start his business and was laughed
00:01:40out of the office after they told him
00:01:42that they don’t make loans to colored
00:01:44people so Johnson went to one of the few
00:01:46banks that did using his mother’s new
00:01:49furniture as a collateral for the loan
00:01:51Citizens Loan Corporation agreed to give
00:01:54Johnson the $500 he needed to start his
00:01:56business he created Johnson publishing
00:01:58company and set out to launch his first
00:02:00magazine today with magazines like ebony
00:02:03Johnson publishing company is one of the
00:02:05world’s largest minority-owned
00:02:07businesses as well as the largest
00:02:09black-owned publishing firm when he died
00:02:11in 2005 Johnson
00:02:13a net worth of 600 million dollars so
00:02:17the next question is how can you model
00:02:19the success of John Johnson here are
00:02:22three action items you can put the use
00:02:24into your business today action item
00:02:27number one don’t get mad get even until
00:02:31you prove yourself as an entrepreneur
00:02:32you’re going to have a lot of people
00:02:33doubt your ability to succeed they’ll
00:02:35tell you to play it safe and get a job
00:02:37that might also tell you that your
00:02:39product or service idea has been done
00:02:40before it’s too crazy to do well part of
00:02:44your entrepreneurial journey will be
00:02:45using criticism as a counselor but not
00:02:47as a jailer listen to what can help you
00:02:50and don’t let harsh words prevent you
00:02:51from moving forward on your dreams all
00:02:54his life Johnson had been told that he
00:02:55would not amount to much who’s the
00:02:57victim of the racism that was so
00:02:59prevalent in the u.s. at the time time
00:03:02of the time Johnson was discourage from
00:03:03thinking he could one day be great and
00:03:05was blocked every time he tried in
00:03:08addition of being denied bank loans
00:03:10because he was black
00:03:11Johnson found it impossible to even
00:03:12purchase an office for his new company
00:03:14once he had obtained the money when
00:03:17Johnson went to purchase a building in
00:03:19Chicago’s downtown area to be his
00:03:20company’s headquarters he couldn’t make
00:03:22the deal he was refused to purchase
00:03:24because he was black but like so many
00:03:27other times in his life Johnson refused
00:03:29to give up he wasn’t going to let a
00:03:32racist property manager stand in the way
00:03:33of his success his advice it’s better to
00:03:37get smart than to get mad long shots do
00:03:40come in and work hard dedication and
00:03:42perseverance will overcome almost any
00:03:45prejudice and open almost any door
00:03:48action item number two mastered the art
00:03:51of the sale no matter what type of
00:03:54business you run you’re going to have to
00:03:55learn how to sell to achieve the success
00:03:57here after selling is not only the
00:03:59customers but you have to sell your
00:04:01partners investors employees suppliers
00:04:04media and other stakeholders on why your
00:04:07company is going to be great in his
00:04:09best-selling autobiography succeeding
00:04:11against the odds Johnson wrote a chapter
00:04:13entitled how to sell anybody anything in
00:04:165 minutes or less
00:04:18Johnson’s elementary rule to making a
00:04:20sale was that your pitch be based not on
00:04:22your self-interest but on their
00:04:24self-interest when I go in to see I
00:04:26never say
00:04:27help me because I’m black or help me
00:04:30because I’m a minority I always talk
00:04:32about what we can do for them Johnson
00:04:35had three rules for successful selling
00:04:37first he would grab the clients
00:04:39attention in the first few seconds of a
00:04:41meeting with an emotional statement that
00:04:42hits him where he lives or does business
00:04:45second Johnson would try to find his
00:04:48clients vulnerable spot
00:04:49he felt that everybody has something
00:04:51that will make him or her move or say
00:04:53yes Johnson’s final step was to find the
00:04:57similarity with his client according to
00:04:59Johnson successful selling is a matter
00:05:01of finding common ground no matter how
00:05:03narrow it might be on what you and your
00:05:06client can stand together whether I had
00:05:09five or thirty five minutes
00:05:10I always base our presentation on these
00:05:12three tried and tested rules action item
00:05:17number three communicate success if
00:05:20you’re going to build a business beyond
00:05:21yourself you’re also going to have to
00:05:23work on your communication skills so
00:05:24your staff understand where you’re
00:05:26trying to take the company and how they
00:05:28can help you get there
00:05:29Johnson believed that if he couldn’t
00:05:31communicate effectively with his staff
00:05:33it didn’t matter how good his product
00:05:35was his company was not going to prosper
00:05:37developing this talent was something
00:05:39that Johnson took great pride in and he
00:05:41ensured his senior staff was equally
00:05:43trained in the art here is Johnson’s
00:05:45advice I was born in poverty and spent
00:05:48two years on the welfare rolls and I
00:05:50learned early that I had to communicate
00:05:52or die and so I talked my way out of
00:05:54poverty I communicated my way to the top
00:05:56I’m a hands on hands in hands wrapped
00:06:00around manager and I believe it’s
00:06:02impossible to separate good management
00:06:04from good communication for the best
00:06:06manager is the best communicator
00:06:09so remember don’t get mad get even
00:06:12master the art of the sale and
00:06:14communicate success I wanted to end the
00:06:17video today by sharing one of my
00:06:19favorite true stories about John Johnson
00:06:22when Johnson realized that the black
00:06:24models he hired for his photoshoots
00:06:26couldn’t buy makeup that was tailored to
00:06:28their skin tones he approached Estee
00:06:30Lauder and Revlon to launch a new line
00:06:31they turned him down so he created his
00:06:34own company fashion Fair Cosmetics today
00:06:37fashion Fair is a leader in a cosmetics
00:06:39industry with products in almost 1,000
00:06:41stores around the world thank you for
00:06:45joining me for another edition of
00:06:46modeling the masters if you enjoyed
00:06:48please give this video a thumbs up below
00:06:50and we’ll continue to produce more also
00:06:53I’d love to hear your thoughts and
00:06:54feedback if you want to leave a comment
00:06:55below the video as well I hope you
00:06:57enjoyed and stay tuned for the next
00:06:59episode
00:07:28you
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