>> Hi, and welcome to Inside Louisville, wherewe introduce you to the people, places and things thatmake up Kentucky's largest city.

This week, meet Maggie Harlow.

Now, you may know her as the mother of international superstar Jack Harlow, but here in Louisville she is known as a community leader, a successful business owner, a professional speaker, and now an author.

book called Every Day ExtraordinaryHow Giving Yourself Permission Changes Everything, just came out this year, and it's all about taking your life to the next level.

Maggie was raised in a family where business was the family, sport and community service was a family tradition.

She is a familiar face in Louisville's nonprofit andcivic circles, and also executive director of the Jack Harlow Foundation.

Giving back has always been in her nature.

And lucky for Louisville, she loves to give back to her hometown.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] We are excited to welcome Maggie Harlow to our set here in Louisville.

Thank you so much for being here.

You are a busy, busy woman these days.

>> It's been a little bitof a season.

I'mhoping things chill a little bit as we get into the next been a busy season.

It's been a lot of fun.

Thank you for working with my schedule.

>> Oh of course.

Yeah, we're glad to have you.

Okay, so business owner, community leader, now author, we have so much to talk about, but so I want to talk, I want to kind of start at the beginning.

Louisville is your hometown.

Yes.

Tell me about growing up here in Louisville.

What your family was like.

And that's really the getting involved in business.

>> Yes, exactly.

So yeah, we I moved here when I was 11.

My family moved here for business.

My father's Tom Fayette, he's a he was a car dealer.

He's retired now.

And it brought us to Louisville from upstate New York.

And I was so excited to move to Louisville, Kentucky, because I believed, well, everyone owns a horse here because I was waslike, I can't wait to get to Louisville andmeet my neighborswho all own horses.

No.

>> Not that way.

>> I remember riding my bike around the neighborhood.

I was like, there's not a single.

>> Where are the horses?

>> Exactly.

So but moving here was just an incrediblestroke of luck.

It'ssuch a wonderful, incredible town.

So I grew up working in my family business.

My dad's dealership working for him.

Summers and weekends and nights.

school at Indiana University.

I studied oil painting.

I call it my degree Non-employment.

I came home and my dad said, well, if you want a job, youcan come work for me.

I'll give you something really interesting to do.

I never really was interested inbusiness.

It didn't.

It didn't draw me.

But I was like, well, it's a job.

And let me jump in there.

And my dad was just a great mentor, still is really taughtme how to runa small business.

Hebrought me in immediately into his leadership, thinking into team meetings and understanding the dynamics of dealing with the franchise, dealing with employees, dealing with customers.

He really just let me see what it meant to be a small business owner.

I still didn't dream ofowning a business.

I just loved working forhim.

I loved my customers and my employees and the puzzle like like running a business was like a puzzle.

Yeah.

And there were allthese pieces you had to figure out and make them fit.

And then when he was ready to retire, he said, do you want to own the company?

And I took a long time to think about it and decided, no, by then I was married.

Wehad two kids.

My husband owneda construction company, and so I went towork for the new to own his business.

It was just it was a lot of pressure.

And the car business is really competitive and intense.

Yeah.

And I just reallyfelt like the small dealerships going away.

So it's probably not a good long term plan.

So we sold it, went toworkfor the new owners.

And that's when I realized, oh, I wanted to be on the insideof the leadership, like working in a running a company.

>> Yeah.

>> And I could see the difference really clearly and then realized, oh, I do want to be a business owner.

Andso my husband and I opened a Cinerama franchise, which is a cine franchise, which still signs of all kinds to all kinds of businesses.

We opened our business downtown.

That'swhere I wanted to be.

I love downtown, I love just being here in your office, even central downtown.

I love it.

And so we've now owned that 23 years.

He closed his business and we worked together and it's been amazing.

And being in business in this town, you get connected to somany people.

You know, this town is I describe it as sort of like it's very flat.

You know, it's like you could throw a rock and hit someone who knows the mayor, right?

Like it's just a town that's accessible and friendly, particularly, Ithink for women business owners.

I think it's a great place to own a business.

So it kind of drew me into the community side.And so I started getting involved in nonprofit work and business organizations of all kinds.

And so that and my parents were community leaders.

They were very involved in that.

So it just kind of became a natural thing.

>> Yeah.

That's what I was wondering.

Is that they that was ingrained in you and your, your parents were very involved in that way.

>> They were very active.

My mother was active in the League of Women Voters and other organizations.

My father was chair at the family place and at UofL.

Hewas served.

And he has served in countless roles.

So I just watched them do this.

We never really talked about it.

It was never like, this is how you watched them and I was like, oh, that's fun because it lets you the skills you learn only running a business are useful in other ways that help the community.

And so I love that feeling.

>> Yeah.

So you got involved in all kinds of organizations through, through Cinerama really, right, exactly.

>> Through Cinerama was involved in the National Association of Women Business Owners, Metro community Foundation leadership, Louisville.

Imean, it's just like a laundry list of happy birthday Park.

I've just, I just love seeing something I want to happen for this community.

I love to like, dive in and be a partof making something great happen for.

>> Louisville.

>> Yeah.

And I think, you know, we hear from alot of people who have moved to Louisville or even grew up is unique in that way of cultivating that kind of feeling of, you can really make something happen here if you get involved.

>> I think.

>> It's true.

Kelsey.

I mean, I remember watching Gill Holland because we were in Nulu before it was.

Nulu.

>> We had.

>> Our business in Nulu.

Before it was really called Nulu.

And we watched Gill an outsider really,who came toLouisville and about Louisville, like, oh, it's so you can make things happen.

Youcan move the needle here, you know, with the right.

Well, he has the money, the right influence, the right thinking, youcan actually make something happen here.

So that's one of the things I love about this town is you can make a difference.

>> Yeah, yeah.

And well, you certainly have.

And so so now you.

So tell me how that translated into being a professional speaker and such a leader in business and teaching other people about leadership.

>> I think the path was that as my business matured, it's now 20 we just celebrated 23 years as it matured.

And my leadership team that I have cultivated has continued to step up tothe plate and just done better and better work.

I realized I don't have tobe here every day.

I don't have to be in my business every day.

And I had toask myself Kelsey.

Iwas sort of like, if I could do anything in the world, what would Ido with my free time?

And it was helping people discover their power.

Like, I love this idea of what I do.

I do this for my employees.

I do this in my nonprofit work.

I do it with my friends that there's a power you have to access inside of you.

If you just unlock would love to speak about that.

I wouldlove to share this message.

And so I decided I'm going to try to be a professional speaker.

>> Yeah.

>> And I mean, now you're booked solid.

>> It's coming along.

>> It's good.

It's beenreally fun.

I'm doing a lot locally.

I'm trying toget out more in other communities around Kentucky and then outside of the state.

But this community, of experienced, has been so supportive.So yes, I've had so many opportunities to speak.

And then part of the speaking business they teach is think about writing a book, because a book can help open doors.

And I'mnot a writer.

It's never been something on my bucket list to write a book the way some people dream of writing a book.

But I thought, well, if this is a practical way to help me get my message and and share it write a book.

>> And so I did.

>> Yeah, you did.

And I want to dive reallydeep into the book.

But we would be remiss not to mention your son is Jack Harlow international superstar now.

But I wonder, too, how you know, it seems to me likeyou're a big dreamer when it comes to seeing like, a big picture of what's possible.

And that had to play into how he was able rise to the fame that he has.

Right.

>> I'm veryI'm very careful to take not so much credit.

I mean, it was definitely a littlebit of a battle.

You know, when you're 11year old says, I want to be a rapper.

>> Right?

What was that like?

>> Sure.

>> Son.

>> Nice.

>> Nice idea.

>> But wedefinitely were part of that journey.

We definitely encouraged him to chase whatever dream he had.

It wasn't mean, sure, be a rapper.

I love that idea.

But we felt like as parents, our job is to cultivate that little flame in your child, right?

As crazy as it might seem, to just fan that flame because honestly, what we thought was, well, even if he doesn't become a world famous rapper, which seemed unlikely, he'll be in the music business.

You know, this is a great industry.

in thisindustry and the entertainmentbusiness, as you know.

And so we kind of were like, yeah,follow that path.

It will lead somewhere.

We were just thrilled when it actually came to pass.

>> I mean, that's.

>> Got to be wild.

>> It's been it's been an experience to adjust and.

>> Figure it out.

>> And we've learned a lot of lessons from him.

A lot of my lessons in my book are really from that experience.

>> I mean, it is a unique experience,but one things that I think Louisville loves about him so much is that how he continues to, you know, be such a spokesperson for Louisville and give back to Louisville.

I mean, we just saw him give away a ton of books at Carmichael's bookstore.

>> Like he.

>> Doesn't haveto do stuff like that.

And that, I feel like is something that's ingrained in you from a young age.

>> I suppose you could say the legacy of me watching my parents give.

>> And.

>> I learned to give from them.

I never talked explicitly with my children that you do this, butthey saw us.

>> They saw you doing it.

>> And so when he really made hisfirst,you know, big hits and he got his first money, he said, I want to I want to start a foundation.And we were just like, wow, he doesn't want to buy a Ferrari.

He doesn't want to buy a boat.

He starta foundation.

So we were of course, we're we're thrilled.

Andthen my husband said, my husband Brian said, your mother really should be the executive director.

So that's been so much fun to present ideas to him.

And it's all guided by him.

All the decisions at the foundation are really intentionallyfrom his heart and what he wants to do, but it's fun to actually make it happen.

>> Oh my gosh.

>> And been able to do, I mean, the support you all gave for the Louisville Ballet.

>> Yeah >> And neighborhood house, multiple things.

>> He has.

>> Done many and small and big ways.

But you know, part of his he doesn't really like totalk too much about it.

So it's like he's done a lot in small ways.

And, but he's kind of quiet about it.

He, he just feels like, Idon't want to brag.

I just want to do good things.

>> Yeah, >> But I mean, how's that for you to be able to make those things happen?

>> It's thrilling.

When we went to Carmichael's andKelly up, the owner and I are friends, andto go to that event and see people standing in the heat.

>> Oh.

>> It was hot.

>> Yes.

>> So hot that day.

And some people probably stood in line for an hour or two.

>> Yeah.

>> It was amazing to watch them just be so excited about it, to just get a free book.

And he loved it and he's done multiple cities on his tour.

And it's, it's been as a foundation chair, executive director.

It's been fun to watch.

That gave him so much joy.

Like that just thrills me.

>> Yeah.

Well, and it's a snowball effect, you know, so well, we have to mention if we're going to talk about Carmichael's, we're going to talk about the book.

>> Thank you.Carmichael's.

Thank you.

Carmichael.

>> So so you said you never thought you'd be an author.

>> I never thought I'd.

>> Be an author.

>> Yeah.

So why?

>> I just don't think of myself as a writer.

I mean, I studied painting.

My sister is an excellent writer.I just really thought my sister would write the book.

And I think she does have a book in her, but she's an academic, soshe does a lot of writing on her own.

But yeah, Ijust never dreamed itjust was such a practical the business ofspeaking to write a book.

And I wrote the book and was honestly not expecting peopleto really read it.I mean, that sounds stupid.

I expected people to open it.

>> I expected.

>> Peopleto.

>> You know.

>> Friends and family to buy the.

>> Book, my.

>> Clients to buy the book.

But it has been such a shock and surprise that people have read the book and then talked to me about it helped me, or this was so much fun.

Or I read it each morning as I do my devotional.

I also read a page of yourbook, and that has just been mind blowing to me.

Like, I can't get over it.

I can't get over it.

>> Well, I mean, and when you know, somebody comes to you and says, we think you should write a book, my first thought would be like, it unique experience.

You know, going from, you know, owning a business to like having an international superstar in your family or, you know.

>> But it's you're right.

>> So whydid you want to focus on it's, it's all about, well, it's about life, but it's about leadership.

And it's all these like little nuggets of ways you can give yourself permission.

I mean, about.

It has a permission slip at the end of each chapter.

Like, don't worry about what people think.

Here's how you do that.Here's, you know, so what made you want to kind of go that route?

>> This is really a that is about my family's father to my mother and father to me and my cousins.

There's a culture in our family of that.

My grandpa taught us, which was rules are them.

Now.

He was not a rebel, a criminal, a rule breaker, you know.

But he did believe that you should question some of your beliefs.

You should question what you think of as the limits in your own mind, and push and poke and prod and find the rules that suit you.

Some rules keep you safe.

Some rules keep you small.

So he encouraged his family to bigger and to question the limits that we might believe about ourselves.

So the book was really spawned from this family culture, because as I grew upand I realized, oh, not everyone feels.

>> This right.

>> Not everyone knows that they have free will.

>> Yeah.

>> Well, you get kind of pigeonholed a lot oftimes.

>> Yes.

>> Indifferent ways.

Yes.

By your, you know, by your family, by your friends, by your colleagues.

>> Oryour.

>> Experiences.

>> You think.

>> Well, that didn't work.

I'm never going to do that again.

Or no one expects that of me.

I'm not going to do that.

People would think that's crazy.

There's just all theseways that we kind of silently limit ourselves.

So the book really, I don't really think every rule is meant to be broken.

I think every ruleis meant to be questioned.

And so I teach people this process permission slip where they can feel empowered to question things they believe and ask themselves, is that really true?

Do I really need to say that?

I need to worry about what people think of me?

If Iquit my job and start a business, or if I decide tocolor my hair pinkor, you know, whatever I decide to do, what other people think aboutit doesn't always have to be a factor.

>> Yeah, I love too, of the stories in here, it's not just like, this is this is how I have done it and been successful at it.

It's like how you continue to learn a lot of these arelike, well, I just recently had an argument with my husband and I just figured out this about myself, you know?

>> Yes.

>> So yes, I spend a lot of time navel gazing and thinking about what might be next.

And my kidshave teachers,you know, watching my son defy the odds.

And there was no plan B. And despite all my thinking of are you making the right choices?

Is this safe?

Are yougoing to be okay?

He taught me.

Those were my rules, that those weren't his rules.

And so yeah, it is definitely a lifelong journey of exploring what might be next in life.

>> Yeah.

And so, and you have two sons, both in business.

>> That's right.

My younger son Clay lives in Los Angeles,and he makes hip hop music and makes R&B music, some of which Jax recorded with.

So they're both in the industry at different from different perspectives.

And.

But he watched his big brother and he was like, oh, I get to I get to choose.

I get.

>> To choose.

Sky's the limit.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

>> It's amazing to >> Them now.

Do you is there a musical background in your family?

I mean, I know you said youwere an artist.

>> I was an artist and I'm still an artist.

And my husband and I both love music.

I grew up on hip hop.

He grew up on country.

We play music all the time,but neither of us are really musical.

My husband has a beautiful singing voice, but neitherof us are.

We don't play tried.

It's just not for me.

>> Yeah.

>> But we've always appreciated music, so our kids sort of grew up just, you know, a lot of musicin.

>> Our home.

>> Yeah.

And so you saidit was like he was like 11.

>> 11.

He was 11when he we were inthe car.

I'll never forget it because it was so shocking.

He had been listening.

I hadbeen introducing him to some R&B, like introducing him to some of my music, getting out of the Disney.

>> Kids stuff.

>> And kind of like getting into.

>> Yeah.

>> Stuff you like to listen to in the car.

>> Let's listen to Black Eyed Peas.Exactly right.

>> A Tribe Called Quest.

Like I started to introduce them to the music and he took to it right away.

Loved it.

So that was exciting for me.

And then we were in the car driving home and he was Jackwas in the back seat at said, I want to be the world's greatest rapper.

How do I do that?

And we were like, how do youdo that?

I had just read Malcolm Gladwell's book outliers, and that book talks about.

>> I love that.

Isn't that a great book?Yeah.

>> 10,000 hours of practice makes youworld class at anything.

And so I thought, well,I'll just give him that.

So I said, we did the math on my phone.

I did the math and I said, maybe 4.5 hours a day until you're 18 and you could be world class.

>> You got to put in the work.

>> And he was like, no questions.

He was like, okay.

>> Got it.

>> And he went to work.

So yeah, it was like this idea that he had and he just kept pouring into that.

And he did.

He did work 4 or 5 hours a day on it.

It was a lot.

>> Yeah.

But I think that that kind of child mentality is I think that we lose that as adults.

And that's kind of what part of the book is about, because a lot of this stuff is things thatan 11 year old will be like, well, of course, I wouldquestion that rule.

Of course I would.

You know, try to do this or that or theother, becausewhy not?

And as adults, we kind of lose that.

>> Kelsey you're so happy you just said that to me.

That is exactlyright.

We forget how to learn.

We forget like, I think as adults, we we fall into this trap of I'm supposed to be expert.

I'm not supposed to be bad at anything.

I should only do what I'm good at.

I shouldn't look silly.

I shouldn't look like I've failed.

And that means we don't learn.

And if we can.

Try and try.

>> And we.

>> Can learn to be a kid and play and do something, even if you're bad at it, right?

Like I remember, I don't know if this is I can't remember the stories in the book, but I wanted to, I wanted to learn how to stand on like a, asail, like one of thoseboards that you sail.

I don't even know.

>> Oh, like a paddle board.

>> Like a paddle board with a sail on it.

Yeah.

I don't know what to even call.

>> When surfing.

>> Windsurfing, maybe.

>> Okay.

>> It's windsurfing.

So I am walking down to the beach.

We're in Jamaica.

We had won a trip with Cinerama.

All my Cinerama friends are there, and we're walking down to the beach and they have the little hut where you can try new things.

And my adult voice was like, girl, you don't, you're gonna look dumb.

>> Yeah.

>> You not.

>> Break something, you're gonna.

>> Lookdumb.

Don't do this.

But the kid in me, my inner voice was like, try it.

Try windsurfing.

And so the young man takes me out in the water, and then I'm shocked to discover that where we're going to practiceis in front of all my friends on the beach, like they'reall gathered on the beach.

Oh, wow.

And I'm out.

There's not a lot the ocean.

Sothey're watching me.

And I mean, I failed and failed and fell and fell and fell and fell.

And my knees were bloodied from climbing on the board and trying to get it.

Never got it.

Spent a half an hour out there flailing around, and I just kept quieting that voice inside of me.

I look stupid.

I was like, maybe you look stupid and but you're having fun.

You're trying.

And so it's like, thatkind of thinking is what I want us all to have access to is have fun and try itand play.

Life is about play.

>> Yeah.

And give yourself permission to just like, try it.

Yes.

I love that, I love it.

I really do.

I want to get back to the community and Louisville aspect and how this community has helped you develop this kind of thinking.

And andyour whole family.

>> Yeah, Louisville is a very special place.

I think if you live in Louisville and Kentucky, I think Kentucky is an amazing place.

It is a place of access.

It's a place where it's not a gatekept.

There's a lot of community, there's a lot of places you can engage.

It's not I've never discovered it difficult to like, get into a room and have Finding people who connect with me.

I think that I think of us all as sort of like giving off a beaconin life.

And in Louisville, I think if you give off a certain beacon, the right people are going to be drawn to you and you can create something on your own.

So I love that about this community.

There's all theselittle pockets of people trying to make a difference and trying to create things.

And I invite anyone to sort of turnyour beacon on and call out what you want to be doing and what you want to create, because this community is full of creators andpeople trying to do cool things.

>> Have you found that with Jack and your other son, Clay Clay going to LA and New York, and the experiences that they've had, and I know that there they love Louisville, obviously.

Do you find that people theymeet or that are surprised Louisville,or are they I mean, I feel like they're always talking aboutit.

>> They do.

They do love Louisville.

They both want to end up here.

I mean, Jack still has a place here and their home quite a bit.

They love Louisville.

They do plan that this is their long term, you know, home.

They want to be in.

>> I mean that's saying something after the places they are.

Have been.

>> And they do love those places, you know, but it's a whole different experience going to a place like New York or LA.

And I think Louisville is a place of home.

And the nest, I think that people are surprised.

I think Louisville is often surprised at how much they really ride for Louisville, because so many people leave Louisville.And really, we don't hear back from them.

But our boys are really committed to it.

And I think that other people from outside of Louisville find it endearing.

That commitment to hometown, I think they >> Absolutely.

>> That they they reallylove this place.

>> Well, and I think people here, being able to see somebody, you know, see what's possible, it really is a permission for everybody to see, you know, if you want to be a rap star when you're 11, that might just actually happen.

>> It may happen.

It has to happen for someone.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> And Louisville represents for them opportunities for Moore.

couldbe a bigger creator community.

So that's what they want to come back and help build is the sense of this can be a place where really cool things get created.

So that's the long term vision.

>> You can stream and share this episode anytime.

You can find it online at ket.org/inside Louisville.

Plus, follow us on social media.

You can see a special 20 questions with Maggie.

You can learn everything from Louisville neighborhood to her favorite local traditions.

You can find thaton Instagram at KETN Lou.

Thanks for spending a little timegetting to know Louisville.

I hope we'll see you here next time.

Until then, make it a great week.

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