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The Calum Johnson ShowFive Black Entrepreneurs EXPLAIN How They Went From Nothing To Wealthy
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Taking Ownership: Your Bank Account Is a 90-Day Reflection
Dontez Akram describes catching mice while sleeping on the floor and how he stopped blaming others. He explains that taking full responsibility returned his power and that changing daily habits changes the bank account.
- •Akram describes sleeping on the floor and catching mice in his daughter's mom's Section 8 house as his turning point
- •He had been blaming his mom, his car and everything else for his situation
- •He realized every time he blamed someone he gave them power over him
- •He decided to be honest with himself so he could be truthful with others
- •Your bank account reflects your decisions over the last 90 days
Showing Up Until Nike Noticed: Joe Holder's Grind
Calum Johnson asks Joe Holder what he was doing when Naomi Campbell, Virgil Abloh and Bella Hadid gave him opportunities. Holder describes working for a chia bar company, handing out samples, hosting free workouts and showing up at run clubs.
- •Holder worked at Health Warrior on about $32,000 a year and slept on a friend's couch
- •He handed out chia bars at Whole Foods and showed up at Nike and Lululemon run clubs
- •He hosted unpaid pop-up workouts on West Side Highway
- •He covered an early class he didn't want to teach, and Nike staff in attendance later invited him to be part of a program
- •He did a no-prep trainer audition at Nike's office after a colleague carved out a slot for him
Becoming a "Demon" After Heartbreak
A speaker reflects on the person she was before and after a three-year toxic relationship with an older partner. Her anger and resentment pushed her to work relentlessly, and she says that earlier version of herself had to die for her to find peace.
- •She was 20 and her partner was 25, and she suggests he may have seen potential in her that she didn't
- •She channeled anger into work and made videos about the breakup that many people remember from Facebook
- •From 20 to 25 she had a take-over-the-world mentality
- •She says the person she was had to die to become who she is now
Quitting Her Job and Opening a Brooklyn Business
A speaker describes giving notice and, on her first day without a job, a chance conversation in a cafe led to a lease within 60 days. She says naivety helped her open nail and beauty businesses in Brooklyn.
- •She was inspired by Black-owned businesses on Fulton Street and prepared financially before quitting
- •She gave notice on April 1st and by May 1st was in a cafe working on a business plan
- •A conversation with a server about rents led to a landlord and a space
- •She had never opened a business in New York and says she was so naive it worked
- •She wanted affordable, chic, upgraded beauty services in Brooklyn
Pivoting Into Real Estate
Five years into the business, the speaker was no longer stimulated and noticed that landlords and realtors were making the money. She got her real estate license and quickly became addicted to selling houses.
- •She says she is not excited about anything for too long and is always thinking about the next chapter
- •She noticed real estate people recovered faster from the recession
- •A best friend had long said she should be in real estate
- •She got her license planning to run another beauty business alongside it, but a year in she was hooked
- •She credits her results to focus rather than claiming she works harder than others
Standing on Your Dignity When Conflict Hits
A speaker argues that life's hardships reveal character and describes a moment when someone in power belittled him in front of coworkers. He refused to sell his dignity, and the confrontation ended in mutual respect.
- •Hardships reveal your weak spots and character
- •When your back is against the wall, decide the one thing you can't lose
- •He told the person that his pay wasn't enough to buy his dignity
- •He frames conflict as a diagnostic that builds trust
- •He needed the job but needed to be himself more
Making Your First $10K Month and Finding Your Edge
Dontez Akram explains how to approach a first $10K month by choosing a lane, learning from the best and solving bigger problems. He says his own unique edge is making content and ads, which his team pointed out to him.
- •Pick a lane, learn from the best and spend an hour or two a day on skills like Facebook ads
- •Every company needs ads, marketing and operations
- •Solving problems for clients who earn more means they can pay thousands a month
- •Otherwise, play the volume game using your unique edge
- •He learned only last year that making content and ads is his edge
Being the Only Black Person in the Room
A speaker describes growing up as the only Black girl in her Arizona environment and how it made her observant and hyper-aware. She also credits her single mother's daily discipline and says she now uses these quirks to her advantage.
- •She paid close attention to others in order to fit in
- •Her mom's routine, including a 7:05 AM wake-up, trained her in discipline
- •Her overactive brain now helps her track many details at once
- •She wants more out of her work, brand and business than her peers do
Explaining E-commerce in Three Steps
A speaker says that people who can't explain what they do simply may not understand it, and lays out her simple e-commerce approach. She stresses that the first sale builds confidence.
- •She explains e-commerce as making an account, finding bestsellers, listing the top three and adding 10 to 15%
- •The account costs nothing and unsold items weren't bought
- •Her first sale proved to her that it works and gave her confidence
Retail Arbitration and Selling Convenience
Calum Johnson asks whether this is drop shipping, and the speaker explains retail arbitration. She says it uses US big box retailers to sell on another major US retailer's site and that she has made millions selling convenience.
- •It is not drop shipping; it is retail arbitration
- •It involves selling items from big box retailers on another major US retailer site
- •Free shipping from retailers makes it easy
- •People pay for convenience, and she says it isn't a scam
- •She says you can make a couple of thousand dollars by exploiting convenience
The Saddest Day Is Completing Your Goal
A speaker says completing your goal should be your saddest day because you miss the hard days when you were fully alive. He talks about the universal need to feel that you mattered, and closes by saying the conversation was about real-life topics.
- •You miss the hard processes once you finish them
- •People wonder whether anyone will know they were here and whether they mattered
- •Deciding you don't matter means living a zombie life
- •The episode focused on real life rather than term sheets, code, AI or venture capital
Publisher timestamps
- 0:00You can get rich in 90 days
- 3:05How he got an opportunity with Nike
- 7:50She became a DEMONRead this chapter
- 10:55The beginning of a business empireRead this chapter
- 14:50People do stuff thats F*cked Up!
- 19:00How to become the best at what you doRead this chapter
- 21:45Being the odd one out in the room
- 24:20The opportunity with retail arbitrationRead this chapter
- 26:17This is the saddest day for the driven individualRead this chapter
