puffy and head throbbing because I was
trying to cry but there were actually no
more tears left I was having a breakdown
and it will be way more comfortable up
here if I were telling you someone
else’s story but in order to take you on
a quest I must first tell you about my
own and so at the tender age of 24 I had
a breakdown and I found there is
something so liberating about a
breakdown because it was in that
breakdown that I found freedom not the
freedom that we fantasize about not
freedom from the man for career freedom
the freedom we lust after every single
day when we trudge through rush-hour
traffic to make it into an office we
hate to work with people we barely
tolerate to do a job we aren’t even
passionate about On June 15th 2001 I
walked into my office looked around and
thought I hate this place how do I get
out where is my escape from this and
then that reality sank in and the idea
hit me there is actually no escape this
would be my life for the next 40 years
that realization was like a punch in the
gut I ran to my office slammed the door
and I cried and ugly cry I was
devastated
I worked too hard I sacrificed too much
I did everything Career Services said I
read all the books I attended all the
conferences I even paid the gurus to
tell me how to build a phenomenal career
and I followed every instruction line by
lying yet there I was sitting in my
office a hot mess and stuck in a job and
just when I thought that they could not
get
any worse she showed up on the other
side of the door was a knock and it was
the most happy and chipper voice you had
ever heard in your entire life she
sounded like ocean breezes unicorn
sunrise and laughing babies all meshed
together in this simple melodic tune
that was good morning sunshine she was
one of those people oh you know those
people the crazy ones that actually like
being there because they find their
career to be fulfilling it was amazing
to me she wasn’t on the career ladder
she was like on the career elevator
mainly because she was managing her
career the right way and I was jealous
of her I said there and thought to
myself I bet she’s on drugs
but I figured I don’t care what it is
whatever magic potion she has I am going
to figure it out I’m going to figure out
I’m going to get it I’m going to master
it and I will teach it to other people
and thus began my quest like many of you
might upbringing set me up for this
breakdown right in my family being
unemployed was one of the worst things
you could be people didn’t go to work to
be fulfilled they went to work to to pay
bills and to feed the kids and to just
survive right they were hard working
people but hard working out of
desperation kind of like the teller that
stuffing money into a bank bag because
there’s a gun to her head that kind of
desperate right and I remember going off
to college and my grandmother though she
didn’t even finish high school she came
to me and gave me her career advice for
success and she said didi you go to
school you get that education find
yourself a good job stay out your boss’s
office and don’t forget you ain’t white
now that sound is simple but I was
miserable following those rules and
here’s what was even worse is that I pay
people way more educated than my
grandmother to give me advice and their
advice got me no further than hers did
at least hers with free came with a hook
and a slice of sweet potato pie but what
I realized was the happy woman she
followed none of those rules no the
happy woman and people like her who were
experiencing career freedom they had
their own rulebook a rulebook that we
the nan crazy but miserable people
didn’t have and so I studied that book
and what I found in my time in academia
is that everything has a scientific name
and a common name like like the flu is
actually influenza or Griffin age is
actually the technical name for scribble
Scrabble handwriting so the scientific
name for what I sought to study was
employee preneur it combined the words
employee
and entrepreneur and what I realized was
that many of us don’t think of our
careers as a business raise your hand if
you think of your career as a business
most people don’t but the employee
preneur do they interact with the
company the way a small business owner
interacts with their clients if you’ve
ever seen a small business owner their
client interactions are absolutely
magical I have a nephew whose name is
Lynn Dez he owns a plumbing company and
he always has a joke and a smile on his
face in this picture he says he’s
sunbathing right but why why is that
important because when someone tells you
it will cost a thousand dollars to fix
your toilet paint are well better make
you laugh right every day he has two
goals in mind one to get the business
and two to be the person they call the
next time and with every interaction he
makes his clients smile because with
every smile he’s closer to accomplishing
one and two the employee preneur is just
like the entrepreneurs devise their own
one and two and they see the company as
the client that will make those goals
happen so let’s define employee preneur
employee preneur are employees that
manage their careers like a business not
like minding my own business but like I
am the CEO of this organization and they
see the companies and all the parties
they’re in as people that will help them
either tank sustain or grow the business
essentially they’re managing their
career the way Ken Chenault managed
American Express so what I began to do
is I began to study people like this I
started with the famous CEOs like the
Ken Chenault so the Ursula Burns or the
Boz OMA st. John’s but then I decided I
wanted to study everyday people who were
around me managing their career
successfully this way I studied that
everyday employee preneur and what I did
was realize there were a list of things
that these people did
stantly better than the rest of us I had
a full list and I narrowed it down to
ten for this talk and then I realized I
only had 18 minutes and so that ten went
from like ten to six and now four things
that I want to share with you that I
began doing and that employee preneur
did consistently number one fall in love
with the word know if you don’t hear no
or people don’t laugh hysterically at
some of your requests you’re either
asking for too little or cutting
yourself short employee preneur
appreciate all of the opportunities that
lie between the words yes and no Jim was
an employee preneur who would ask for
the craziest things one day gentleman to
his boss’s office and asked for the
position of Assistant Director and that
sounds like a normal promotion request
except the position actually didn’t
exist he went into his boss’s office and
said hey I know this position doesn’t
exist but I’ve seen how hard you work
and having an assistant director will
get you your weekends back and it will
make this company more productive if you
mentor me now I’ll be ready when the
position does exist within a year guess
who had the brand new assistant director
position you guessed it Jim did number
two break good habits sounds crazy right
but think about it what if I told you
who’s saying bolt the world-class
printer is not the fastest runner many
of you would gasp and think that I was
saying that for shock value but I stand
by my statement if Usain Bolt left the
sprinting world and went to distance
running and maintained his same
sprinting habits not only would he lose
he would actually die think about it
he’s down in the blocks he hears the
announcer on your mark get set and then
the gun goes off he comes out running as
fast and as hard as he can for 26.2
miles impossible if I’m saying bolt was
going to be a successful marathon runner
he would have to abandon the habit that
made him the best at running
100 yards employee preneur czar good at
breaking good habits they recognize the
habits that used to work for them and
they quickly abandon them for the habits
that will propel them to their next
level of success number three the
company doesn’t like you I remember it I
flash back to school with my best friend
Karen Brown and one day I went to tell
her something about her friends and I
leaned in and I said you know they don’t
like you right she teared up a little
bit and I realized that she actually
didn’t know but here’s the reality
please don’t tear up but you know they
don’t like you right I don’t mean they
dislike you I just mean they’re
indifferent towards you when leaders of
corporations sit down in their corner
offices and determine the strategy for
the organization they don’t sit down and
say you know what we really need a frank
what they do is they say we have
problems and we have goals and they find
a strategic way to identify the people
that can help them solve the problems
and achieve the goals Keisha was an
employee preneur whose career was
skyrocketing I mean the leaders of the
company loved her
mainly because she had a magical ability
to solve the most unsolvable problems I
went to Keisha one day and I said girl
you are so lucky they like you and she
gave me this look like oh you poor
little stupid soul in the south where
I’m from we call those bless your heart
looks she said girl these people don’t
like me they like the problems that I
solve and she said it was such pride and
authority that it took me aback and she
said look this is not personal this is
business
I want to be the CEO one day and they
need their problem solved I have what
they need they have what I need and my
grandma told me and even swap ain’t no
swindle the best employee preneur czar
therefore the even swap not just to be
liked
number four brands matter what is this
symbol of what is this symbol of how do
you know how do you know we just see
those arches I’ll do you one better
everyone in here that was born before
1985 raise your hand I bet many of you
could join me in saying the elements of
a big man let’s see if we can do it two
all-beef patties special sauce lettuce
cheese pickles onions on a sesame-seed
bun why why that commercial is over 30
years old and yet we can say it without
even thinking about it right you know
why because last year alone McDonald’s
spent six not nine hundred and sixty
three million dollars on their brand and
no matter whether you like love or hate
McDonald’s you know who they are and you
recognize those arches anywhere I
remember when I realized I had begun to
master my path to employee preneur ship
I was walking into my office I was
greeting everyone and I sounded like
unicorns sunrise ocean breezes and
laughing babies all meshed together I
got into my office and the phone rang it
was the head of legal affairs
she said Detra the president wants to
know how you think we should handle this
reduction in force I was shocked
the president knows my name she said
girl stop playing everyone knows your
name so what do you think in that moment
I realized I was miles away from the 21
or year-old that was having a breakdown
in her office I had decided to invest in
Dietrich Isles and not just an education
and certifications but my biggest
investment wasn’t finding my passion
because I realized that you do things
better when you’re passionate about them
and so I was happy to run my career like
a business mainly because I liked it I
was good at it I was proud to own it not
because I was doing a job but because I
was managing a world-class organization
me and I invested in me not because I
wanted the president to know my name but
because I wanted my freedom and that is
why I tell you these stories that is why
I share my path that is why I shared
these tools with you because I am
passionate about your freedom your
ability to choose the how and why we
live this life and the thing that keeps
most of us bound is a job because life
is just too short to charge through rush
hour traffic to make it into an office
you hate to work with people you barely
tolerate to do a job you aren’t even
passionate about dr. Benjamin emaze know
that civil rights leaders says it best
when he says I’ve only just a minute
only 60 seconds in it forced upon me
can’t refuse it didn’t seek it
didn’t choose it but it’s up to me to
use it I must suffer if I lose it give
an account if I abuse it just a tiny
little minute but eternity is in it it’s
just a tiny little minute and you get
the right to choose I pray you choose
the quest too crazy and become the next
employee preneur that I seek to study
thank you
[Applause] [Music]