Clay Clark | Michael Levine | PR Consultant of Choice for MJ, Prince, Nike, 58 Academy Winners, 34 Grammy Winners & 43 NY Times Best-sellers Shares How How He Overcame Poverty & Dyslexia + Join Tebow At Dec 5-6 Business Workshop!

Audio Transcription

Michael, welcome to The Post. It’s a pleasure to have you on the first podcast. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing you speak, reading some of your books, seeing you commentate on various legal cases in the news or various public relations crises. You’re a legend in the PR world. You’ve represented US presidents, 58 Academy Award winners, 36 Grammy winners, 61 New York Times bestsellers, icons like Michael Jackson. You’ve authored 19 books, including this one right here, Guerrilla PR, which is used across the country to teach about public relations. But what I find most fascinating about your story is the underdog story. The fact that you made it despite having the odds stacked against you. And so what I’m interested in learning about is, tell me about your childhood and the odds that were stacked against you and how you overcame those to get to where you’re at today. Well, first of all, my friend, thank you for being here. Now, by noting all those accomplishments, what I think you’ve done is you’ve announced to the audience that I have a very reduced social life, which I guess I do in certain ways. I do work a lot, but it’s an honor to be here for a show. And I like what you’re doing with it. I like the whole podcast format. And I think that you’re inquisitive in an interesting way. You and I have had some conversations in which I’ve watched your inquisitiveness fascinate me. And I guess I’m also born with that inquisitiveness. About the underdog story, which is really the cutting edge of my life right now. The cutting edge of my life, since I have nothing further to accomplish in the professional realm. I have but one mission, which is to share with those in the world who are not privileged, who do not come from great privilege, who are indeed an underdog in some way or another. And you can be an underdog even though you come from a privileged home, right? You could be an underdog, let’s say, if you had a stutter. You could be an underdog if you had, as I did, dyslexia. Now, if you wanna be an underdog with dyslexia, it’s better to be an underdog now than 30 years ago, because 30 years ago, we had a different word for dyslexia. I’d like to tell the audience what the word was. May I? Yeah. Dumb. That’s the word. So anyway, I started in New York. I was born in New York City. I was born two and a half miles north of ground zero. And I’m one of the very few Americans alive today that has the distinction of watching the World Trade Center be built twice. I didn’t like the second time as much as the first. But I watched the World Trade Center be built twice. Born in New York, I did not come from a good family. I think you know some of this. There was alcoholism in my family and anyone who’s ever lived in a home with alcoholism knows that’s a rough ride. When you grow up in an alcoholic home, very often you raise yourself. So I had this problem of being raised in an alcoholic home. That wasn’t good. And then I had a second problem, which was also challenging, and that was I had this disability which have had all my life as you know called dyslexia but again 30 40 years ago, we used to call it dumb and so Can I ask you about that dyslexia so I’ve heard people have dyslexia I know it has something to do with a reading but what is can you just tell us like what is a life, what is a day in life of someone who is dyslexic? Yes, of course I can. I can do it. I can even illustrate it to you. Yeah, that would be great. Hand me that book. Okay. Now, can you see that book? Yes. Okay. Can you read it okay? Perfect. Now watch. Start reading. Oh, interesting. So is it a vision? Start reading. Can’t. Just start reading. Come on, you can do it. Start reading. So is that a vision problem? No, it’s a cognitive problem. It’s a neurological problem. But when the you know, when you get your credit card bill every month, right, you know, the credit card bill, right? And it comes on that piece of paper with that really, really, really small type and you’re dyslexic? That’s annoying. You can’t see that. So what were people telling you or what did you think of yourself when you had that as a kid not knowing there’s a thing called dyslexia? Right. You’re dumb. You’re just slow. Wow. You’re dumb. You’re slow. Which by the way if you’re told you’re dumb as a child you tend to believe it all that of course I was told by my principal by my teachers This kid is just slow. He’s slow That was the word at the time by the way. There was no political correctness in the age so commonly you could hear in Popular parlance the word retarded and you’d never hear that today, right? A kid is retarded. That was said commonly. So it’s a very different era. I grew up in this home that had alcoholism in it. That is not good and the dyslexia not good. When you say you grew up in a home with alcoholism, there’s some images that come to mind and that can mean different things. If you’re comfortable with it, do you mind sharing with us what does that mean? You grew up in an alcoholic home? Effectively, I think the best way I can explain it to you is my mother was an alcoholic. My father was a very nice, gentle man. He died this year at 101. I’m sorry to hear that. Yeah. He was a nice man, a gentle man, a good man. But he was a bit passive, and even at moments, weak. Now listen, I don’t know what it’s like to raise two children in New York City with an alcoholic wife. That’s pretty rough. I don’t know if I could have done any better. But it was a rough ride in certain ways. Now it’s a very different America my friend. Very different America. The first time I ever rode a New York City subway alone was age nine. Oh wow. Now you say, come on, that’s not possible. Brother, a lot of kids nine years old were on the subway alone at that time. You walk to school in the snow. Nobody took you to school. Age nine, age 10, you have to walk to school and it’s snowy out. Go get a scarf. The babying of today didn’t exist. I’m not saying that is better or worse. In some ways it was better, some ways it was worse. Anyway, it was a different time. I was a very, very, understandably, given the dyslexia, very, very, very poor student. Barely graduated underlined barely. So now I’m 17. I got no money. I got no job. I’ve got no education. I’ve got no parenting. I’m scared. I’m skinny. And I got dyslexia. Let’s just say I wasn’t holding great cards. Okay? Right. So how do you play your cards? Now, you can go, I guess, one of two ways, right? Most people who are traumatized in youth, and that doesn’t work out too well. But there’s about, I don’t know, 10%? A small percentage that somehow take the same disadvantage and it turns strangely into a fuel. Now why is it that 90% have the same trauma and it shatters them and 10% have the same trauma and it accelerates them. I have no idea. That’s called mysteries of the mind. I have no idea. Would you describe that difference in you as anger, motivation? How would you describe that? Because that is unusual. A lot of people that are in that track, they end up just going down the wrong path. 90%! Right. So, what is that feeling like? Dyslexic, alcoholic family, probably not… your future’s probably not looking… Didn’t have a good prom night. Okay. I bet you had a better prom night, son! Okay. So your future at 17, in your mind, what did your future… Look, let’s do it this way. You’re a smart guy. Would you have bet on me at 16, 17? Fuck no. Fuck no. Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? This is a bad bet, son. But, it somehow turned out. And I do believe now, I’m going to say something to the audience that maybe sounds odd. I actually believe that the disadvantages that I had in my life strangely turned out to be advantages. Now you’ll say, what the fuck are you talking about? How could a disadvantage… What? That doesn’t make any sense. I think the disadvantages gave me gifts that I couldn’t be aware of at the time. So for example, one of the things I’ve learned about dyslexics is they’re hyper, often hyper-observant. Now you know me a little bit. Not 100 percent, but I think you’d probably say to a friend, yeah, this guy’s pretty fucking observant. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and you’re very observant too. So it’s an interesting thing. Why do you think you’re hyper-observant? What’s the link between that and anything or disadvantages? Well I think my disadvantage of dyslexia may have gifted me in some hard to explain way in being hyper observant. Now why is that I don’t know mysteries of the mind see I’m not very bright But I’m above average At watching what bright people do and that’s been damn helpful But I’m maybe even better At watching what dopey people do. And that may be even more important. Okay, so you’re 17 in New York, barely graduated high school. Scared, skinny, barely graduated high school. And in that moment, were you scared of what the future had for you? Were you confident you’re going to make it work? No. Or what was your mentality like? I think I was, I think I was confused. I think I didn’t know. But as I started to attempt to move forward, and you know this this line that I just said about I’m not very bright, which is true, but I’m above average at watching what bright people do. Now listen here, that’s important. People listening to this, you’re going to observe people in your life who, for whatever reason, are got it going on. They’re bright, they’re interesting, they’re powerful, they’re doing something special. Men, women, gay, straight, black, white, watch them. Damn it, watch them. Observe them. Be mentored by them. I mean, I think you share a somewhat similar view on mentorship, the power of it. Absolutely. And then watch if you got, you know, watch what dumb fucks do and don’t do that. So anyway, these are all thoughts that as I began to try to move forward, confused, observed, though I didn’t have the words for it at the time, that life was really a symposium on how you play your cards. So some people get bad cards and they play them good. Some people get good cards, they play them bad. Some people get medium cards, they play a medium. How are you going to play your cards? And don’t avoid this, and not many people do, but if you do, here’s the number one rule. Think like a victim. I didn’t do that. See if you’re sitting around your goddamn home and you’re saying I can’t Trump’s fucking me up and the government the world and men in Hollywood and I’m the I’m a victim see that’s a bad that’s a that’s a bad plan mm-hmm that’s a bad plan unless you want to be broke frustrated and exhausted if you want to be broke, frustrated, and exhausted, think like a victim. Right. But if you say, no, I don’t want to be broke, I want to be exhausted, I don’t want to be frustrated, then don’t think like a victim. So then how do you think? Well, that’s the first. The first is to think, don’t think like a victim. And then how do you think? Like you’re the master of your own destiny largely. Now there is some element of luck in life, timing, luck. There’s some element of that. But overwhelmingly, people are where you are because of who you are for better or for worse. And the same to the audience. Listen up. You are where you are because of who you are. So, okay. So then how do you make it from New York to California? Well, in my youth, I had two passions. You know, some people don’t know what their passions are, but I had two passions growing up in my youth. The entertainment industry was a passion and politics was a passion. And so, in New York, at 17, I had to make a decision over a period of time, year two, which course to take. Was it going to be entertainment? Was it going to be politics? That was because that’s what I was passionate about. And somehow I decided that because of the grotesque opening act of my life, I needed a new canvas. I felt somehow I needed a new canvas. And so on September 16, 1977, I arrived in California in search of a new canvas. And of course, that didn’t hurt that it was the entertainment industry. very different place than today. That song California Dreamin’ by the Mamas and the Papas, the reason that it’s such a beautiful song but it was such a beautiful time to be here was paradise. Today I changed the title. I changed it from California Dreamin’ to California Screamin’. I’m not joking. So, anyway, I came out here for a new canvas. I needed a fresh start, or so I felt. Fuck do I know what I needed, but that’s what I felt. So I came out here, and then… Did you know anybody here? Have any connections? Sir, I did not. I couldn’t pronounce. What was the street called? La Senega. Rodeo. Oh. First apartment, $247. Right by the old Ambassador Hotel, which isn’t there anymore, also by the Brown Derby. Los Angeles is a very different place then, the world was a very different place then, but off I went. Did you have a job? No, no I didn’t. And who the fuck would hire me? Let’s be honest, not exactly a… But I did something in hindsight that I’ll tell you about that I think was useful. I really do. I really think this was useful. I came here and I made a decision, and I don’t know why I did it, but I did, to burn the boats. Now people are saying, what the fuck does that mean? Burn the boats? Burn the boats means within one week I had a Los Angeles library card. Within one month I had a California driver’s license. wasn’t here to test out whether this was right. I burned the boats. There was no going back, no alternative. JT, do you know what time it is? Um, 410. It’s it’s Tebow time in Tulsa, Roseland, baby. Tim Tebow is coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the two-day interactive Thrive Time Show Business Growth Workshop. Yes, folks, put it in your calendar this December, the month of Christmas, December 5th and 6th. Tim Tebow is coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive Business Growth Workshop. We’ve been doing business conferences here since 2005. I’ve been hosting business conferences since 2005. What year were you born uh… nineteen ninety five did i’ve been hosting business conferences and she were ten years old and a lot of people you know that they follow tim tebow’s football career on the field uh… and off the field off the field the guys been just as successful as he has been on the field of the question is jt how does he do it well they’re gonna have to come and find out, because I don’t know. Well, I’m just saying, Tim Tebow is going to teach us how he organizes his day, how he organizes his life, how he’s proactive with his faith, his family, his finances. He’s going to walk us through his mindset that he brings into the gym, into business. It is going to be a blasty blast in Tulsa, Russia. Folks, I’m telling you, if you want to learn branding, you want to learn marketing, you want to learn search engine optimization, you want to learn social media marketing, that’s what we teach at the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive workshop. If you want to learn accounting, you want to learn sales systems, you want to learn how to build a linear workflow, you want to learn how to franchise your business, that is what we teach at the two-day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshop. You know, over the years we’ve had the opportunity to feature Michael Levine, the PR consultant of choice for Nike, for Prince, for Michael Jackson. We’ve had the top PR consultant in the history of the planet has spoken at the Thrive Time Show workshops. We’ve had Jill Donovan, the founder of rusticcuff.com, a company that creates apparel worn by celebrities all throughout the world. Jill Donovan, the founder of rusticcuff.com, has spoken at the two-day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshops. We have the guy, we’ve had the man who’s responsible for turning around Harley Davidson, a man by the name of Ken Schmidt, he has spoken at the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive business workshops. Folks, I’m telling you, these events are going to teach you what you need to know to start and grow a successful business. And the way we price the events, the way we do these events, is you can pay $250 for a ticket or whatever price that you can afford. Yes, we’ve designed these events to be affordable for you, and we want to see you live and in person at the two-day interactive December 5th and 6th Thrive Time Show Business Workshop. Everything that you need to succeed will be taught at the two-day interactive Thrive Time Show Business Workshop December 5th and 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And the way we do these events is we teach for 30 minutes and then we open it up for a question-and-answer session so that wonderful people like you can have your questions answered. Yes, we teach for 30 minutes and then we open it up for a 15-minute question and answer session. It’s interactive. It’s two days. It’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We’ve been doing these events since 2005 and I’m telling you folks, it’s going to blow your mind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive business workshop is America’s highest rated and most reviewed business workshop. See the thousands of video testimonials from real people just like you who have been able to build multi-million dollar companies. Watch those testimonials today at Thrivetimeshow.com. Simply by clicking on the testimonials button right there at Thrivetimeshow.com, you’re going to see thousands of people just like you who have been able to go from just surviving to thriving. Each and every day we’re going to add more and more speakers to this all-star lineup, but I encourage everybody out there today, get those tickets today. Go to Thrivetimeshow.com. Again, that’s Thrivetimeshow.com. And some people might be saying, well, how do I do it? What do I do? How does it work? You just go to Thrivetimeshow.com. Let’s go there now. We’re feeling the flow. We’re going to Thrivetimeshow.com. Again, you just go to Thrivetimeshow.com. You click on the Business Conferences button, and you click on the Request Tickets button right there. The way I do our conferences is we tell people it’s $250 to get a ticket or whatever price that you can afford. And the reason why I do that is I grew up without money. JT, you’re in the process of building a super successful company. Did you start out with a million dollars in the bank account? No, I did not. Nope, did not get any loans, nothing like that. Did not get an inheritance from parents or anything like that. I had to work for it and I’m super grateful I came to a business conference. That’s actually how I met you, met Peter Taunton, I met all these people. So if you’re out there today and you want to come to our workshop, again, you just got to go to thrivetimeshow.com. You might say, well, who’s speaking? We already covered that. You might say, where is it going to be? It’s going to be in Tulsa, Russell Oklahoma. I suppose it’s Tulsa, Russell. I’m really trying to rebrand Tulsa as Tulsa, Russell, sort of like the Jerusalem of America. But if you type in Thrive Time Show and Jinx, you can get a sneak peek or a look at our office facility. This is what it looks like. This is where you’re headed. It’s going to be a blasty blast. You can look inside, see the facility. We’re going to have hundreds of entrepreneurs here. It is going to be packed. Now, for this particular event, folks, the seating is always limited because my facility isn’t a limitless convention center. You’re coming to my actual home office. And so it’s going to be packed. Who? You! You’re going to come! I’m talking to you. You can get your tickets right now at ThriveTimeShow.com and again, you can name your price. We tell people it’s $250 or whatever price you can afford and we do have some select VIP tickets which give you an access to meet some of the speakers and those sorts of things and those tickets are $500. It’s a two-day interactive business workshop, over 20 hours of business training. We’re going to give you a copy of my newest book, The Millionaire’s Guide to Becoming Sustainably Rich. You’re going to leave with a workbook. You’re going to leave with everything you need to know to start and grow a super successful company. It’s practical, it’s actionable, and it’s TiVo time right here in Tulsa, Russia. Get those tickets today at Thrivetimeshow.com. Again, that’s Thrivetimeshow.com. Hello, I’m Michael Levine, and I’m talking to you right now from the center of Hollywood, California where I have represented over the last 35 years 58 Academy Award winners 34 Grammy Award winners 43 New York Times bestsellers I’ve represented a lot of major stars And I’ve worked with a lot of major companies And I think I’ve learned a few things about what makes them work and what makes them not work now Why would a man living in Hollywood, California? and what makes them not work. Now, why would a man living in Hollywood, California in the beautiful, sunny weather of LA come to Tulsa? Because last year I did it and it was damn exciting. Clay Clark has put together an exceptional presentation. Really life-changing. And I’m looking forward to seeing you then. I’m Michael Levine, I’ll see you in Tulsa. need to do to optimize your website. We’re going to teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re going to teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a two-day, 15-hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems so now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve. You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I built these workshops is because as an entrepreneur, I always wish that I had this. And because there wasn’t anything like this, I would go to these motivational seminars, no money down, real estate, Ponzi scheme, get motivated seminars, and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter bunny, but inside of it, it was a hollow nothingness. And I wanted the knowledge and they’re like, oh, but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop. And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know. There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big get rich quick, walk on hot coals product. It’s literally we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business. I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying, but I want you to Google the Z66 auto auction. I want you to Google elephant in the room. Look at Robert Zellner and Associates. Look them up and say, are they successful because they’re geniuses or are they successful because they have a proven system. When you do that research, you will discover that the same systems that we use in our own business can be used in your business. Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever, and we’re going to give you your money back if you don’t love it. We’ve built this facility for you, and we’re excited to see you. And now you may be thinking, what does it actually cost to attend an in-person two-day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshop? Well, good news, the tickets are $250 or whatever price that you can afford. What? Yes, they’re $250 or whatever price you can afford. I grew up without money and I know what it’s like to live without money, so if you’re out there today and you want to attend our in-person two-day interactive business workshop, all you got to do is go to thrivetimeshow.com to request those tickets and if you can’t afford $250. We have scholarship pricing available to make it affordable for you. I learned at the Academy in Kings Point, New York, acta non verba. Watch what a person does, not what they say. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Harvey Kiyosaki, The Rich Dad Radio Show. Today I’m broadcasting from Phoenix, Arizona, not Scottsdale, Arizona. They’re close, but they’re completely different worlds. And we have a special guest today. Definition of intelligence is if you agree with me, you’re intelligent. And so this gentleman is very intelligent. I’ve done this show before also, but very seldom do you find somebody who lines up on all counts. And so Mr. Clay Clark is a friend of a good friend, Eric Trump, but we’re also talking about money, bricks, and how screwed up the world can get in a few and a half hour. So Clay Clark is a very intelligent man, and there’s so many ways we could take this thing. But I thought, since you and Eric are close, Trump, what were you saying about what Donald, who is my age, and I can say or cannot say. What Trump cannot say. Well, first of all, I have to honor you, sir. I want to show you what I did to one of your books here. There’s a guy named Jeremy Thorne, who was my boss at the time. I was 19 years old, working at Faith Highway. I had a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. And he said, have you read this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad? And I said, no. And my father, may he rest in peace, he didn’t know these financial principles. So I started reading all of your books and really devouring your books and I went from being an employee to self-employed to the business owner to the investor and I owe a lot of that to you and I just want to take a moment to tell you thank you so much for allowing me to achieve success. I’ll tell you all about Eric Trump. I just want to tell you thank you sir for changing my life. Not only that Clay, thank you, but you’ve become an influencer. You know, more than anything else, you’ve evolved into an influencer where your word has more and more power. So that’s why I congratulate you on becoming. Because as you know, there’s a lot of fake influencers out there too, or bad influencers. Yeah. So anyway, I’m glad you and I agree so much, and thanks for reading my books. Yeah. That’s the greatest thrill for me today. Not thrill, but recognition is when people, young men especially, come up and say, I read your book, changed my life, I’m doing this, I’m doing this, I’m doing this. I learned at the Academy, King’s Point in New York, acta non verba, watch what a person does, not what they say. not what they say. Whoa!