723 Give to Receive with Russell Simmons

“You have a right to your actions, but never to your actions’ fruits.” - Bhagavad Gita It’s a time of year where we focus on giving. We give gifts, we give back to our communities, and we give to charities. So what does it mean to give? And why is it important? Giving is not just a nice thing to do, it’s critical to your wellbeing. We are all connected- the more you give to others, the more you help yourself. For this Five Minute Friday, I revisited an amazing conversation I had with Russell Simons where he shared how the practice of giving has made him incredibly prosperous. Russell Simmons is an American entrepreneur, record producer, yogi, and author. He co-founded Def Jam Recordings and created the fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He is also the founder of Rush Communications. Russell is one of the richest men in Hip Hop, but he didn’t get there by hoarding all of his wealth. He’s learned that the more he makes the world better, the more his own world is improved. He makes the point that good givers are great getters, but you have to give fully without the expectation that it will benefit you. Learn more about Russell Simmons background and why his practice of philanthropy is key to his success in Episode 723. In This Episode You Will Learn: How black entrepreneurs are inspired by their street experiences (1:30) How integration destroyed the fabric of black communities (3:00) Why Russell loves to empower new artists (4:00) Why Russell chooses to give back (5:00) How giving will help you receive (5:30) Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is Five Minute Friday.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone to this podcast. Very excited about this one. It's with the American business magnet, Russell Simmons. He's the chairman and CEO of Rush Communications and co-founded the hip hop music label Def Jam and created the clothing fashion lines Fat Farm and Tantrix. Simmons most recently launched All Def Digital, an original content channel on YouTube with over a million subscribers. He's also been described as the third richest figure in hip hop.

• 0:44Speaker 01

  What did you learn from like that whole phase of selling drugs and how to translate it into?

• 0:49Speaker 02

  You never know. I understand your question, but you never know how bad your life is or what risk you're taking when you're surrounded by people who seem to be taking greater risks. Say, "I'm not killing anybody. They're killing people." I mean, you always feel safer than the neighbor, you know, who's doing something maybe a little bit more risky. But what I learned was, you know, you take something for a dollar, you sell it for two. Especially as I used to have pounds of weed, I sell, you know, you make, you make so many nickel bags out of a pound of weed, it's ridiculous. And you could make some money. And that was something that in the black community, at a low middle-class place like Hollis, Queens, like your only job was maybe if you can get out of school and be a teacher or something like that was that education. It was not a culture

• 1:32Speaker 02

  that promoted entrepreneurialism. So if you notice, some of the great entrepreneurs for the black community, especially ones at least my age, they were inspired by their street experiences. Because that's what they had to learn to fend for themselves and create one dollar that turned into two, as opposed to working for someone else. So that's the only cultural thing that really reminded you, like the guys who owned the stores, like Johnny was a number man and he owned the store, but he was his own man. And whoever owned the store, it seemed like they used to be drug dealers or something. But now they own the deli or now they own the, you know, so that's a

• 2:09Speaker 02

  Interesting experience.

• 2:10Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  A lot of what came out of our community, you know, where people moved in, integration destroyed the fabric of the community, economic fabric, because you don't have the black doctor, the black pharmacist, the black whatever, you just got now, well, not at that moment, but you have Rite Aid, for instance, you know, you have whatever it is that moved in, you know, so then. So that integration thing was always troublesome to a lot of people because it destroyed the fabric of the community, economic fabric, and took the money out the community.

• 2:39Speaker 01

  Right, okay.

• 2:40Speaker 02

  So, anyway, as an entrepreneur, I learned from having some experiences selling drugs.

• 2:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:45Speaker 02

  It's true. But music was a totally different thing. I was selling parties, I was promoting parties, where great artists performed, and, and we booked the ballroom for a thousand dollars and we, as a bond guarantee, we get the money back, because they drink a thousand dollars, then we keep the door. It was a very lucrative business for me as a, you know, a sophomore in City College. So it was a way to really fall in love with rap, but there were no rap records.

• 3:10Speaker 01

  Right.

• 3:11Speaker 02

  In 1979, I made a record, and that record was, uh, Christmas Rapping. And it became a big hit. It plays every Christmas. And since then, I've been on, you know, I've been really inspired to give artists opportunities. I mean, that's what I've done my whole life. Even now, here at All Deaf Digital, we have all these young writers, directors, producers, who I get to say, yes, go shoot it, every day, at least, you know, once a day. They say, go make it.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 3:37Speaker 02

  And I couldn't do that. I mean, that is a very, very great thing to let people express themselves and be part of that process.

• 3:45Speaker 01

  Now, I heard that, Derek told me that you're really passionate about a number of giving back causes, and you give back a lot. I'm curious, what are the top one or two things that you're most passionate about in giving back? And why do you choose to give back so much?

• 4:01Speaker 02

  Because he can't take this shit with you and as long as you can make it to the finish line and my kids are so rich anyway. I mean, you know, I mean, why would I not try to do good things for good people? I mean, I'm involved in four or five philanthropic social organizations and other political movements that help underserved communities because we are all connected ultimately. And what we do for other people is what we do for ourselves.

• 4:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:25Speaker 02

  So we should lift other people as part of our process. Uh, what we give to world, the world gives us. It's true. Good givers also are great getters. You know, Jesus taught two sermons, one to the masses. Give and you'll get. And then when you get, you can pay the Romans their taxes. People went out, masses, and they did that. They told his disciples, give without expectation. Be focused on the giving itself. And the more focused and present you are in your gift, then the more, the more effective you are in your giving. You're a great, great giver and they keep giving. And you're more like Lakshmi, the Indian goddess. So you just give and they, and everybody's got to pile shit up at your feet because they want you to keep giving.

• 5:04Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 5:05Speaker 02

  So that's what the good givers do. The great givers give without expectation.

• 5:08Speaker 01

  Right.

• 5:09Speaker 02

  So that's.

• 5:10Speaker 01

  Did you, were you always a big giver or is this like something that you learned over time or?

• 5:13Speaker 02

  Over the last 20 years or so, it's been more prevalent in my life. But I, you know, if you want money, you gotta give money. You gotta make money for somebody else to get money.

• 5:21Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:22Speaker 02

  You know, and to really be a money maker, you gotta make money for someone to really be a good or do something, you know, of equal. To make real happiness, you have to promote happiness for someone else.

• 5:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:34Speaker 02

  Anything you want, you have to give.

• 5:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:36Speaker 02

  You have to give what you want to receive. So, you know, I, I learned that. I believe in that. I believe in the cycle of giving and getting.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:44Speaker 02

  That is continuous and that you should participate in it without fear.

• 5:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:50Speaker 02

  And that, that if you do that, then you will be a, a much more prosperous person even.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:56Speaker 02

  In terms of junk in the world and stuff and return on your investments. But you will be more prosperous if you are focused entirely on the gift and the honest service. Because if the man in front of you don't pay, the man next to him will. So you guys gotta do it. Just do your job and forget Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, you have control over the work alone, but never its fruit. And he says, "Go out and give."