- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey... [upbeat jazz music] PSE&G, proud sponsors of "Pathway to Success"... ♪ ♪ JC P&L and the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, working together to build a stronger community for all.

♪ ♪ Investors Bank, banking in your best interest.

Berkeley College, education drives opportunity.

Be inspired.

NJM Insurance Group, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

♪ ♪ - Hello, this is John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Thank you for tuning in today to "Pathway to Success."

You know, today's guest is an amazing individual, Mr. Timothy Wright.

You know, Super Bowl player, Rutgers grad, and we're gonna talk a little bit today about technology.

You know, Mr. Timothy Wright is the co-founder and chief strategic officer of Dome Audio and a member of the African-American Chamber of Commerce President's Club.

And so Mr. Wright, welcome to "Pathway to Success."

- Thank you, Mr. Harmon.

It's a pleasure to be here to tell my story.

New Jersey bred and taking on the world and bringing a disruptive technology so that we can impact the way the world experiences sound.

So I'm excited to share that today to our viewers.

- Well, that sounds fantastic.

Disruptive is always a great term for me in what we do here at the African-American Chamber.

But let's start off with a little bit about you, your family, your upbringing, education, where you grew up, and then we'll slowly transition into Rutgers.

- So I was born and raised in Neptune, New Jersey, down by the shore area, and both my parents actually live just homes away from each other.

And I had my grandparents growing up.

I had both sets, and it was a phenomenal upbringing because I had aunts and uncles.

I had cousins and relatives and friends that I grew up with.

And I was the only child, and so my entire family poured into me, and they positioned me and provided me resources so that I can strive for greatness and be on a platform to reach the heights that I always wanted inside.

And growing up, I remember following my grandparents around the yard because, after work, they would landscape.

And at the age of four, I can remember cutting my first lawn and being behind my grandfather, helping him mow and planting flowers and raking leaves and shoveling snow, and I understood what it took to sacrifice in those extreme weather inclements.

I understood what it was to be disciplined, to--sometimes where you didn't want to go out and actually do the work.

I always followed his lead with going out there and making it happen.

And that transition into my young age when I started to go into sports, and the way that I approach academics and just my family structure with my parents just being there.

My mom was always a loving spirit, and my father always worked hard.

He always was a man about his word and integrity, and all of those different elements really poured into me and instilled the way that I approach my life and every day and leading my family today.

- So what you've described is the village.

It takes a village to raise a child, but so let's talk a little bit about the community itself and then high school and if there was any influencers outside of that nuclear family, outside of your village.

- So growing up in Neptune, New Jersey, football and basketball were the two main sports that all the young kids wanted to play at a very young age.

I remember, starting at around six years old in Pop Warner, and the coaches, the culture.

I remember both my uncle and my dad actually played in the Neptune Pop Warner program, so when they took me to that field at a young age to see that practice, you could just see all the coaches, the parents, and even the young players at that time, it meant something to them, and I was excited to be a part of that.

And so throughout that upbringing, I was charged at a very young age to be a captain of the football team, and I led the team.

I was always first in every sprint.

I always outworked my competition, and the guys next to me, they really relied on my leadership.

So at that age, I was also introduced to church very early, and I was in the church community as singing in the choir, as a youth usher.

At the age of 13, I picked up a pair of clippers, and when I picked up that pair of clippers, it was due to a bad haircut that I experienced, and my dad said, "I'm gonna to buy a pair of clippers, and this will never happen again."

I took it to the next level because using the last name Wright, I then started to establish the brand called the Wright Cut, and so when I was cutting throughout high school, it was just amazing fulfillment for me because every time a person sat in my chair, I looked at it like a blank canvas, and them getting out the chair with the Wright cut, it was so fulfilling, and they came back every single time.

So when I got to Rutgers University, I was a full-time scholar student, I was a full-time football player and captain of the team, and I was a full time barber, and that set the foundation for me for my sports career and my entrepreneurial journey.

All of those things that I was exposed to had really set the tone for me, and I was very disciplined, and I relied on those things to carry me throughout my young childhood in academics and in sports.

- Why and how did you select Rutgers?

- Rutgers University was destined.

I went to Neptune High School, and their school name was Neptune Scarlet Flyers, and after my sophomore year, we had some coaching changes, and I wanted to take off in my career as a football player, and I approached my parents, and I told them, "Look, "I want to take this to the next level.

"I want to go to college, "and I think by switching schools "will give me the opportunity.

"It will give me the platform "to be able to showcase my talent "and be placed in the right position to really flourish."

And so they agreed with me without even second thinking it, and it probably was the best move that I made in that young age as a teenager.

And so I then ended up going to Wall High School, and their name was Wall Crimson Knights.

And the street that I grew up on was named Rutgers Terrace, and Rutgers University was literally destined for me.

So when you put it all together, it spells out Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

- I think that's fantastic.

Now, take us through this whole draft process.

When did you know that you had the potential to be drafted to an NFL team?

- I would say, my college career, the tone was set by my coach Greg Schiano.

The culture, the values, the principles, and how he coached and turned boys into men, I really took hold of that.

And I remember my parents dropping me off the first time, and even my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, we've been together for 19 years now, they all accompanied me, when they dropped me off, and they knew that they were handing me over to a coach that really believed in what he did.

My career at Rutgers wasn't always successful.

Coming in at Rutgers redshirted, and that was the first time in my career where I didn't actually play in the game, but I had to sit behind some guys and learn from some incredible wide receivers at that time at Rutgers.

But then, going into my third year, I said, "This is the year."

And I said "All you need "is three years removed from college, and you can go into the NFL."

And so I was setting the bar high with my training in the wintertime, in the off season.

I came in.

I won most improved offensive player of the spring, and going into training camp, six practices in at the last session of our practice, I ended up tearing my ACL.

So my season was completely wiped out at that moment, but that allowed me to grow in other areas, connecting with my players even deeper, connecting with the coaches, understanding the game, starting to network more at Rutgers University, which I then learned was very important, and with all of that said, I then came back my junior year.

I caught 11 passes that season, caught two touchdowns, and I redeemed myself.

I bounced back.

That resilience and that persistence is what set me up for my senior year where I then came out.

I was the sole offensive captain that season, had a lot of responsibility, but I handled it very well.

And I remember going into the draft, I trained extremely hard.

I knew that a lot of odds were stacked against me because I didn't have multiple seasons where I performed at a high level, but I was an anchor for my team, and so those values, the type of player and athlete I was is what those NFL scouts saw in me.

And coming from the crop of Greg Schiano, those coaches knew what they were getting, and that's what set me up going into the NFL.

I was undrafted.

I sat through that entire draft in 2013.

I didn't get chosen, but right after the draft, I had about 16 teams call me, and they said, "We want to record your information, "and if you end up choosing us, we're here, and we want to be able to bring you in."

But at that point, you actually get to choose where you want to go, and Greg Schiano gave me a call directly, and he said, "Timmy, "would you like to come down here "and showcase your talents, have an opportunity to make the team?"

And I said, "Babe, what you think?"

We were on a bed together at that time when he gave me that call.

My first son was still in her stomach, Major, and we said, "We going to go down to Tampa, "and I'ma make it happen.

I was made for this.

"I'ma go out, make it for my family, "I'ma make it for my last name, "I'ma make it for the Jersey Shore, and I'ma make it for myself and God."

And I literally went out there and beat out four other guys to make that roster that season, and that was the start of my NFL career.

- Wow.

I mean, that's some story.

So now I got to ask you this question.

Your first touchdown, when did it happen?

- I remember it like yesterday.

We played the Carolina Panthers, in 2013, and right at the end of the game, I caught my first touchdown.

And I was like, "Boom," pointed up to the Lord.

Thank you that I've been able to make it and record my first touchdown in the NFL.

- Let's talk about competitive environments.

- And so in the NFL, sitting next to some pro bowl players, all pro players, future Hall of Famers, it was incredible to be on that platform and that environment.

But I knew, once everybody left the building, I flicked the light on in that meeting room, and I was studying.

When everybody left the weight room, I did the extra reps.

I kept my family first, I kept God first, and I knew I was there for a mission.

So that's how I was able to excel at the levels that I played at.

- Gotcha.

Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, what were some of the takeaways?

- I got traded right on the field, right at the end of training camp, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and three hours later, I was on a flight to New England.

When I landed and walked in that building, I can feel that this was a championship franchise.

And I met Coach Belichick.

He shook my hand, and he said, "Tim Wright, "get ready, because you got to play in the game tomorrow.

"You're starting, and we're going "to throw you the first pass.

"We want to know who you are and if that guy on film is exactly who we just brought in here."

So I had to learn 60 plays overnight.

Brian Daboll, he's the coach of the New York Giants right now, he was my tight ends coach, phenomenal teacher.

I walk in the locker room.

They walk me up to Tom Brady, and they said, "Tom, look who's here."

He threw his phone in his locker, he stood up, and he said, "Timmy Wright.

"I know who you are, I watched your film, and let's go make it happen."

I look up, and my locker is right next to Tom Brady.

Playing "Madden" at the age of 13, using the Patriots and driving down the field with Tom Brady, and now I'm sitting next to him in the locker room, and he said, "Let's go win a championship."

And I got this hardware for the rest of my life.

So this was an amazing accomplishment, and it's been able to open doors for me, and I know it's a blessing, and I've just been using it as such.

- So Mr. Timothy Wright, let's take a break here on "Pathway to Success."

I'll be right back.

- The African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey is your pathway to success.

We encourage you to visit our website at www.aaccnj.com, or call us at 609-571-1620.

We are your strategic partner for success.

- Welcome back to "Pathway to Success."

I'm John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

You know, we've been enjoying our conversation with Timothy Wright.

You know, Super Bowl champion, Rutgers grad, from Neptune New Jersey, but he's also co-founder and chief strategic officer of Dome Audio.

Let's talk about Dome Audio.

Where did the inspiration come from, and what is this product all about?

- I was approached right after winning the Super Bowl by my partner now Ben White, founder, and he's the IP developer of Dome Audio.

And he said "I'm working on this project, "and I believe you would be really inspired by what I've been able to build."

We have the world's first open and closed ear bone conduction headphone, and essentially, we're driving this patented disruptive technology to impact the way the world experiences sound.

So my partner, he was in the music industry for 25 years as a songwriter, producer, and musician, and he got his hands on a pair of bone conduction headphones.

And just for context, these headphones are open ear, so you can hear the world around you, but they only have two speakers.

And so when he put the headphones on, he said, I understand the sound, but I think I can make this technology better.

And so when he turned the headphones around, the speakers sit on your jawbone here.

He put it on his mastoid bone, and that's where the light bulb went off.

And he said, "if everything else has two speakers, "if I added two more and made it a four-point speaker system, it's going to amplify the fidelity."

And so that's where he first started off, and then he said, "There's times where you might not want to hear the world around you."

He created this proprietary dome cover that you attach to the frame of the headphone, and it puts you into a privacy mode.

And so now, you have the ability to hear the world, when you want to, or block out the world and have an immersive audio experience, when you want to.

And when I saw the rendering at that time of the headphones, I said, literally, "The future is now, and I'm in."

I then went to go experience the technology, and the rest was history.

We've been on this path now for the last five years.

We've literally built prototype after prototype, and we've been putting it on heads, I would say at least 2,000 people, and the feedback has been phenomenal.

The special thing about the impact of Dome Audio is that this technology not only works for people who are hearing, but we identified an opportunity where a community of people who are deaf and hard of hearing has been overlooked inherently by the audio headphones that are on the market with air conduction because of the technology.

And so we then started putting our headphones on people who were deaf and hard of hearing, and they said they've never had a music experience with headphones like this before, and that's when we knew.

We have a market.

We have an opportunity.

That's a blue ocean.

- Tim, I have to stop you right there.

- Yes.

- You just said that you put the headphones on a deaf person, and they reacted to that.

Take us through that a little bit.

- John, it almost is an oxymoron.

Literally, we could say we created a headphone that some deaf people can use, and it's been so fulfilling, so inspirational to see someone who has been overlooked with the headphone experience and now enjoying music in an immersive way.

Every time we put it on, the reactions of people signing and expressing it to their colleagues or their family that's joining them in that moment, we know that we have something special in our hands.

And that's one of our markets for our phase one, and then we're gonna be literally introducing our next model to the world for people who are hearing as well.

But our D4 flagship headphone can literally work for people who are hearing, as well as deaf and hard of hearing, and that's where we came up with one headphone, one sound, and it's bringing the world together.

- Describe what they are experiencing.

- An individual who has hearing challenges, what they're experiencing is our technology uses vibration, and it sends the sound using vibration directly into the inner ear, bypassing their challenges on the outer ear, where your air conduction headphones actually pass through the outer ear just to get into the middle and inner ear and going directly into the hearing membrane called the cochlea.

So that's how they're able to experience sound.

And just like hearing folks, folks who are hearing normally, they're listening to Dome headphones, and it's again, bypassing the outer and middle ear, going directly into the inner ear using vibration.

- Wow.

You know, Tim, and a lot of what you share, it gets at the heart of the mission of the African American Chamber of Commerce, particularly as it relates to Black people.

In your articulation of your product or your service, you push back on perceptions of professional athletes, and I think that's one of the things that you said you're looking to do with the various ventures you're involved, and don't stereotype an athlete in terms of limiting him or her to just that professional activity.

But there's more to Timothy Wright, and there's more to people that are like you that get into other ventures.

So that said, speak to someone today, athlete or otherwise, who's looking to start a business, has an idea.

What words of advice would you give that person?

- I want to encourage the next aspiring entrepreneur from the African American community to look at it like this.

I coined a quote, and it goes, "In the pursuit, you discover."

You can look at an opportunity by discovering an industry, discovering a product or service that you want to bring to the world, and you might say, "I'm not qualified," or "I don't know the next steps to take."

But if you take that step on faith, and you start to study using YouTube or reading books or looking at a mentor and bringing somebody in for guidance, you take that next step, and you start to venture on that journey.

When you put that work in, and you prepare the repetition at what you're doing, you'll look up, and you'll start to realize what you accomplished, and that will then open the next door for you, and then that will then open the next door, and you'll start to realize, as you look back, man, I'm making progress.

And that's what I've been doing, and that's the way I approach business.

I just soak in a whole bunch of knowledge.

I'm an avid studier of some of the biggest corporations and creations in the world of technology, of companies, their business models, and I've been applying that to what I do in everyday life of driving business forward, and so that's what I would encourage any aspiring entrepreneur in the African American community is take that step out on faith.

Believe in yourself.

Have the confidence.

Study, work hard, prepare.

- So I've got a few more questions, and we're going to let you get on to doming up society.

First one, your relationship with the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, it's significance, and then what's the future, for Dome and Timothy Wright?

- So I'm proud to be a President's Club member of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

We're just getting started, and John, you've been incredible in opening up doors and exactly what you mean by your mission at the chamber.

And so we're very inspired and really looking forward to a year-long opportunity to continue to bring impact and disruption within the chamber, within the outskirts of New Jersey.

And so what the future resides for me is being a part of the mission that you laid down and driving Dome Audio on a global scale to be able to impact the world and build a platform, so that I can continue to go back in communities and drive change, drive a better quality of life.

I have a foundation, just to mention, called the Wright Way Academy, and so our mission is to drive quality of life for all people, no matter what it is.

And I think the chamber also represents getting their hands in so many things and being an eclectic organization that can get involved in so many ways.

No boundaries, and that's what we represent.

That's what I represent, and that's what I want to bring to the world in the future.

- Now, I think that's all phenomenal.

This has been a great, great exchange with you today, Brother Wright.

And not only was it inspirational, but it was kind of a blueprint of success for those who desire to really embrace family, really embrace community, and pursue life with excellence and integrity.

And I think you've articulated it all today.

So for those of you who tuned in today, till the next time on your pathway to success, this is John Harmon, founder, President, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Thank you for joining us today.

♪ ♪ You know, this talk today with Timothy Wright, it really underscored a lot of things for me.

You know, we talk about the perception of Black men or Black people, those adverse perceptions that tend to marginalize who we really are and what we represent to society.

From a historical perspective, it's well-documented.

Black people built America.

They made America great, and there's been a lot of wealth accumulated, whereas, other families, generational wealth, they've benefited from.

But I think the takeaway for me today-- there's no shortcut to success.

What Mr. Wright articulated was hard work, perseverance, vision, focus, but also he emphasized collaboration and leveraging resources and people that have talent or like-mindedness.

All of those qualities and many, many more are a part of the mission of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

There's 1.2 million Blacks in the state of New Jersey, about 90,000 Black businesses, and unfortunately, there's gross underperformance throughout our demographic.

But we, the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, has committed to bring forth presentations like today to cast us in a very different light that underscores our mission and our commitment to Black excellence.

So continue to support us, and we'll rise together.

Ultimately, this is a win-win proposition.

We are your partner for success.

We, not the chamber, but Black people.

Give us an opportunity to help you be better.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ - Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSE&G, JC P&L, Investors Bank, Berkeley College, NJM Insurance Group, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

♪ ♪