Magic Johnson Reveals Billion-Dollar Secrets & Lessons from Failure

0:00This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast. Here's what you missed. There should not be a single law enforcement agency that does not have body cameras. It's real. Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for full sketch.

1:00Roland Martin's daily commentary on the black information network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. Or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, Chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Adriah Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause, even if it's natural why should we suffer through it. Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patreon Mathers and her husband Michael, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Your honey's, this is goodbye. By the time you get the shalliter both picture and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland.

2:01Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to death of an artist on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-Cast of Tempa is your reminder to slow down, check in with yourself, get off your phone and maybe ask why am I like this? I'm Gemis Begg, host of the Psychology of Your 20s podcast and this month we're helping you make sense of the person that you are becoming from setting boundaries and navigating friendships to understanding anxiety, confidence, relationships and attachment. Sometimes our biggest decisions, without us even realizing it, aren't driven by what we truly want but by what will prevent us from feeling lonely or being alone. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So you've invested in everything from movie theaters, Starbucks, the Dodgers. What is your fourth, obviously you have a great vision. What is your fourth site to know something that's going to be profitable 10 years, 20 years,

3:06a good investment to put your money in? Well, I think first of all. I was ready that song. First of all, you got to research the industry or the sector. So when you research the sector or the industry that you're investing in, you can see if it's been growing, right? So we'll go back probably five or 10 years to see if that sector that I'm going to invest in has been growing. If I see growth, then I said, okay, it's going to be a good investment for me. But then we have an investment team of people trying to break down the investment, making sure it is the right move for us to make both financially and align it with our brand, right? Because anything that you bring in, you got to align it with your brand. So it's very important.

4:08So right now we have contracts, so that's so magic. Charles Johnson is doing a wonderful job. Charles, where are you? Yes, yeah, Charles, brother, Robbie is with them, Donna is here. Yep. So when we think about, we have more house contract, Federal Reserve. We have contracts at the airport. We do Delta, their headquarters, on and on and on. We knew that industry was going to grow because people got to eat, right? And so we understand that and it has been growing. We owe a billion dollars in revenue now with this small company that's just shot. Hold on, you can set a billion dollars in revenue in two people's clapp. Can we clap it up? That's not an everyday thing. No. Well, the reason it's important is that we started from the ground on up. And so we want the same thing that happened for all of you, right? Take your ideal, your strategy, start your company and build it, right?

5:13And so, and scale it. And we were talking about how to scale, but scaling is so hard because you got to have the financial resources and then you got to have the right team in place. If anything I can tell you, this is so important. It's going to hurt a lot of feelings in this audience. Please do not hire your family. Uh oh. Uh oh. Unless they have the expertise, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Unless they have the expertise, what has made more black businesses fail in America? Uh oh. Because you hired your family member and they didn't have the expertise or they thought they could show up instead of nine o'clock, they showed up at 12 o'clock. I paid mine to stay away. Here you go. To check or be on the way. No, I'm just kidding.

6:14I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Make sure, though, if you're going to be in a family business, make sure you spell out roles. And once everybody knows their role, make sure that they over deliver in that role. So so important. We going back? No, I'll sit. I'll sit. I'll learn my lesson. I wasn't going to give me again. I was waiting. But you brought up a billion dollars in revenue. And so that word stuck in my head. We have a common theme here at InvestFest. Every year we've been able to bring a billion there to the stage. Mmm. I love that thing. I love that thing. I love that thing. Now, the billionaires that we brought look like us. There you go. There you go. There you go. 2025. Let's comes out. Urban Magic Johnson. A billionaire. Well, oh. Yeah, Stanley, you're fiefing that, right?

7:21I wonder the kid that's walking on the campus in East Lansing, Michigan, go white, to the man who's standing here today. Was that on the vision board? And what was that moment like? I mean, I'm on the new podcast, Solita. We share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Beniero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like, you smile good. That's not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies

8:21you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say voted against their own economic interests and they complained about the very thing they were seeing. It's wrong. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off. I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. You all go scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the

9:21same bag. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the black information network. 12 seats. Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going to hard in the south now. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcast. Whoever you get your podcasts. This is Jay Valentine. I've spent my career on the executive side of this industry, multi-platin of songs, building artists and building business. And alongside my brother, Tank, the superstar R&B singer, songwriter and producer, we've created something special, the R&B money podcast. This is not just a podcast. It's a safe space where artists, executives and fans of R&B music come to reminisce. Pull back the curtain and tell the stories that shaped this culture, the real history behind the hits. That was hood famous. And then real love came out and it blew up. We lived in a project. And they're seeing all the success. They hear the music and we had nothing. We're covering the entire spectrum from Smokey Robinson, Alicia Keys, B2K, Mary J. Blige,

10:26Legends, Current Stars and everyone who's contributed to the sound of R&B. You come out the gate with a hit. And then not Michael Jackson out of number one. Come on man. I was like, hold on. I'm not gonna M.J. out of the number one spot. If you're a super dedicated R&B fan who wants the real discovery, the real stories, this is your podcast. This is the R&B money podcast. Listen to R&B money from the Black Effect podcast network on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers and performers like actor Stephen Root. I think for me to be any good or for any character actor to be any good, you gotta put enough of yourself and your empathy for people in it. I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down the street and go, yeah I can use that. Open igloo co-founder, Alia Muhammad. I love staying on top of what is going on in our city. What is going on in city politics?

11:26What is on renters minds? And taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. And actress and singer Melissa Eroko. Partnership took on a whole other meaning when I started making my own work. It's like you with a great actress or actor. It was best to come out of your trailer full of life and just face another person who's full of life and don't talk. And to hear the thing on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The US Open is back. That's right. Two weeks of incredible exciting tennis. Some outrageous overreactions from players and some hot takes from people who have, let's face it. No idea what they're talking about, but it's okay because I'm here for them and you. I'm Renee Stubbs and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast I'll be breaking down everything that happens after big matches. Just playing the best tennis. Who looks like they could possibly win this tournament. The surprise runs, the heartbreaking exits and all the drama that only the US Open can

12:29deliver. Coco looking real good. Her serve looks so much smoother than it has in the past. I was really happy to see Eager back to what she looked like a couple of years ago when she was winning dominantly. Listen, I'm going to let Venus decide when she wants to retire. I'm going to let the tournaments decide when they don't want to give her a wild card because she still puts bums in seats. She still sells and people love to see her play. You always say on this show that this is the best predictor of who will do well at the US Open. If this is a preview then we are in for a treat. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the iHot Radio app. Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. For us and our minds we already thought you were there, but now that it's been reported what was this moment like for you? Well when I first started knowing wasn't on the vision board. It was just being successful. See my whole business thesis was to be successful for other people of color could come behind me. Okay, now remember this.

13:32See when I went to 10, 9, 10 banks they all turned me down. They wanted the picture. They wanted the autograph, but they didn't want to loan me the money. Then I went up to Cal Per's, this pension fund to get money because I was going to start my real estate fund and they turned me down three straight years. Same thing. See this hasn't been easy. A lot of you think that he imagined Johnson so it was easy. No, that actually worked against me. But I love the challenge. See I'm not going to run away. I knew my business thesis was strong. I knew my people. I knew what they wanted and what they like. All I had to do was deliver it and then over deliver to them once I started my business. As I became successful first the Starbucks, the theaters, the Maggi Johnson theaters and then I said hey, I got to really get into bigger business.

14:37I needed somebody else's money to do that, to grow and have sustainability. Once the bank said yes, I took that $100 million and turned it into what it is today. But stop, stop, stop, stop. Anything I've done is not just for me. And so you can come behind me because now they say oh, that black man was successful, we'll take a chance on another one. Because if I fail, then they're not going to take a chance on another one. That's what it's about. So when you build your business, you don't even bother staying. It's not just about you. You giving another young person, young lady, young man, a chance and an opportunity to say wow, is she made it or if he made it, I think I got a chance too.

15:38So what I always have my theme is I turn to impossible into possible. That's what it's all about, right? That's what it's all about. So I'm still on the basketball court. I just don't have the little hot pants on no more. I'm wearing suits, but I just want to win and be successful, man. Nobody's going to outwork me. Nobody. I'm a smart guy because I'm smart because I put smart people around me. And then I pay them to do their job, that part. Always remember that. I are smart people, pay them to do their job and help you become successful. Clap it up for that. So some other deals that people may not know you were involved in that didn't necessarily go your way, but great learning experiences.

16:39I'm sure 24 hour fitness, 24 hour fitness, TGI Friday. Can you tell them about that experience? Yeah, because some has failed, right? Every business is not going to be successful. We had the number one TGI Fridays in the West in Los Angeles. And we were able to really do a fantastic job over delivering to the community. Then I built the second one here in Atlanta. Atlanta supported me like crazy, but we were not ready for the volume of customers that came through our door. And we made a lot of mistakes. And we had to close that Friday because it was on us, not on the people of Atlanta. And I learned a valuable lesson that we got to make sure we hired the best and talented people.

17:40And they can drive unbelievable customer service. And we did not deliver that to the people of Atlanta. But the next business is you learn from that one and make sure the next business is that you do a better job. And we've been better because of those mistakes we made back then. So every business has not hit the home run. And then also too, a lot of businesses are on hit singles and doubles. And that's okay. If you get enough singles and doubles, you're going to make a lot of money anyway. So I think for me, learn from your lessons, learn lessons from your failure. Excuse me. And then make sure that it doesn't happen again. Amen. Amen. Amen. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a one woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering the ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without

18:45asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast. Here's what you missed. People wake up and go, oh, damn, wait and hold up. They change all of that. Yes. It's real. This is a wholesale attack. It is targeting black people in every federal agency. It's wrong. White folks have never allowed that reckoning to last more than a decade. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the black information network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. Or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-care September is your reminder to slow down, check in with yourself, get off your phone, and maybe ask why am I like this? I'm Gemis Bayer, host of the Psychology of your 20s podcast. And this month we're helping you make sense of the person that you are becoming from setting

19:48boundaries and navigating friendships to understanding anxiety, confidence, relationships, and attachment. These are our biggest decisions without us even realizing it aren't driven by what we truly want, but by what will prevent us from feeling lonely or being alone. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patreon Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Your honeys, this is goodbye. By the time you get the shalliter book, Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to death of an artist on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, Chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Aetria Health

20:51Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about mid-life women's health directly to you. 100% of women go through menopause, even if it's natural why should we suffer through it. Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human