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>> ♪
>> Well, thank you
for joining us on
Traci Lynn Ministries today
on The Word Network.
I am so glad to be here
in sunny Ft. Lauderdale
with a live studio audience!
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering and
clapping]
>> Whew! Yes!
Oh, yes, yes, and yes.
It is on today!
Thank you again so much.
I know you've been enjoying
vintage Dr. Traci Lynn,
but we're--it's time to get into
the newness of the now.
And I have with me a special
guest.
I mean, this guest
is so special I have
known him for over 18 years.
And you know,
sometimes as friends,
we don't--you know,
we just wanna introduce them
anyway, but no, no, no, no.
I wrote it down,
because this is serious
business.
So I want to introduce to you
Mr. Les Brown.
I know a lot of you have heard
him.
You have seen him speak.
You've heard about him speaking.
But he's got something for you
today.
He has the answer.
Mr. Les Brown has over 40 years
as a professional speaker.
He has the highest--he received
the highest award from
Toastmasters and also the
Professional Speakers
Association.
He is also one of the top five--
top five--I have to rest there,
'cause that's big-- top five
speakers in the world.
Now who wouldn't want to hear--
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering]
>> --from Mr. Les Brown
himself.
So I wanted to bring him on to
share with my family,
to share with my studio
audience, and to share
with my audience on TV,
to bring such a gifted talent.
You know we all know gifts and
callings are without repentance,
but how many of can say that we
are walking truly in the
fullness of what God has placed
inside of us.
This man is living his dream.
When he leaves this planet-- and
he's got a long time to be
here--but when he leaves this
planet, this one, I know,
will die empty.
He has given all that God has
placed in him.
He is leaving it here.
He is taking nothing with him.
He's probably gonna go get--
when he gets to glory,
God's gonna say, "What,
you ain't leave nothin'?"
>> AUDIENCE: [chuckling]
>> I believe he's gonna
be one of the only ones that
come up there,
I mean super empty.
That's a bad man, y'all.
This is a bad man.
My friend, but the
phenomenon and the motivator--
the master motivator,
the earth shaker, Mr. Les Brown.
>> Thank you very much.
>> You're welcome.
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering]
>> TRACI: Thank you, Les.
>> LES: It's a pleasure to be
here with you.
>> Thank you.
>> As you were talking
about things I've done,
I-I-I could not help but
reflect.
I had to speak in Sweden.
In fact, I'm doing
a world tour-- with
Richard Branson-- Sir Richard
Branson-- of *** Airlines.
>> Yes.
>> When I was in Sweden,
I had to speak to, like,
over 10,000 people there.
And the guy said,
"I don't mean to be insulting,
and you know, we brought you
here gladly, because,
you know when I speak
internationally,
I charge $125,000 an hour.
But he said,
"Given the condition
of your people,
how is it you're available to be
here in Sweden to speak to us?"
>> Wow, deep.
>> And when he said that,
I didn't expect that.
I was dumbfounded.
And I said I didn't know,
but I do know.
And the fact is that most people
are where they are because they
don't know that they don't know,
and they think they know.
And as a result,
because of our orientation and
our focus and our culture,
politicians say, "Vote for me,
and I'll give you your piece of
the American pie."
Our religious leaders say,
"Do as I tell you to do,
and I'll teach you how to live
after you die."
>> [chuckles]
>> Okay? And so what
has happened is that
one of the goals that I have is
training people how to become
communicators.
We have preachers,
and you're a communicator--
teaching people how to be
effective communicators.
President Barack Obama is a
communicator.
When you can communicate
and you can impact people,
you can connect with people,
you can influence people,
you can inspire them and bring
the best out of them-- the
opportunities out of that is
just unlimited,
and so the goal that I have now,
and I've started the Greatness
Center, is training.
And particularly women,
because over 84% of our
households are headed up by
women-- women and men-- how to
begin to be effective
communicators.
How to use technology to
generate home-based generating
skills and leads and how to grow
your business and to create
collaborative,
achievement-driven,
supportive relationships-- so
the Greatness Center is about
helping people to get out of
their head and into their
greatness and have
achievement-driven relationships
that can help them go to the
next level, and not
to get people out of poverty,
but to get the poverty
out of them.
>> Mmm... awesome.
That's good--that's good.
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering]
>> TRACI: That's good.
get the poverty out of them.
>> Yes, it's a mind-set.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson,
in the "The Mis-Education of the
***," said,
"If you can determine what a man
shall think,
you never have to concern
yourself with what he will do."
He said, "If you can make
a man feel inferior,
you never have to compel him to
seek an inferior status,
for he will seek it himself.
And if you can make a man feel
justly an outcast,
you never have to order him to
go to the back door.
He'll go without being told,
and if there's no door, his
very nature will demand one."
So the goal of training 100,000
voices of hope, of men and
women, everyday people,
outside of politics,
outside of religion-- both,
I believe, unwittingly
polarize and divide people--
and teach them how to, one,
to transform our mind-sets--
why is that important.
We have a mind virus in our
community--AIDS,
Addiction to Incarceration,
and Death Syndrome.
That--when I was a kid,
you would be embarrassed to go
to jail. Today, it's looked
upon as a badge of honor.
And it locks our young men out
from over 80 different
professions.
And then the next thing is
looking at ***-- Hood-Infected
Virus.
When you look at how the fact
that we're all born unique,
but most of us die copies-- see
a lot of people right now with
tattoos. That just came about
recently, you know why?
>> Yes, it did.
>> When you're in jail,
you can't write on the walls,
so people that are incarcerated,
they have a lot of time on their
hands.
So guess what they do.
They write on each other.
So so many men have come out of
jail with tattoos on them,
now the underground has become
the normal.
People see it.
As we said to kids, "Monkey see,
monkey do." [laughs]
>> "--monkey do."
Yes, yes. [laughs]
>> LES: One of my
grand-daughters said she wanted
a tattoo. I said, "Why?"--
"It's just me." I said, "Well,
why do all of a sudden,
this became you?
How is that an expression of who
you are?"
See, when you get a tattoo,
you gotta sit still and somebody
gotta write on your body.
>> That's right.
>> I said, "You want
to be actively engaged
in life.
Because when you are working,
you are moving,
and you're making a difference.
You want to tattoo life.
You want to make your mark in
life.
You want to leave a legacy.
Anybody can sit around and let
somebody write on them."
>> Yes.
>> So the key is, to me,
is creating a different kind of
culture that's not influenced by
the prison culture,
but influenced by 100,000 men
and women who's speaking life.
My favorite book says,
"Death and life is in the
tongue." Why?
Because most people are speaking
death, and so when we have
communicators that speaking life
and transforming people's
mind-sets and teaching them the
skill sets to make it in this
global economy,
because we're going through what
is called creative destruction.
When I was a kid,
you got in an elevator,
we would say, "What floor,
please?"
Elevators were operated
manually.
Then somebody created
technology.
You didn't need somebody on the
elevator to operate it manually.
When I was a kid,
you asked a girl,
"What do you want to be when you
grow up?"
"I'd like to be a long-distance
operator."
Years ago, when you made
a long-distance phone call,
you had to call
a long-distance operator.
>> Right.
>> Then somebody created
technology that you can call
direct.
So now that destroyed jobs.
When I was a kid,
I used to work in a bowling
alley.
They knocked the pins down,
we would jump down and
straighten them up.
Then somebody created electronic
tray that you no longer
needed that.
That destroyed jobs,
so that's going on.
We're going through creative
destruction so people literally
have to stay ahead of technology
and cheap labor abroad in order
to control their destiny.
And so teaching people how to
communicate that-- transforming
their mind-set,
helping them to expand
their skill set, finding
a product or service
that will be of value to people,
and to create collaborative,
achievement-driven,
supported relationships,
people literally can
begin to become,
as Mother Teresa would say,
"a pencil in the hand of God,"
and start writing a new
chapter in their lives.
>> Absolutely.
They can write a new chapter--
a new book.
Why do you think
people don't see themselves
doing great things?
>> People don't see
themselves--most people don't
see themselves doing great
things because of their mental
conditioning and because of
their circumstances,
and most importantly,
because of their relationships.
A study was done that shows,
literally, that poverty
and obesity are
communicated mind to mind-- that
if you have a relationship with
someone that's obese, even
if they're in another state,
you have a 41% to a 161% chance
of becoming obese yourself.
On the financial side,
a study was done by MIT.
You earn within $2,000
to $3,000 of your closest
friends. Now when I found that
out, I got rid of all
my broke friends!
>> That's what I was gonna say!
I was thinkin' the same thing!
>> [laughing] Yes!
>> You may not have any friends.
>> People rub off on you.
>> Yes, they do.
>> Yeah, people earn over
$100,0000--$200,000
a year don't hang out with
people who make $15,000
and $20,000 a year, because
they have nothing in common.
>> That's true.
>> So what we have to do is
look at ourselves and realize we
live in a world where we're told
more about our limitations
rather than our potential.
Average people are consumed
with entertainment,
and so that's like a lot of
people talk about
the Super Bowl.
I haven't seen a Super Bowl
since Johnny Unitas played for
the Baltimore Colts.
And you know why?
I used to, and I called
a friend of mine
named Steve Skilken,
and said, "Steve,
the game is about to come on.
Come on over."
I was in Columbus, Ohio.
I was a disc jockey in WVKL
Radio station.
He said, "I can't come.
This is Sunday afternoon."
I said, "Why?" He said,
"I'm working on my goal."
Well, Steve had
a goal of earning a
million dollars on his own with
the money that his father had
left him.
So I said, "Well,
you have a staff.
They can handle everything
tomorrow."
He says, "No, I'm so sorry."
He said,
"But let me know how it turns
out."
And when I hung up the phone,
I couldn't help but think here
are my two sons at that time,
crawling in front of the
television set.
I'm getting ready to watch a
football game--watching other
people live their dreams.
I was living in Columbus, Ohio,
right off Rich Street,
poorest section, in a dog house.
And the reason I call it a
doghouse--because doghouses
don't have back doors.
One level, no back door,
two rooms.
And I said, "Wait a minute.
Steve Skilken's father left him
over $300 million.
>> $300 million?
>> $300 million.
His father built shopping malls
in the United States and in
Canada.
Here he was working on a Sunday
afternoon with $300 million in
the bank.
Here I am behind on my dreams
and my bills--[laughs]-- don't
even have a back door! [laughs]
>> Whew!
And you gotta watch the game.
>> I said,
"Something's wrong with this!"
What I found--average people,
they are entertainment-driven.
They are looking for things that
can alleviate their stress.
But people that are high
achievers, they're busy
living their dream.
And I turned that television
off, and I said,
"I'm gonna do something
different."
I turned that television off and
I turned on my life.
The average person watched more
television than wealthy people
do, because they're
entertainment-driven.
>> Yes.
>> When you are
achievement-driven,
then you are looking for ways in
which you can achieve your
goals--you're engaged in daily
action steps that can move you
in the direction because you are
focused. He said,
"I'll give you all your eyes can
see," but if you're watching
other people live their dreams,
then you are now behind on your
bills.
You wonder how you got there.
It affects your mind.
Your mind is being programmed by
the world.
That's why it's important that
people develop their minds and
create a new financial blueprint
for themselves, and that
takes a conscious, deliberate,
determined effort in order to do
that, so that
you're not thinking like
everybody else,
because people influence you
negatively and positively.
Misery loves company,
but so does success.
I encourage people to develop
positive relationships.
Mama used to say, "Leslie,
if you run around with nine
broke people,
I guarantee you you'll become
number ten."
And so I stay away from broke
people. [laughs]
>> [laughs]
>> You remember, Reverend
Ike said, "The best
thing you can do for
the poor is not be one
of them." [laughs]
>> AUDIENCE: [laughing]
>> [laughs] Now when you
say that, when
he wasn't coming over to
see the football game,
and you thought about that,
did something happen
even before then?
Because you were self-aware of
that conversation.
Most people would have said,
"I don't know what
his problem is.
Why wouldn't he watch the game?"
I mean, click,
and would have kept
watching the game,
thought about him on his dreams,
and it would have been a
thought.
When that phone hung up,
they would have kept watching
the game and had no more thought
about what he said.
Why did it strike you?
Had you been coming up to
something?
Was something already brewing
inside of you?
Your gifts was stirring up and
you were getting uncomfortable?
How come that affected you?
Because it would haven't have
affected most people.
>> Because I had quality
relationships.
Mike Williams,
who's out of Coshocton, Ohio,
who told me one day at WVKL
Radio station-- I'm walking down
the hall, big dashiki, an afro,
and tennis shoes, and jeans,
and he said, "Les Brown,
you can do more than be the man
about town, Les Brown.
Les Brown, you can do
more than emcee at
the Jamaica Club and Club Utopia
and the Pink Pussycat Lounge.
You can speak to people and
motivate people,
inspire people."
That's where I used to work!
[laughing]
>> [laughs]
>> I'm a baby Christian!
[laughs]
>> AUDIENCE: [laughing]
>> And so, I said, "Well,
what else would I do?"
He said, "You could speak to
corporations and organizations."
I said, "I never worked for a
corporation before!"
I said, "Mike!"
I was labeled educable mentally
retarded, put back
from the fifth grade to
the fourth grade at Douglas
Elementary School,
south of here in Overtown
in Miami.
Went to Booker T. Washington
High School, failed again when
I was in the eighth grade.
No college training.
"I said, I don't know anything
about corporations." He said,
"Les"--I'll never forget
this--he said,
"all of us are born the same
way-- dumb, nekkid, and
speechless. You can learn."
>> Wow.
>> You gotta be willing to
learn.
If you're willing
to invest the time,
one of the things I believe,
in order to be successful,
you gotta be willing to do the
things the others won't do in
order to have the things
tomorrow others won't have.
Your business partners that are
here watching this broadcast,
they've made a decision.
They've been affirmative.
They're saying,
"I'm willing to engage in a
process to learn a system to
provide products for people in
the United States and around the
world that they spend billions
of dollars for.
I'm going to be an interceding
business partner and create an
experience with my personality,
my passion, with my style,
and these products that people
buy anyhow, but I want
them to buy them from me."
>> That's right.
>> "I want to do market
takeaway.
I want to be an entrepreneur.
I don't want somebody to tell me
what time to come to work,
what time to get off,
how long I can be at lunch.
I don't want to ask anybody
permission to go on vacation.
I don't anybody to have the
unmitigated gall to tell me how
many days out of the year I can
be sick.
I believe I can control my
future.
Here's something I know people
are spending billions of dollars
for, and so therefore,
some of that market has got my
name on it."
So they are making a decision to
say yes to themselves,
yes to their dream,
and yes to a larger life.
That's different.
>> Wow.
>> That's uncommon.
>> It is uncommon.
I gotta get a shout right there.
Hold it.
>> [laughing]
>> AUDIENCE: [laughing]
>> All right, thank you.
Yes, That was good--thank you.
>> Thank you. You liked that.
>> I like that. I love that.
That was good.
So you had quality--O.Q.P.--
only quality people.
>> I had people in me who
saw something in me.
Part of what's important in life
is to have people in your life--
and this is worth writing down--
to have people in your life who
can see what you can't see.
>> Oh, my goodness.
>> See, he saw me speaking
for corporations.
>> Oh, yes.
>> He saw me having a
special on public television
long before it happened,
so you have to have people in
your life that,
when you can't believe,
but you'll believe in their
belief in you,
until your belief kicks in.
>> Wow. What did he see?
Because, like you said,
he said that everybody--
>> Interesting that you
should ask that.
>> Yes.
>> I asked him--I said,
"What did you see in me?"
[laughs] I just asked him that.
>> Yeah--yeah.
>> I did that about
six months ago.
>> And what did he say?
>> I said, "What did you see
in me?" He said,
"I saw greatness in you."
And he said,
"I felt it was my business to
stay in your ear until
you saw it."
>> AUDIENCE: [murmuring] Wow.
[clapping]
>> My business!
My business--to stay in your ear
until you saw it.
So he was your greatness.
>> He saw it,
and I believe all of us
have an assignment.
One of the reasons I'm training
100,000 voices of hope-- there's
certain people that when you
speak to these people in the
audience,
they have heard your voice.
You have what I call
an energy signature.
And there are certain people,
when I speak,
they're gonna hear my voice.
There's somebody that when you
speak,
they're gonna hear your voice.
>> Yeah, mm-hmm.
>> Now if we multiply the
voices of people who become
voices of hope-- where are they
right now?
Voices of hope?
People that will allow people to
get a vision of themselves
beyond their circumstances and
mental conditioning and say to
themselves, "I can do that."
This is what happens--this is
what we do when we speak-- when
we're engaged in starting a
business.
What we're doing is giving a
person a glimpse-- an
experience-- by being in your
presence.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said that
once a man or woman's mind has
been expanded with an idea,
concept, or experience,
it could never be satisfied to
going back to where it was.
And so when you speak with your
passion and your personality,
when you speak and you establish
an energy signature that,
when people in your presence--
this is what it is,
because it has an experience.
And well,
when you look at Starbucks,
people pay more for a cup of
coffee because of that
experience.
And there's a lady named
Dr. Traci Lynn,
and her consultants-- business
partners-- when they have a home
party or face to face,
they create an experience.
>> Yeah!
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering loudly]
>> Yes.
Yes, they do.
>> So all of us are born unique,
but most people die copies,
because they don't know that
they were chosen one out of 400
million ***-- that they have
something special,
they have greatness within them.
But greatness is not our
destiny.
It's a choice that we make every
day to reach beyond
our comfort zone,
because that's where
your power is.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said,
"Once a man or woman has done
something that they have never
done,
it gives birth to a part of
themselves that they don't know
right now."
>> Mm-mm-mmm. Now Les, you are
the author of many books.
Tell us about some of
your books.
>> "Live Your Dreams" is
the first one.
>> Yes, it was.
>> I love that one-- "It's
Not Over Till I Win."
And the other one is called "Up
Thoughts for Down Times" and I
have two other ones I'm
completing this year-- I don't
want to say right now--that's
gonna rock everybody up in here.
>> All right, okay.
>> But one of the things
I'm excited about is working
with you and your business
partners.
>> Yes, yes.
>> Because this is--we're
living in a time where we know
anything's possible.
>> Yes, it is.
>> And so the books that
I'm finishing up now,
and I'm also helping others who
want to write,
and others who want to speak,
and others who want to begin to
use their voice to become life
coaches or motivational speakers
or how to begin to grow their
business-- at this stage of my
life, at 68--and you know,
she looked behind my ears.
I'm not makin' this up.
She said,
"You look too good for 68.
Turn around,
let me look behind your ear,
because this is where they
tighten it up back here."
[laughs]
>> [laughs] I did.
>> But I believe that when
you're in alignment with doing
what you love to do,
I believe we were not meant to
work for a living,
but to live your making,
and living your making will make
your living.
That keeps you young when you're
living on purpose and doing that
which you were chosen to do.
And I love this-- I'm like a
little kid.
>> Yes, you are.
>> Very few people you see
laugh as hard as I laugh.
>> Yes, yes, you do.
>> Because I'm a happy
camper. [laughs]
>> Yes, you are.
And greatness--and so when Mike
Williams told you about six
months ago he saw greatness--
>> He saw greatness,
and I said,
"What do you mean by that,
Mike?" He said,
"I knew you had something
special." And he said,
"Like a diamond in the rough."
And he said,
"All of us need somebody to
believe in us."
>> Yes--I love that.
>> And that's why what
you're doing and this business
that you have built--that when
your consultants look at someone
and say,
"I want us to explore doing
business together."
What happens in that process--
you're saying to that person,
"I see something in you.
You've got something."
Because in order to help a
person build a business,
and to get out of a toxic,
abusive relationship,
or to get off a job that's toxic
and abusive-- I read an article,
"Is Your Job Killing You?"
>> AUDIENCE: Mmm.
>> That you're saying to
this person,
"You have some potential,
and I'm willing to work with
you."
You're in business for yourself,
but not by yourself.
And what's impatient-- that you
be patient,
that you are persistent,
that you don't be stoppable,
and you find a way to figure it
out to make it happen.
Because breaking out of where
you are is not easy.
It's possible.
It's necessary that you give it
everything that you've got.
You've got to say, "I'm all in."
It's necessary that you face
rejections and people laughing
at you and talking about you.
It's necessary that you rise
above that and take personal
responsibility for your life.
George Bernard Shaw said,
"The people that make it in this
life,
they look around for the
circumstances that they want,
and if they can't find them,
they create them."
My mother--I remember she
adopted us seven children.
Third-grade education,
but she said,
"I'm gonna raise these."
She said,
"These will not end up in
prison."
I remember when I ran for a
State Representative in
Columbus, Ohio,
they had fired me for
editorializing about police
brutality-- I used to be very,
very vocal and militant in
radio.
And so they said, "Les Brown,
there's no way you can win."
All the black leaders sided with
my opponent,
who was a 22-year incumbent and
the district was 65% white.
They said,
"We want to work with you, Les,
but you don't have the
microphone.
You've lost your power."
One thing I realized.
Mama said, "Leslie,
you got a big mouth, boy.
Your mouth like a refrigerator--
can't keep nothing out.
You just tell everything."
[laughs]
>> [laughs]
>> But it has served me well.
>> Yes, it has.
>> Mike Williams told me, "Les,
it's not over because you don't
have that microphone.
People know that you're out
here."
And I used to have a saying when
I was on the air.
"Stand up for what you believe
in,
because you can fall for
anything."
>> Yes, you did.
>> So I came to the radio
station.
My opponent had over $40,000
for advertising.
I had around $600.
Guy named Perkins who said,
"Les Brown,
don't worry about how much money
he has, but do what you do."
And this is the station where I
used to work.
And he took me to the control
room, where I sat in there,
and they turned the light off.
He said,
"You got 10 minutes to come up
with how you gonna spend this
$600 on a Friday afternoon."
Election is Tuesday,
and both newspapers had endorsed
the incumbent,
and all of the community
leaders.
And so the thought came.
I came out, I said, "I'm ready,
Perkins." He said,
"What are you gonna do?"
I said,
"Can I use the telephone?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Let me call my mama."
And people knew I always came on
the air and I talked about my
mother,
and I always ended by saying,
"This has been Mrs. Mamie
Brown's baby boy."
So I said, "Mama?"
She said, "What is it, boy?"
I said, "I'm running for a
State Representative."
She said, "What is that mess?"
I said, "Don't worry about it,
Ma--don't worry about it."
I said,
"I need you to say something
for me."
She said, "What?" I said,
"Just say something-- tell
people to vote for me."
"I ain't got time for that!"
I said--Mama loved money-- I
said, "I'll give you $200."
"You better give me my money,
boy." [laughs]
>> [laughs]
>> "So you gonna give me $200?"
I said, "Yes, ma'am, Mama.
I'll pay you $200.
It's comin' Western Union."
She okay. I said,
"Don't talk long-- just speak
from your heart."
Now this is a political
announcement. So she said,
"Hello,
this is Mrs. Mamie Brown.
When I raised my boys,
I raised them to be good boys.
When they got out of hand,
I beat their behinds.
Please vote for my son.
He is a good boy."
[laughs]
>> AUDIENCE: [laughing and
cheering]
>> [laughs] Whew!
Well, I tell you what.
Audience, and everyone,
Mr. Brown, we are out of time.
>> LES: You're kidding!
>> No, I am not kidding.
We may have to do a part two
with Mr. Brown.
He's got so much to say,
because we want to hear about
the Greatness Center.
We want to hear more about the
voices of hope and training.
Of course,
the information is on the
screen, how they can reach you,
how they can speak with you.
But I think we're gonna have to
do another broadcast with
Mr. Les Brown.
We have to have you back again.
You were wonderful.
Thank you so much.
>> LES: Thank you.
I appreciate this.
>> Thank you!
>> AUDIENCE: [cheering]
>> Audience, stay tuned.
We have more announcements and
we'll be back.
Thank you.
>> ♪