It's important to have presentation role models, media role models, communicators role models. When I was growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, only a couple miles away from me, was someone who founded his own mega media empire. This person was Jim Baker of the ptl club, the praise the Lord club, as it was known back then, he was a TV evangelist, who had a massive, massive worldwide following. And I was not a particular fan of his particular brand of religion. But I marveled at his ability to create something out of nothing to create his own TV Empire and it was all just a couple miles away from my house. This was the mid 1970s and he was generating was to been hundreds of millions of dollars a year from people all over the world, giving him money.
Just because he said things they like to hear on TV now Eventually, he had his own amusement parks and condos and all sorts of things. Now eventually he went to prison for fraud. That's another issue. But what fascinated me about him is here's a guy who synthesize different aspects of communication. He wasn't a pure preacher who stood up in a pulpit and just lectured from the Bible. He wasn't a pure Johnny Carson talk show host doing comedy monologues, but he blended the two together.
He had his own band. He had a talk show set. He had a sidekick like an Ed McMahon. He had a couch for guests. He was behind the desk. So he fused entertainment and religion together in a fascinating way.
And it created a huge vast empire for him. with tremendous influence around the world. Now he was in prison had some major, major legal issues. He is back on the air again, or at least online video in and around Branson, Missouri. He's not someone I follow anymore, but was a fascinating character. And my point to you is, don't follow jim baker or necessarily any religious leader.
But I do want you looking at people in pop culture, even people you don't agree with and ask yourself, why is this person successful? What are they doing that's new. What are they doing to cut through the culture, it could be your favorite TV chef who blends genres together. Or it could be some home dwelling lifestyle guru who's really cutting through the clutter, watch them, watch their video might not have a TV show, but they'll have videos on their Facebook channel, their YouTube channel, watch them figure out what are they doing differently? What are they doing that you cannot steal but at least adapt or modify for your own presentations. Okay, so why do I tell that story part of it, it just it gives people a better sense of who I am where I came from.
I'm not someone who just grew up. In Manhattan rich successful from the beginning, I grew up in just what's considered kind of an average sized town, average part of the country here in the United States. I didn't grow up with famous parents who were in the media. I was like everyone else. I'm just watching on TV and looking at stuff and figuring out what's interesting, what isn't interesting. And I want people to realize you can find inspiration and role models all around you.
My day. It was on TV. Today. It can be anywhere. On the internet