demographic.

According mto some reports,er 41% of African-American owned businesses actually closed and went out of business over the last year and were least likely to get support from the government with PPP funds.

Oftentimes, African-American owned businesses are underfunded because of a long history of institutional racism from banks.

Thereby, black businesses lack the working capital to be successful long term.

Thank you for joining me.

My name is Phillip Davis, the host of Courageous Conversations.

We're shooting from the PPL Public Media Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Joining me today are black men, CEOs who are operating successful businesses at a high level despite racism and the barriers that have been placed before them.

Please welcome David Moody, owner and CEO of CD Moody Construction, one of the USA's largest black owned construction companies.

He's been in business for over 35 years.

He's the founder of Moody Speaks a space to assist in the healing process of survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

He's the author of Fighting Through Fear: My Journey Of Healing From Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Michael Dante Dottin, owner and CEO of 319 Media Group, a production company.

Michael has worked on all major networks and talk shows like The View, World News Tonight, All My Children and Saturday Night Live.

Solomon Hicks is the CEO of Hicks Global Enterprise.

He's an author, a public speaker and a wealth management guru.

Solomon, I'd like to jump in right with you.

As the senior man on the panel, you've operated at the highest level for 30 years with Prudential.

Why did you step out to launch Hicks Global Enterprises and exactly what do you do?

- OK, thank you very much and thank you for this invitation and the opportunity to have a platform that I absolutely love at a season in my life, soon to be, God willing, 78 years old.

- Amen!

- I have almost 51 years in the insurance industry.

So I've come to this point and place in my life.

I am no longer working for security as fulfillment.

And I enjoy sharing and knowing that I can have long life through reproducing myself and the lives of so many, many people.

So far, at this point, I've traveled at 56 countries and I mentor 156 people worldwide.

My journey in the insurance industry...

But my foundation was built as a little boy, born in a small town, Eufaula, Alabama, where there was differences in the color of your skin.

But my mother, God fearing, put into me that even though that was walls that was built around us because of the color of our skin, but we were son of the most high God and don't let anyone build walls inside of you.

- Right.

- And so even though in my early years of working, when I was... My first job was seven years old to help support the family, delivering milk, getting it off the milk truck, running it up to the people delivering the milk.

But I found something that gave me a sense of my mother, who was always wanting to serve people.

And so my foundation was built and my sense of purpose was all built around serving, getting the joy of life, seeing people smile, giving the joy of life, of giving them at that time milk.

And so at nine years old, I was working in a restaurant, being a dishwasher, and then later became a short order cook at nine o'clock at night, the six o'clock in the morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

For $2 a night.

- Yeah.

- And I was cleaning a fountain I could not drink from - white only.

That's amazing.

That's amazing, Solomon.

And, you know, you had a long history and I wanted to make sure we came to you first as the senior man.

You've done tremendous work.

I want to go to Mr. Moody.

David, your company has done over $3 billion in deals, but in one of your blog posts last year, you revealed that you don't measure success by money.

What do you mean by that?

- Well, you know, as an entrepreneur... First of all, I just want to say hey to all the fellow guests.

I guess I'm just honored to be here with them.

And, Brother Davis, I want to commend you for what you're doing.

- Thank you.

- I measure success...

When you start a business from scratch, man, in 33 years, I've never missed a payroll.

I've had people work for me for over 25 years.

I think more about the jobs I've helped create, how they've helped me build a company, the salaries we've paid, people buying houses, putting their kids through school, supporting their families, being involved in the community.

Yes, building buildings are great.

I love it.

But when I really look at it from an entrepreneur standpoint... And our company is 90% African-American.

- Wonderful.

- So when I look at that, that's very unique in our industry to begin with.

- Yes.

- But when I just look at thinking our first contract was $88,000, my wife and I wonder how we make ends meet, just like Brother Hicks, you know, wondering how you're just going to make it.

And then to realize 33 years later I'm still in business and never missed a payroll, been late with a payroll, that to me is probably more important than any building we've ever built.

- That's a miracle in and of itself, being an African-American owned business and doing that work.

And you've come through some of the most tumultuous times and to survive.

And I got a chance to connect with you on LinkedIn and was able to make the connection.

I'm glad to be able to have you here, because one of the things with Courageous Conversations, we really want to change the narrative.

Right?

Because what the media puts forward so often is that African-Americans are incapable and don't know how to run a business.

And you all are proving that point to be wrong.

Michael, as an African-American CEO, what is one of the most significant challenges you face as a CEO, a black man in the media industry?

- Well, I would say the most difficult challenge is to maintaining the integrity of your vision.

It's so easy to be distracted.

There's a lot of low hanging fruit that's easy to reach for.

But you take a bite and it's rotten.

By that I mean, you know, a lot of the less than complimentary imagery that we always see African-Americans usually portrayed as.

Not exclusively, but usually.

- Yes.

- And the few times that we have quality imagery and quality content, it does well, but then it fades away because we don't own the narrative, we don't own the machinery that puts forth the images.

And the machinery knows that ignorance, loud talk and, you know, exploitive imagery, like women barely clothed and what have you, men gravitating to the lowest common denominator, their basest instinct, you know, they've marketed and packaged that since the beginning of television, since before television.

So for me, when I come up with an idea or when an idea is brought to me and we have to discuss whether this fits the narrative, fits the vision, it's kind of hard because some of those other ideas come with paychecks.

And, you know, when you're fighting, you know, as Mr. Moody said, you know, he didn't miss a payroll, but when you're fighting to get that check, then you kind of say to yourself, well, maybe I'll do this just once just to get the money and then I'll go back to my vision.

But it's a slippery slope.

Once you deviate from your passion, from your vision, from your narrative, once you do that, it's very hard to get back on course.

- You know, that's amazing, when you think about the power of gentlemen like yourselves reaching back and mentoring.

We heard Mr. Hicks say that he has mentored hundreds of individuals.

That's a gift when you have made it or are in the process of making it and then you reach back, right, and you provide mentorship.

So David, you were mentored by a brother, a gentleman by the name of HJ Russell, owner of the leading black owned construction company at the time.

What was the greatest lesson you learned from him and how important is mentorship for entrepreneurs?

- Well, first of all, you have to have a mentor, but it doesn't have to be what I call a regimented type of program as much as just picking their brain and them wanting to share with you information.

- Sure.

- That was important.

And the other thing is, I never asked Mr. Russell for anything other than his knowledge.

In this time I never asked him for money, I never asked him to give me work.

And so he knew I was sincere about just learning.

I think there's a couple of things I learned from him.

He had a famous saying, squeeze all the juice out that orange.

You know, get all of it.

Secondly, he taught me a lot about real estate and owning... Like, I own my own building, I bought the property around my office building, so I learned a lot from him.

But also I learned patience and being really good at what you do and know that people are going to try and stop us.

- That's great.

You know, thinking about that, Mr. Hicks, you talk about the work that you've done, and I happen to know that you work specifically with all people, but in the African-American community, you help to create wealth.

Do you find that African-Americans are educated in wealth management, knowing that the average wealth of an African-American is one tenth that of those in the white community?

And you do a lot of work with African-Americans.

Why do you think that's important?

And what do you hope or what have you accomplished over the years?

- One, I'm an African-American man and I have sensitivity toward our people, and seeing us not being main players on the main stage as a result of that, there's very little resources that's put back into our communities.

And so I really have no regrets in terms of the challenges of becoming the number one agent with the Prudential a record seven times.

- Seven times!

- Seven times, and retiring after 36 years with the Prudential, that gave me a tremendous platform.

So does wealth creation, because people sometimes confuse with saving and investments, so they can sense our forefathers didn't have corporation and things to pass on down to us.

We create that wealth with discounted dollars and then position it in a way that you never eat the seed of that, that your economic power travels with you, your potential income goes into the ground with you.

So if I can restore my economic power and now have that position in a way it'll never be squandered, that the interest off of that sea is generating income replacement for generations to come.

- And that's the heart of building wealth.

Right?

It's not the flashy cars, the things that don't appreciate, what the old guys used to call the butter.

Right.

It melts away and it doesn't produce anything for you.

But you know, when you think about that type of work, you're changing lives and changing generations.

And so often we are undereducated in that space.

Not now.

Michael Dante, you stepped out and you started 319 Media Group.

What exactly do you do and what inspired you to step out and do that?

- Well, you know, 319 Media Group, it started out as a passion project, and by that I mean... Not to take up too much time.

I'll just be brief.

When I first came into the entertainment industry, I wanted to be a performer, but I lack the skill that is necessary to achieve at a high level.

So I became a person that focused on the behind the scenes.

I figured if I wasn't going to make it in front of the microphone or in front of the camera, I'd make it behind the scenes.

And that's what led me into my career in television.

And my career's about 27 years long now and very successful and I'm very happy with it.

But I noticed about, I'd say about ten years ago, roughly, that I didn't like the images that I was seeing and that being behind the scenes, I could see the people that would step in and attempt to do something, they were no better than me.

I was looking at people's start and I was like, you know, no offense, I was like, they're horrible.

But someone worked with them until they became great.

And then they presented this polished stone to the world and the world said, oh, they're amazing.

And I'm like, you should have seen them three months ago.

And I said, well, if that's the process by which we can take rough stones and polish them into precious gems, I need to be part of that process, but I need to control the mechanisms.

And so 319 Media Group allowed me to take on projects that I felt were important and, really, more create projects and polish the stone.

But I want to add to something you guys talked about before.

You were mentioning the mentorship and the value of that.

And that's something I wholeheartedly agree.

Nowadays, people are going broke, paying back student loans that are just enormously overpriced, enormously overleveraged against them.

And most mentorships are free!

If you know what you want to do, you can step behind someone who has done it and say, I will walk in your shoes, I will carry your coffee, I will carry your briefcase if you will please teach me.

And so many people... We make the mistake because of, once again, imagery telling us that you got to be flashy and you got to be the boss.

You do have to be the boss, but you have to go through the process of becoming the boss.

So we don't want to carry someone's briefcase, because that's demeaning, not realizing that in that briefcase, metaphorically and maybe literally, there is the knowledge that you need to become that boss you want to be.

And to add to this really quickly, that's one of the reasons why one of the shows that I've created is a show called Flawless.

The show is about pairing proteges with mentors and watching them rise and become more knowledgeable and successful.

- I'm going to let him know I'm the boss of the CDJ.

- I need people to do what you can do.

I can hire you.

You can get fired tomorrow because anybody can push a button.

We paired with this website, AllHipHop.com, which is the number one hip hop website, and we're going to be peeling back the layers and taking a look at what it takes to run a hip hop website and not just how to get the story, but how to prep, how to record it, which is why we're in this space right now, how to make the contacts and basically how to conduct yourself, because people think that just because you're covering a story about a rapper who did something maybe not so, you know, not so laudable, that doesn't mean that you yourself have to become that.

You carry yourself with a level of professionalism and then you tell the story that needs to get told in the manner that it needs to be told.

- That's wonderful.

Thank you for that.

You know, I'm thinking about the journey, David, that you had while you were starting your business.

Right?

And you know, 33 30-plus years ago, you were getting everything started.

And I know you have a transition that you have to make, but just share with us, you know, what roadblocks did you have to overcome and how did you overcome those roadblocks?

- Well, a couple of things.

First of all, not having enough money, which is most of us!

I mean, that's a heck of a road block because you're always scrambling.

You're always scrambling.

I always tell people the best position in life is when you can actually breathe, you know, where you can breathe for a couple of months or three months and know, OK, I got enough money to make it three months or six months, whatever it is.

- Yeah.

- You know, you want to be in a position where you can breathe comfortably for a couple, three years.

You know, very few black businesses get there.

The other thing I was doing, in 1992 I finally shared with my wife something that I planned on dying with, which was I had been sexually abused as a child.

And so I actually ended up having a complete breakdown.

But I couldn't tell anyone.

And my business was four years old and I had to suffer in silence.

So I was trying to heal, trying to figure out if I start having panic attacks and stuff like that.

But I couldn't tell anyone.

So that was probably the toughest part.

And fortunately, my wife is a registered nurse and she was able to kind of help me.

And I got therapy but still didn't put two and two together for quite some time to what happened to me as a child was affecting me as 36.

So that was probably one of the toughest things.

But God definitely had a plan for me because I really should have been somewhere resting and recovering and I had to keep working.

So that was probably one of the toughest times in my career.

- Wow.

You know, amazing.

So if you could give one piece of advice to an up and coming entrepreneur who may be struggling, you know, those early days are very difficult.

What would it be?

What advice?

As you know, one of the largest construction companies, black construction companies, what would it be?

- First of all, we all will be knocked to our knees, but we're all so much stronger than we realize.

- Yeah.

- And you will get up.

You will keep going.

There's a difference between doing something that you're passionate about and what you're good about.

Mike kind of talked about that.

I always use the example, a lot of people want to be singers but they can't sing.

But they might be a great songwriter, a great producer.

My love was architecture.

I went to architecture school.

I started my career as an architect, but I took a field assignment in construction and realized my strength was on the construction side.

So I took that knowledge of architecture and the construction.

So I always tell people there's a difference between quitting and changing directions.

- Yes.

- And you got to know what you're good at doing, what you can be great at doing.

So be careful mixing up passion versus what you're good at doing.

They kind of got to merge, but you got to be able to take that piece of your passion and what can you really be great at doing.

So, that would be my advice.

And don't give up.

And save your money.

Put money away every pay period.

I don't care if it's $10.

Get in the habit of saving and get in the habit of doing something to help others and expect nothing in return.

- That's good.

Thank you so much, so much for that.

And you mention your family and how important your wife was in your healing process.

Mr. Solomon, I know that you involve your daughter in your business.

She's one of the managing partners of Hicks Global.

Can you tell us why that's important for you and kind of what role she plays?

- When I retired in 2006, 36 years with the Prudential, the most record-breaking in the entire industry, one sixteenth of 1% of the salespeople worldwide.

So I have a pension, gotten, a pension for the rest of my life.

Initially it was motivated, built around that.

But when I found out that that was much more than that and when my daughters, both of our daughters, approached me on the idea of continuing with the legacy, this is when I started Hicks Global Enterprises.

And both of our daughters are fully licensed.

- Wonderful.

- The oldest one, Cynthia, is running the day to day operation.

I wanted to have something in place that our daughters can continue with the legacy, because they have our spirit.

And that is serving people.

- And we don't do that enough.

Yeah, we don't do that enough.

We don't pass down legacy to the next generation.

And I know the work that you've done is about legacy, it's about helping people create generational wealth and changing the economic outlook for families.

So, Dante, as an African-American CEO and entrepreneur, what would be your one piece of advice to up and coming entrepreneurs?

- Don't be afraid to partner up with people that are like minded and can help you in the areas you may not realize you're lacking.

No man is an island.

No person is an island.

And when you're an entrepreneur, you know, it does rest on your shoulders.

So you have to work smart but not hard.

And a lot of times people think that, oh, if I work 20 hours a day and sleep four, then really, like, I've committed.

Like, well, maybe, but you might do better working 16 hours, but make those a smart 16 and surround yourself with people that share your vision, whether they work for you or just work with you.

You know, I think that people need to realize that you can't do it by yourself, but you can do it with a group and everybody can succeed.

I think Jay-Z had a line that applies to this.

He said, if everybody in your crew is rich, your crew is rugged, nobody would fall because everybody would be each other's crutches.

He said it way better than I did!

But the point is surround yourself with people.

They say if you are in a room with five millionaires, you'll be the sixth one.

So you want to make sure that you are surrounded by people that can help you in your entrepreneurial endeavors.

- Yes.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

Solomon, how about you?

What encouragement would you give to an up and coming entrepreneur?

- Be accountable, be teachable and have a long range plan, just because there are things that temporarily is not going to... That will be a wall, because you have to be stretched.

And for me personally, I try to live the life that's reflected of what my mother taught me.

Have the Holy Spirit in your life to direct your path and it will strengthen you.

And the measurement comes if, when adversity comes, which it will, will you give up?

- Yes.

Thank you.

- That means your strength is - small.

- Thank you, Solomon.

- That means hang in there.

Thank you, Sol.

Mr. Moody, I know you have to go, but before you go, you serve on the board of Morehouse.

How important are historically black colleges and universities to raising up the next generation of leaders?

- Oh, it's incredible.

I'm a Morehouse grad and from Morehouse, I went to Howard and got my degree in architecture.

Both my kids finished from Morehouse and Spelman.

My parents were black college grads.

My brothers are.

I mean, there's nothing better.

I tell people, when I came to Morehouse in 1974 as a freshman, boy, that's when HBCUs were still in the heyday, and there was nothing better.

And you get to meet some of the greatest people.

I'll be 65 next month and my best friends are guys I met and played football with and pledged at fraternity with, and, you know, we still laugh like we still in college and we talk five times a week, a group of us.

And we always say this, and I believe this about the black college, you end up aging together.

There's nothing better than aging with people you went to school with who knew you when you were nothing.

But we love each other and we don't even get caught up with each other's doing.

We enjoy each other for who we are.

And now we're aging together.

In fact, we're laughing because we're about to get Medicare this year.

All of us.

- You know, I love the fact that all three of you are successful black men changing the narrative but not forgetting where you have come from, pouring back into your community and making a difference.

We need more men in our community just like you.

I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to join me today for this very important Courageous Conversation.

You know, in our community, there are many people in the Lehigh Valley doing courageous work to engage and enhance the lives of others, and we would like to put them in the spotlight.

If you would like us to highlight the work of someone who's doing courageous work in your community, let us know by going to: I'm Phillip Davis.

And on behalf of everyone here at PBS39, we want to say thanks for watching.

We'll see you soon.