mamba mentality

Underdogs Rise Up: How Viola Davis and Frances Tiafoe Turned Their Backstory to Breakout Glory

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The wall-to-wall coverage across broadcast and cable is over! The world was watching the pomp and circumstance around Queen Elizabeth’s homegoing events. With every angle covered in location and legacy, some folks aren’t sure if the whole Monarchy thing will survive without having to scale back.

While her son Charles has assumed the throne as King, there’s still a coronation ceremony in the works in the coming months. Imagine how some Brits feel about him taking over? Even a few Commonwealth countries are thinking about their next steps. That story is still unfolding and extends for 1000 or so years.

How ‘bout the other unofficial ‘Kings’ that fans these days are giving props to? There’s Viola Davis in her new movie role as ‘The Woman King.’ And there’s Frances Tiafoe who some think could be the next king of tennis (so to speak). Think of them not simply as ’rags to riches’ but more like ‘underdogs rise up’.

Next ‘King of Tennis’

Davis spreads her wings from TV screen to big screen as both star and producer. She plays a warrior in an all-female African army from the 1800’s. Tiafoe is the first Black American to advance to the U.S. Open semis since 1972 and Arthur Ashe. He’s stepped-up his game from junior tennis to being ranked top-25.

Their journeys played out differently but with a similar thrust. For Davis, it was looking around and being on the socio economic low-end. She still found a way out and way up to her breakthrough. For Tiafoe, he grew-up seeing wealth, it just wasn’t his own. They’ve turned their backstory to breakout glory with a:

  • Dream:- At 12, he got bit by the tennis bug from hanging around the Sports Center where his dad worked as a custodian. Dreams can happen by association, aha moment or even trial & error.    
  • Goal:- To build-on his desire and skills, a coach took him under his wings. Then one tournament after another he started to achieve his goal of eventually winning big on the youth circuit.   
  • Lane:- Davis decided to pursue this movie project as she considered new acting roles. Sometimes in careers it means re-inventing yourself in a new lane or a new line of success.    
  • Brand:- She’s expanded her cred not just as actress but as producer and can begin to carve her niche as a brand. Your brand is how you want others to see you, based on how you do you.      
Viola Davis

Davis shares how persistence and perseverance was needed to make the movie. Sometimes when a thing has never been done before, it can be a tough sell. But along the way it took moments of faith to the guide the hands of fate. That also came from personal experience in how she met her husband.

Tiafoe might not say he’s on the fast-track to #1. But he’s certainly seen as the latest American male tennis player who’s got next, once the big names like Federer, Nadal and others move on. They’re inspiring young and older to live out their dreams, even when times are hard or a job isn’t as it seems.

Talkback: Kobe gave us the mamba mentality. What’s the motivation mindset that works for you?

Tip: Underdogs rise up by turning dreams into brands and backstory into breakout glory.

Tracks: Alicia Keys – Underdogs – https://youtu.be/izyZLKIWGiA

Jennifer Hudson – Hallelujah – https://youtu.be/LgMCm5NWtII

Daymond John and Sophia Popov Show How to Get Dreams Moving from the Background to the Headlines

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This week was Mamba Day at the NBA! The league remembered Kobe Bryant on 8-24 to honor his game and the numbers he wore. There was a kind of mamba spirit at work as LA sports teams had lots of success in their games. Both the Dodgers and Lakers won big with players showing love to their icon.

For different reasons, folks gave props to Daymond John and Sophia Popov. Both made news recently for their ‘hustle and flow’ credentials. For John, it was a program feature to honor Dr King’s famous words, “I Have a Dream.” John is known as a ‘Shark Tank’ personality but his biz skill came from the streets.

Popov made history winning the Women’s Golf British Open. Her rank in the world was somewhere in the 300th range. It’s only happened once before where someone with such a junior rank wins a golf major. She placed 10th in the qualifying tournament, providing her a chance to play among the game’s stars.

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The backstory told by John is he learned from watching his parents about what it takes to ‘rise & grind.’ They’d work their regular jobs and then after that did stuff with their side hustle. For Popov, it’s been about believing in herself and her game and knowing that she could perform among the best of them.

Their success is an example of what can happen when you give your dreams a ‘shot of r-u-m’ by putting it in ‘roll-up mode’. It’s not what you have in a beverage sense but in the way you mix skill, talent, passion & mojo. That means we get our dreams moving from the background to the headlines by how we:

  1. Work it

John realized he wanted to be a ‘bid-ness man’ after selling baseball caps on the street corner. He had borrowed money from a relative to make a few caps for himself. People started to like them, so he made some extra ones. He hung-out on the corner and made $800 selling them. That was his ‘work it’ moment.

  1. Play it

Popov went from relative unknown to becoming a golf champion. Some might say timing was everything because Covid-19 prevented few of the ‘regulars’ from playing in the tournament. But she showed how you ‘play it’ is just as important. This comes by maintaining poise and not being distracted by life’s noise.

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  1. Build it

John then started with the brand FUBU and was able to ‘build it’ from the ground up with help from friends & fam. When you build it, things might start out as a ‘proof of concept’ and end up being your ticket to the big time. So that means staying on message or on track to build momentum for a breakthrough.

  1. Change it

At times we might have to tweak things in our game to get better results. Plus, when things get stale or feel stuck, we might have to ‘change it.’ John sees that happening now with the public unrest. He’s frustrated that we’re still ‘stuck on stale’ when it comes to dealing with social justice issues.

It’s still hard to fathom that Kobe was ‘here today, gone tomorrow.’ As players send love to his family, we can live our best life in honor of his story. Some go the entrepreneur route by how they ‘build it’ while others worry during Covid-19 if they’re gonna ‘play it.’ But no matter what, let’s ‘change it’ or ‘just work it.’

Tip: You get dreams moving from the background to the headlines by how you work it, play it, build it and change it!

Talkback: Will this win for Popov be a career one-off or a dream jump-off?

Tracks: Pharrell Williams ft Jay-Z – Entrepreneur – https://youtu.be/bTOoY5MIkvM

Missy Elliott – Work It – https://youtu.be/cjIvu7e6Wq8

Kobe Bryant Brought ‘Mamba Flava,’ Kerry Washington brings Acting Chops with Their Talent on the Big Stage

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That never-ending question of who’s the greatest ever NBA player has surfaced again. This time it’s because of a TV commercial featuring Michael Jordan. In it he sets the stage for an NFL matchup between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Of course folks thought Jordan was hinting at something else.

Often the question of the greatest ever basketball player brings up the name of Lebron James. But there’re times another name gets thrown in, that of Kobe Bryant. He went on to be known as one who brought the ‘Mamba Mentality.’ He says it’s a matter of ‘building your process and working your craft.’

Bryant has moved on from the player-roster but his name is still relevant. So is Kerry Washington who’s moved on from ‘Scandal’ on network TV to a new production on Broadway. Bryant brought his mamba flava while Washington brings her own acting chops in how talent rises on the big stage.

Sometimes people debate who is the greatest. Other times they debate a trend that’s the latest. What these two celebs know and show is how talent is to your it-factor as ‘hustle love’ is to your hit-factor. Bryant explains this by sharing that he worked at the small things so he could perform the big plays.

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When you peal back the player in Bryant and the layer in Washington you get to some core aspects of their success and greatness. Some of what they do can apply to the work court and career-you. Whether it’s to start-over on the daily grind or start-up a new journey in the real world they push their talent for:

  1. A goal

Washington who grew up in the Bronx has returned to New York to perform on stage. It’s something she’s familiar with as a child. She says she was a busy-body teenager when she caught the acting bug because her mom put her in extra-curricular activities. Her goal is to improve her ‘live performance’ roles.

  1. The game

Bryant says he worked at his skill and at his game. There’s the skill in how he shot the ball or how he made a pass. But there’s also the game in how he made talent become more than his it-factor. He would try to understand all aspects of the game (the detail) to deliver his hit-factor.

  1. Some guts

There’re times you see an athlete make a play that commentators say was a gutsy move. That simply means not everyone with talent might have been able to pull that off. Bryant and Washington from their career might say ‘gutsy’ happens when we commit to growing in the game personally and professionally.

  1. Pure glory

The ones who experience a measure of greatness are those who are remembered not just for their play but for their story. Washington has made her commitment to social justice a part of her story. Bryant is turning his champion experience into life-notes for trailblazers. Oftentimes the story is the road to glory.

Washington hopes to pass-on her childhood experiences while working in NY. She’s taking museum trips and other adventures with her kids. Bryant hopes to inspire the next class of great players. They know that regular folks and those with startup dreams reach the mountaintop by turning it-factor into hit-factor.

Tip: The road to glory might start-off with talent as your it-factor. But it moves from the valley to the mountaintop because of your hit-factor.

Talkback: Was that Michael Jordan commercial a tease or a throwback?

Tracks: Sia – The Greatest – https://youtu.be/GKSRyLdjsPA

Juice Wrld – Lucid Dreams – https://youtu.be/mzB1VGEGcSU