You have a popular channel with tremendous growth and engagement. What made you start your channel and how did you grow it?

What started out as an Instagram page for my own personal growth, where I share my favorite inspirational quotes on business and entrepreneurship, and life, in general, really.

Where does that entrepreneurial itch come from?

I’ve always knew that a corporate 9 to 5 is not my thing. Started my first little business when I was nine, I was quite an entrepreneurial kid.
Besides unlimited income potential, I love the freedom of being my own boss… I get to work where I want, whenever I want, without anyone telling me what to do or when I can take days off.

There’s nothing like it.

To me, this kind of freedom is priceless.

What triggered it for you?
I fell in love with personal development in my teenage years, and happened to read a couple self-help books from Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, etc. They completely changed my life.

I think that’s a common thing in hustlers. You just broke down the holy grail right there.

If you have read any book from the authors I’ve just mentioned, you will realize a common theme that MINDSET is everything. It is literally the foundation to success, not how much resources you have or who you know.

I truly believe the life you’ve always wanted begins with your mindset. Despite having a university degree in Entrepreneurship & Marketing, I am now making a living with my online businesses, and also dabbling in investing.

What’s your goal with your page?

Although I don’t consider myself as being successful or an expert yet to tell people how or what to think, but my goal with this page is to hopefully inspire and influence people’s mindset in a positive way. In turn, helping them achieve whatever goals they have in life.

You have over 1M followers. People are loving your content. And everyone wants to know: How?! How do you grow an account like this?

I am proud to say that I’ve never used any shady tactics or bots to grow my IG account. Everything is 100% organic growth. Like any social platform, you must understand the platform algorithm and work with it. That’s my biggest secret…

Besides that, you also need high quality content that people want to see.

In part II of this article, Dave breaks down exactly HOW he selects his content and the secret sauce behind the engagement.

In case you missed it, last openstage featured an all-star crew of entertainers, DJs, and—of course—a super entrepreneur on the stage.

Just a quick 411 on what openstage is…

So once a month, WealthLAB hosts an exclusive, limited-capacity event in Brooklyn, NY with a rockstar entrepreneur on stage, basically breaking down their secrets to success. 

(Then there’s standup comedy, DJs, SICK cocktails and networking, but that’s another story for another time…)

This time, we had none other than legit rockstar entrepreneur, social media star and investor David Meltzer [instagram.com/davidmeltzer] on the stage, interviewed by WealthLAB founder Philip Michael.

David’s a Top 100 business coach, one of the most sought-after public speakers and host of Entrepreneur Magazine’s super podcast “The Playbook.”
(You may have seen him on Gary Vee’s stuff as well. That’s the guy he built his following with.)

And of course the talk was EPIC. Here are three brilliant gems dropped by David on stage. 

1) Say thank you every day 

One thing most people don’t do is appreciate the things around them. Of course, the vibration of gratitude triggers attraction, a 0.1-second strategy David said you can implement immediately. 

“It took me nine months to do,” he said. “But now that I do it, things that I want in life come to me faster, I’m happier and my life is abundant.”

The strategy? Simply say “thank you” before you go to sleep every night for 20 days. 

“It will change your life,” he said. 

2) What your parents need from you

“Your parents only want to know a few things,” David said during the talk, after which many became emotional. One, that you’re healthy. That you’re happy. That you love them.

“That’s all they want to know,” he says. “So take a minute to text them or call them and tell them you’re happy, healthy and that you love them.”

3) Building a following: why followers don’t matter

Of course, David’s managed to build one of the fastest-growing channels on social media, propelling to nearly 300K Instagram followers, seemingly overnight. 

“I didn’t know what DM’ing meant,” he said, bringing laughs from the crowd. “I thought it was saying your initials to indicate a message.”

When asked by Philip on how to build a following, his message was clear. Number one, know Gary Vee. “I was consulting for their sports agency. He became my mentor on social media,” he says.

Now, if you don’t know Gary Vee, you still have access to people who can help. “Never be afraid to ask. People would love to help,” he said.
More importantly, don’t worry about the followers. Just worry about building ambassadors. “Selena Gomez has 166M followers but can’t sell out a movie,” David said. “So what does that tell you?”

Instead, playing the long game, impacting two people who then impact two and before you know it, your reach compounds. Naturally. 

Sheila Johnson.

Where to start?

She’s the first black billion-dollar businesswoman. Before Oprah Winfrey.

She started as a TV executive, founding Black Entertainment Television (BET), the first TV network targeting African Americans. She then became a real estate mogul.

Oh, she also owns a stake in three major sports franchises, the NBA Wizards, NHL Capitals and the WNBA Mystics, the African American, period, to boast that claim.

In honor of Black History Month, let’s dive into her remarkable career.

FAST FACTS:

• Born Sheila Crump in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Johnson co-founded BET in 1979 with then-husband Robert Johnson. The couple sold it to Viacom in 2000 for $2.9B
• Sheila Crump Johnson became the first African American woman on the Forbes’ Billionaire list in 2000—beating Oprah Winfrey to the distinction.
• Per Forbes, Johnson has an $820M net worth as of 2019

 GIPHY

Foray into real estate…

After closing the sale to Viacom, Robert and Sheila pocketed around $1.5B each. Johnson used that windfall as seed money to build a hospitality real estate empire in 2005.

“There’s a disparity in paychecks between whites and blacks,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “I will never forget that.”

As CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, Sheila controls a spectacular portfolio of six luxury hotels in Florida, Virginia and South Carolina. And she’s built it from the ground up—literally—in her own spirit.

“I’ve been to many hotels, not only in the US, but all over the world,” she told Forbes last year. “And I wanted to find something that was going to really make Salamander stand out beyond all of these hotels.”

So what does that mean?

“You have to understand, there are a lot of people, investment companies, with very deep pockets,” she says. “They can do it, but they don’t have the experiences that we’re able to bring. I am constantly trying to find a way to help Salamander Resort & Spa stand out head over heels above any other hotel — not only in the area, but in the nation.

“I want them to leave that resort wanting to come back and not just say, ‘I’ll be back in six months.’ I want them to come back all the time.”

And so far it’s worked. In fact, on Forbes Travel Guide’s 61st list of Star-Rated hotels, Johnson’s Salamander Resort & Spa outside of Washington, DC earned a Five-Star distinction.

Image Credit: Salamander Resort & Spa

Forbes: “Everything [she] touches turns to gold.”

That’s a real quote. From Forbes. Last year. It’s also true.

BET? Billion-dollar exit. Washington Capitals? Stanley Cup.

And Roma. Won 10 Oscars. Who showed it before a single soul started caring? Johnson’s Middleburg Film Festival. (Which, by the way, has 32 films and counting in Academy Award contention.)

Remember her golf resort at Innisbrook? Oh, yeah. Hosts the Valspar Championship, one of the PGA calendar’s most-anticipated tournaments.

Becoming a billionaire comes with a new level of clout as well. “When you don’t have money, you’re not invited to special events; you really don’t matter,” she told WSJ. “It’s a society thing.”

So instead, she’s turned to giving back. Her Sheila Johnson Fellowship’s paid for more then 40 scholarships at Harvard University for students who otherwise wouldn’t afford to attend.

Breaking glass ceilings. 

There’s an alarming statistic in business and diversity—especially as it pertains to women. According to research by investor Richard Kerby, 18% of all VCs are women—and only 3% are black. In addition, less than 50 black women ever have raised $1M in funding.

“When I got started,” Johnson says, “I couldn’t get a loan. I had to use my own money to get Salamander Resort and Spa.”

She explained to WSJ last year that men can go to any bank with a bank proposal. And no matter how “wacky” the idea is, she said, “they’re going to get the financing. Women do not have that ability.”

Johnson’s taken it upon herself to do something about that, becoming one of the founding partners of WE Capital, an investment firm that invests in female entrepreneurs.

“I started out in a very unique position where I had my own capital to be able to get started,” she says. “But there have got to be banks and investors that believe in helping women who want to be entrepreneurs in the hospitality business.

“And it’s just really, really important that they really take a look at this.”