Depending on what scene you tuned into the movie that is Phellito’s Way, you may or may not know that I used to work for a New York based company called The Famous Firm, run by a guy named Sickamore. I did this for about a year and a half and it was what got me to where I am today. During my run with the company, I used to just sit back and observe a lot of things. One of the most interesting things I observed was that the owner, Sickamore, used to frequently take trips to anywhere he could anytime that he could. He also would frequently turn off his phone or computer at the oddest times and not attend to business matters until he was ready again.
This week makes one year since I launched Da Fam Inc and I completely understand now why he did those things. I understand now why Jay-Z, as president of Def Jam “took too many vacations”, or why Diddy does what he does. Because now I find myself doing similar things. Bare in mind that Da Fam Inc is nowhere near the level of FF, Bad Boy, or Def Jam, but it’s still the same. I’m at the beginning stages of building what we all hope will be something great and I’m learning that when you lead, especially in hip-hop where proper business protocol is usually disregarded, you’re faced with so many things that it’s important for your sanity to just get away — weekly if possible. When it’s not possible to take a trip, it’s probably wise to have a few hours where you neglect your Blackberry and computer. Not because you don’t care, but because you’re still human. Success in today’s business setting requires you to become a robot. If you act like a robot long enough, people really start to think you are one. They call you at anytime of day with any kind of problem, expect you to solve it, talk to you how they please, and you’re expected to just take it because, well, you’re a robot and that’s what robots do.
With that said, shout out to my co-manager Kunle Oki of Skc who is in Miami right now, living it up I hope. And shout out to me for typing this from a remote location — Blackberry off, slippers on, robot mode temporarily disabled.
