So I just say, that I get a lot done because I schedule and I don't BS too much.  For instance,  I just got my hair colored (yes, every 3 months or so) and I'm under the dryer typing these answers.  We waste so many opportunities to be efficient.  It starts with my general goal and objective setting.  I use the big post-it notes in my room and list my "success list" and some "to-do" list items.

Then I'll take a picture of them in my phone or use an app like evernote to be able to easily access the photo and add notes.  From there I look at my weekly calendar.  This is a calendar that I took an entire day to develop in Excel and have attched here. It has all of the different components of my life that matter.  Everything from spirituality to sleep. 

You have to account for it all.  Most of us only give this type of accountability extrinsically to the IRS or to our Job.  If corporate America deems it to be necessary to budget money and time at the job, why wouldn't we do it at home?? This dedication to create and commit to the master plan of our lives actually allows you the freedom to have fun.  It's not the other way around.   

2. How did you get your start as a musician/what was your favorite venue you have played at?

I started playing music in Washington, D.C. when I was in High-School. When I was younger I loved listening to music while visiting my dad's house.  He took me to concerts and that 1979 Earth Wind And Fire Concert was it.  I knew one day I would be a musician.  

I was a late bloomer and didn't really get into the keyboards and piano until I was 14 and at Montgomery Blair High School in the jazz band.  I very quickly joined a wedding band where I always needed to be picked up and dropped off because I couldn't drive.  I was just too young.  But I had a job and made more than a working wage plus I was able to provided for myself.  I bought my first car at 19. Again, I bought MY OWN car at 19.  That was gratifying. 

3. What made you write the book FLO/What do you hope people get from it?

My book: Flo... For the love of... is the result of many years teaching in the college classroom and giving speeches around the world.  Whenever I would finish people would always ask, "Where is that written down?"  But it wasn't.  Because I speak so transparently about my ups and downs, wins and losses, love and heartbreak, the wisdom I have gained throughout my life, just literally FLOs. It was easy to write.  

But the one thing I am recognizing is that many people are lost right now. There are a bunch of movies and books that are out about zombies, and honestly, I think that is a great part of the human population suffers from zombie-ism.  In this state one walks around aimlessly, with no destination. They are not dead nor alive!

They are activated when someone with positive energy or spirit is in their presence. And then they try to suck that spirit out by infecting them with "Zombi-itus." It's really simple to see. So I figured that I would use my transparency so that people could know that they are not alone in the struggle and that while the cure is simple, It's not easy.  You simply have to FLO (Have Fun, Love the Process, Organize with Others). 

Have Fun:

Have fun doing you! Your goals and values must be yours and yours alone. If others aren't laughing at you, then you aren't doing you. 

Love the Process:

You will fail.  The key is getting up and learning from failing. If you evaluate things properly and don't take your position personally, you will get better each time - A.K.A Resiliency. The view that makes the mountain peak so awesome is made up of lots of valleys!

Organize with Others:

You can't do this alone.  Find other positive like-minded people who are willing to make a change for the better. They must F.L.O. as well.  If we get more people to follow their passion, we really can eradicate or, at least minimize the hate and zombie-ism that has taken hold.  

4. How much has your educational background helped propel you in your entrepreneurial endeavors?

Absolutely invaluable.  My education is the key to my success.  I say it like this.  The Law Degree is the foundation and the structure, the MBA functions like the wiring, and my passion is the electricity that lights everything up. Without the education, there would be no structure nor wiring.  Do you need education to be successful?  No. Do you need structure to which you can apply your passionate ideas? Absolutely.  It's imperative. I learned a lot in school that wasn't taught in a classroom as well. I listened to teachers. I spent time in office hours. Because I had a good idea about what I wanted to do, all of my focus was based in the entertainment and entrepreneurial side of education.  

Additionally, I'm a sponge or NERD.  I read all the time.  I'm not scared to tell someone, "I don't know!" But I'll be the first person to generally figure it out.  I now even ask my ALEXA questions to get expedient answers. In order to be successful, education never stops. The learning mindset defines and refines successful people.

5. Who is a mentor that you have had in life and what have they taught you about leadership?

My main mentor in life was my DAD. I was lucky in that fact.  My dad was amazing and still lives amazingly through me.  I have enough quotes to be able to write a book...(idea right?).

My dad showed me through words, but he mostly showed me through action.  He worked hard and showed me how to work hard as well. No he wasn't perfect, but he helped me through a lot.  

Equally important is my mom.  She actually is the reason I am an entrepreneur.  She thought I was losing my focus and needed to challenge me. Well I took the challange and have made her proud.  Here is a woman who had a stroke at 44, had 3 kids 2 step kids, should have died, and now walks with a walker, exercises 3 times a week, and is still there for guidance and direction.  Um.....I have no execuses. None of us do. If she can do this, we can do this!

They always taught us to work hard to live to the level at which we had become accustomed. Again, they made us work to choose our own values and lot in life. They taught us to want it! 

6. You say that FLO is, “the journey through which we discover those things in life that fulfill us,” how can people find these things that spark them?  

#1 try.  Most of us BS our way through life blaming others for our condition.  As soon as you do that, you have lost.  If it were a 12-step program, step #1 would be to admit that you are where you are because of the steps and choices you made.  

 #2 would be to determine that you will make new choices.

 #3 start listening to your inner voice.

 #4 surround yourself with constructively loving people

 #5 try to fly with a couple of your ideas.  

 #6 determine which ideas you really like and those which were bad assumptions.

Go back to #3 and keep repeating this your entire life.

The model is called - DEPELL

Dream

Environment

Plan

Execute

Listen 

Learn 

Don't be an innocent bystander in your own life. 

7. Secondly, what advice do you have for people that think they have found these things, but later find out that they aren’t satisfied?

Don't take it personally! Consider yourself lucky to have realized the mistake or just to have made a realization that you want something different.  Be honest with the stake holders make the change in the direction you want and Simply Move On!

It's like flying in an airplane.  If there's a storm ahead, the pilot might make the decision to turn.  She needs to let the air traffic controller and other planes know about this move as to avoid disaster.  She may also let the passengers know that there may be some bumps ahead.  Note: the bumps ahead are much better than flying through the storms of life. 

"In order to be successful, education never stops. The learning mindset defines and refines successful people."

8. What are some strategies you have discovered that are effective for getting your flo(w)/magic back when you have been knocked down?

Taking a break and standing still. Most people think that they have to get right back up and start fighting.  That usually leads to pain and failure. You must take a second to just...be.  Then look at that part of your life that isn't working. Once you make the decision to get your FLO back, write down your goals, objectives, and new values.  Your comeback plan will revolve around that. Understand that every defeat deserves its own time of reconciliation and grief. Take your time.  There is no rush and it's better not to.  You deserve the time to get your FLO Back.  If you respect this time and nurture it, it will be well worth it in your growth. 

9. What is the best book you have read in 2017 thus far?

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business: Gino Wickman. The absolute best management book I've ever read. "The Art of Power" by Tich nhat Hahn is also one of my favorites. 

10. What was your writing process like for this book?

I wrote this book everywhere.  I mainly wrote it on airplanes, in airports, and the likes. Very little of this was written in my home although. I love writing in my place.  I can connect to my higher power pretty much anywhere, but sitting in a plane, going 550 MPH going somewhere to do business, make someone smile, to fulfill one of my dreams, or to rest and enjoy my loved ones is the most inspirational space for me. 

11. What is the best advice you have received on happiness?

Happiness is a choice and a journey. No one can make you happy.  Happiness starts in the mirror and in your mind each day.  Taught to me by life. 

12. What is the best advice you have on getting through writer’s block?

Put the manuscript down and get away from it. Go to one of your inspirational places without a pen and pad or computer and just be.  It'll happen.  Also reading other books on similar topics or in a similar genre always gets me going.  Once the brain gets Flo'n, outline the ideas and rock it. That will keep the heavy lifting on the outline and not in your head. 

 13. Do you plan on writing more books in the future?

Absolutely. We may have just started another one right here. 

"That is the main lesson that we all have to learn: our infinite wisdom from God is within us!"

14. Choose One: Miles Davis, John Coltrane or Dizzy Gillespie - Choose one and why?

Miles the Musician - he was fearless, did it his way, and didn't ask for permission. And he was right! ;-) As a person, different story, I'd have to go with Dizzy. He was the musician you wanted your daughter to marry. Crazy, but not too crazy! Fun, compassionate, and strategic - and not a proclaimed womanizer. 

15. What is one of the biggest mistakes you have made in business and what did you learn from that experience?

Not trusting my gut.  I have allowed myself to be in personal relationships that have almost ruined my businesses. I have had decisions to make in the boardroom where I listened to partners instead of fighting for what I knew in my gut was right. That is the main lesson that we all have to learn: our infinite wisdom from God is within us! You can tweak it with education and experience. Use that intellect along with your common sense to make a more perfect you every day. But please listen to your gut.  

Now, not having the wisdom, and probably closer to a traditional answer for you, I spent $750k building a studio in a space I didn't own. I was leasing.  Having the equity, that would have been present in that building, once MP3.com and Napster came around could have saved me from a lot of heartache and I'd still have the studio which I could have produced my music and other things. Whereever you can, (and when spending large sums of money on a real property asset, in a down market), purchase the real property.  It will pay you back over time. 

By the way, I have many more examples! ;-)

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