Please Understand Me

I do want you to arrive at your events in style when you are speaking in town. After all, you have to reflect the success you talk about. But starting out, you should resist living beyond your means.

Listen, if you stay with it, you are bound to make a lot of money. It’s insane how much money we get paid for a one-hour keynote.

When I was a poor kid in Haiti, if anyone told me somewhere in the world I would consistently make $7,500 for one hour of my time, I wouldn’t believe it.

Well, I still don’t. Sometimes I feel like I’m dreaming. So, please don’t wake me up because I’m having a helluva time.

You know, in retrospect, I have to admit I became successful as a motivational keynote speaker because I managed my finances well. Now, I had some debts in the past.

I ended up taking a second mortgage on my house. But it wasn’t to satisfy my fancies. I did it for my business. Fortunately, today you don’t have to go crazy into debt to finance your business.

My first book cost me about $15,000 to produce. THAT was INSANE. Knowing what I know today, there’s no way I’d spend even 20% of that amount.

I know you probably have a family to feed. It’s hard to launch any business while having to put food on the table, right?

But notice I say hard. I didn’t say impossible. That’s the assumption so many make before they even start. You can and you will make it big in the speaking field. Don’t let your doubts and the negative people around you talk you out of it, but be sober about it.