240 Todrick Hall: From Broadway to MTV, Making Your Dreams a Reality

"Don't wait for opportunity to come knock at your door." - Todrick Hall If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/240 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This is episode number 240 with Todrick Hall.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:32Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone to the podcast. Very excited about our guest. His name is Todrick Hall and he's kind of incredible. Now Todrick Hall, this guy is a phenom. If you guys don't know who he is, he became well-known when he auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol, where he made it to the semifinals. Since then, he's been performing on Broadway. He's a superstar. He's got a huge YouTube channel with some incredibly talented videos that he's produced. He's also featured in Forbes Top 30 Under 30 in the Hollywood category in 2014. And we are like long-lost brothers. You're going to see some incredible connection between us over the next 30, 45 minutes.

• 1:15Lewis Howes?

  So be sure to enjoy those connection points that you find between us. The five big things you're going to get from this episode, the biggest lessons he learned from American Idol versus what he learned from Broadway, performing on Broadway, and how he's applied that to his career now. Also, his process before a big moment on a performance. So how he prepares to go onstage, to perform in front of thousands of people and what he does to get ready. He's going to share that secret. Why his first Broadway audition was a hugely spiritual experience and what you can take away from that. The psychological effects of being on a reality TV competition show and what he learned from that.

• 1:58Lewis Howes?

  Also, how Todrick caught Scooter Braun's attention and got signed by him. You know, we've had Scooter Braun on here and he's done incredible things for all of his artists and I can only imagine what's going to happen for Todrick as well. Very excited for you guys to connect with Todrick and also you're going to hear him perform a song. So get ready for some magic to go down with my long-lost brother, the one and only Todrick Hall.

• 2:30Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. Very excited about our guest. His name is Todrick Hall. How's it going, man?

• 2:36Speaker 00

  It is going absolutely amazing. I'm so excited to be here, yeah.

• 2:39Lewis Howes?

  You're the guy who, I started following you on Instagram and it just looks like you're living the dream right now.

• 2:44Speaker 00

  I don't know.

• 2:45Lewis Howes?

  Hanging out with Taylor Swift. You got a TV show. You're, you know, blowing up on YouTube and Instagram and Vine and everywhere. And you came from a small town in Texas, right?

• 2:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, Plainview, Texas. It's in the panhandle between Lubbock and Amarillo.

• 2:59Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 3:00Speaker 00

  And it's exactly that, a plain view. There's nothing going on. It's boring. But I think that because I grew up there, I think that is what I have to attribute to being creative because there was nothing better to do. We didn't even have a mall. There was like nothing going on there. If you weren't at McDonald's or Walmart or Burger King, that you literally had to sit at home and find stuff to do. And I started putting on shows and puppet shows and...

• 3:24Lewis Howes?

  Puppet shows?

• 3:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, any kind of show I could figure out how to put on. It didn't matter if there was a real audience or not. I just would love to perform from before I even knew what performing was or Broadway or anything like that.

• 3:35Lewis Howes?

  And what was the dream growing up then? Did you have a dream to go to Broadway or to have...

• 3:39Speaker 00

  Well, I had a lot of dreams, but I didn't really know what Broadway was. Like, I used to watch the Disney Christmas Parade every year and I was like, oh my God, if I could just be Pluto, my life would be complete.

• 3:49Lewis Howes?

  In the parade?

• 3:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, I know. That was like what I wanted to do. That was like a dream. If I could make it that far in life, then that was like, I had made it. Like, I don't need to be Oprah or anything. I can just be Pluto. No one ever know who I was and be happy.

• 4:02Lewis Howes?

  And did you ever get to fulfill that dream?

• 4:04Speaker 00

  Well, I didn't want to go to college and my mom was like, made a deal with me. And if I got, I went to audition as a senior for Disney World. And if I got the job at Disney World, then I didn't have to go to college. I did get the job, but I got a job that was better in finances, like than doing a costume character.

• 4:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 4:24Speaker 00

  Yeah, but it was just... I was a performer at Beauty of the Beast and I didn't know what unions were, but it was an equity role and so I got paid more money, but I was like, I just wanna be Pluto. Like, that's all I wanna do. I wanted to like demote myself so I could be Pluto, but that never actually happened, so maybe someday.

• 4:39Lewis Howes?

  You always wanted to perform, though?

• 4:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, always.

• 4:41Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 4:42Speaker 00

  Always.

• 4:42Lewis Howes?

  So, when did you realize that like, oh, I actually have some talent, besides just your family being like, oh, he's a superstar? I'm sure your parents were like,

• 4:51Speaker 00

  Actually, my family was not like that. They didn't, no one in my family, everybody in my family played sports all the time. My dad was, um, oh my god, I'm the worst. He played for the forty-niner, for Terrell Owens.

• 5:03Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 5:03Speaker 00

  Is that?

• 5:04Lewis Howes?

  Terrell Owens?

• 5:04Speaker 00

  Yeah. My dad cut his hair for like years and he cut Jerry Rice's hair and I got to meet all these people and I didn't care at all. All I wanted to do was like, watch Cinderella and stuff. But everybody in my family were, were like all football, basketball players. And, um, I remember that Sister Act Two came out and that was like a turning point in my life.

• 5:25Lewis Howes?

  Great movie.

• 5:25Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:26Lewis Howes?

  Well, Sister Act One was amazing. Lauryn Hill was in that, right?

• 5:28Speaker 00

  Sister Act, well, she was in Two.

• 5:29Lewis Howes?

  She was amazing. I remember hearing, I was like, this woman is unbelievable.

• 5:33Speaker 00

  That moment where she was sitting at the piano, singing His Eyes on a Sparrow changed my life. And that's kinda how, the first time I can ever remember singing is I learned how to sing with her in that movie. And my mom was watching by, watching me watch Sister Act Two and she like, it was like a movie, she walked by and then she popped her head back out and was like, is that my baby? And so then, from then on, my mom started making me sing at church every week.

• 5:56Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 5:57Speaker 00

  And I started realizing I could sing. And then, when I was in elementary school, I was tested for the gifted and talented program and we did a show. Um, it was when Leap of Faith, the movie came out. Do you remember that movie?

• 6:07Lewis Howes?

  Don't remember that. What is, who's, who's?

• 6:08Speaker 00

  Um, I don't even, um, Steve Martin was the lead in it.

• 6:12Lewis Howes?

  Leap of Faith.

• 6:13Speaker 00

  Anyway, they'd never filmed the movie in Plainview, Texas, but my dad was playing basketball on a basketball court and they asked him to be a part of that movie. He had like a line in it.

• 6:21Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:22Speaker 00

  Yeah. And so, we made a, a skit of that called Hop of Hope and we had like bunny ballerinas and this lady came in and taught us how to dance and, and then basically I started realizing that I could dance. And then I wanted to learn how to tumble and do backflips. Basically, I was just getting gayer and gayer by today is what I'm trying to get at.

• 6:39Lewis Howes?

  Hey, listen, I am a closet, like if there was one show, you ask me, what's your favorite show on TV? It's Glee.

• 6:47Speaker 00

  Are you serious?

• 6:48Lewis Howes?

  I am like in love with Glee. I wish I could be on that. I wish I could sing and dance like.

• 6:52Speaker 00

  Listen, I don't think you need to be able to sing or dance. If Brian Murphy takes one look at your face, it's done. Cause you're it. I just want you to know that.

• 6:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I'll be the guy that doesn't sing, whatever that character is, but I love that show and I love Nashville. I love singing shows for some reason.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  Both are great shows. We're gonna be best friends. I feel it. We're gonna have our own little show.

• 7:10Lewis Howes?

  I have a family of musicians, musicians. My brother's the number one jazz violinist in the world.

• 7:15Speaker 00

  Oh, wow.

• 7:15Lewis Howes?

  And my sister's a singer songwriter. My parents were opera majors, but I grew up playing sports.

• 7:21Speaker 00

  So we live opposite lives.

• 7:22Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. I wish I was like, I taught myself guitar when I was 19 because I felt so ignorant in my family. When they're all playing instruments and singing, I was like, I need to learn something. So it's fun, but I appreciate singers and dancers and actors. Because it's not something I can do as well. And I'm like, God, it'd be amazing to be a rock star, right?

• 7:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, well, I think it's still in the future for you if you want to pick back that guitar back up. I think you can do it.

• 7:46Lewis Howes?

  There you go. So, so when did you start? So how old were you when you did this movie?

• 7:51Speaker 00

  Which, which movie?

• 7:52Lewis Howes?

  The movie where you had like the choreography or you.

• 7:54Speaker 00

  Oh, there was a play. My dad was in the movie Leap of Faith. And I was in a play in elementary school. It was really fun. I was like eight or nine years old and then they took us to go see the Nutcracker Ballet. And all the other kids were falling asleep. I loved it.

• 8:09Lewis Howes?

  That's great. I watch it every Christmas, man.

• 8:11Speaker 00

  Yeah, you do?

• 8:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 8:12Speaker 00

  This year, that's what we're gonna do to, to seal our best friend-ness. We're gonna go see the Nutcracker.

• 8:18Lewis Howes?

  Let's do it.

• 8:18Speaker 00

  Okay, a pinky swear.

• 8:19Lewis Howes?

  Pinky swear.

• 8:20Speaker 00

  This is happening right now. A pinky swear over the table, everybody. So if it doesn't happen, if you don't see on Instagram a picture of he and I.

• 8:25Lewis Howes?

  It's Todd's fault.

• 8:28Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so when did you get the itch that you were like, you know what? I'm probably not gonna be able to stay in Texas to live my dreams. It's Texas, you're in Plano, Texas, right?

• 8:38Speaker 00

  Well, after high school, I went and moved to Disney World. And we grew up very poor, so like all my friends were like, oh my God. Me and my family went to Disney World again and Universal Studios.

• 8:47Lewis Howes?

  Every year in your life?

• 8:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I would be like, oh, that must be so awesome. It was just not even a fathomable thought for our family that we would be. No one that I really personally knew that well had ever been to Disney World or Disneyland or New York City or Los Angeles. And so it was just like wishful thinking that one day I'd be able to go to these places. And so the first time I ever got to go to Disney World was when I got hired there. And so it was like a really magical experience for me because I had grown up being such a fan. And watching, I lived on the Disney Channel. I watched That's So Raven every day. I was the most devoted fan there was. And I don't know, it was just a dream come true to get to go there and get to see everything and work behind the scenes and see how well they run their business and stuff.

• 9:27Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 9:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I was a spoon.

• 9:30Lewis Howes?

  You were a spoon in what?

• 9:31Speaker 00

  In Beauty and the Beast. And I was killing it every day.

• 9:33Lewis Howes?

  Crushing it.

• 9:34Speaker 00

  I was the best black spoon you ever saw in your life.

• 9:37Lewis Howes?

  Dance moves like a machine, right?

• 9:39Speaker 00

  On every day, except for when I was late, like today.

• 9:42Lewis Howes?

  That's all good. So, so what did that create for you? What opened up for you when you realized like this, this other type of performance with these people will really appreciate it?

• 9:53Speaker 00

  Well, I was kind of in culture shock because I saw all these people around me who were talking about being on Broadway and performing on cruise ships and doing national tours and like all this stuff that I had never heard of. I never knew anybody who made a living out of being a performer.

• 10:06Lewis Howes?

  It was a whole new world.

• 10:07Speaker 00

  Exactly, I see what you did there.

• 10:09Lewis Howes?

  You liked that?

• 10:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, it was very sexy.

• 10:13Speaker 00

  And so, yeah, so it changed my life. I was just like, okay, now I want to do this. And I started realizing all of the things that I, that I could do as a career other than be Pluto, which was at the top of my bucket list. But I said, if I can't be Pluto. Why not go perform on a cruise ship? So I went and performed on a cruise ship.

• 10:29Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 10:30Speaker 00

  And I was also obsessed with Oprah my whole life.

• 10:33Lewis Howes?

  She's amazing.

• 10:33Speaker 00

  My mom, yeah, she just basically is Jesus's best friend because she's the nicest person in the world. And she created The Color Purple on Broadway. And while I was doing a cruise, um, I was watching the videos my mom would record Oprah and mail them to me on the ship. On a VHS, I was watching Oprah one day and Fantasia came on and I was also a huge fan of American Idol by this point. And I voted for Fantasia religiously every single week that she was on the show. And I found out that there was an audition the next week for The Color Purple on Broadway. And I'd always wanted to be on Broadway, but I'd never been to New York to be able to audition or anything. And so I had danced my whole life and sang in church the whole time. I was a cheerleader in high school. I mean, the list just goes on and on, I'm telling you.

• 11:15Lewis Howes?

  You do acro yoga too?

• 11:17Speaker 00

  No, I don't do yoga.

• 11:18Lewis Howes?

  A little hand to hand, actually?

• 11:19Speaker 00

  No, I, I, that's a little too white for me, I think. I don't, I don't go to yoga.

• 11:24Lewis Howes?

  So I was gonna say, if you can do a handstand, I could throw you up in the air.

• 11:28Speaker 00

  The, the, the list of the reasons why we

• 11:31Lewis Howes?

  Should be friends.

• 11:32Speaker 00

  Probably were separated at birth. I was probably in your family and you were probably in mine. Something happened, a little switcheroo, but I'm so glad we found each other again.

• 11:40Lewis Howes?

  So you were a cheerleader?

• 11:42Speaker 00

  A cheerleader. Basically, anything that you can think of that was gay was signs of baton, baton twirler. I did it growing up. My mom had no idea that I was gay, I don't know what she was thinking. But I eventually came out of the closet her and she was in shock, surprisingly.

• 11:55Lewis Howes?

  So with this audition, what happened? Did you take the audition?

• 11:58Speaker 00

  I went, okay, yeah, I went, I went to the audition. I quit the cruise ship, flew to New York, went to the audition. And it was crazy because my mom, we didn't have money. Like I said, I called my dad and I really wanted to go to this audition. My dad was like not about to pay for it. We had a horrible relationship and he was like, I'm not supporting this. And so my mom, somehow, I still, to this day, don't know how she found the money to do this. But she and my dad got into a huge fight and she came into the room. It was like an Angela Bassett moment. She was like snot running down her nose and crying and she was like, pack your bags, baby. You're going to that audition.

• 12:31Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing.

• 12:32Speaker 00

  Yeah, it was like a movie.

• 12:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, mom.

• 12:34Speaker 00

  And I was like, okay, and so I packed my bags. And the next day, I flew to New York with just a friend. I didn't know anybody. How old were you? I was twenty years old. Wow. And I went to the audition and I made it to the callback and I'd never seen the show. I just knew that I, they were looking for somebody that was my type. And so I went to the show that night after I got the callback. And it was honestly like a very spiritual moment for me because my whole life growing up, I obviously was African American in my whole family and my church and stuff. But the school that I went to was predominantly a white school and I grew up doing theater and stuff and cheerleading and all my friends were all Caucasian.

• 13:10Speaker 00

  And so I felt like growing up, I didn't really have like a very good like role model of somebody that I felt looked like me or somebody that I was like, oh, that's what I could be when I grew up. I didn't identify with like a Chris Brown or Usher or like even though I loved those people that I was like, something's off and I don't identify with that. And so it was the craziest thing because the show was amazing, but for me, it was like a spiritual thing that I connected immediately with it. And I was like, it's the first time I can remember being so proud to be African American. Wow. Because the people up there were representing us in such a positive light, amazing dancers. It was an all African American cast. I'd never seen that before. And the way they were singing and it just had, it wasn't just like a tap dancing like musical like what I had known.

• 13:54Speaker 00

  It was like a soul changing, like you went, felt like you went to church and got the Holy Ghost type mo- moment. Wow. And so at that moment, I was like, I have to be in this. The next day I went to my callback and I was like, I have to be off book. I knew every line. I didn't take my script in. I knew my songs. I, I just realized how big of a moment this was and how I shouldn't take it for granted. And so um, I went in and auditioned and that night I went to go see another show, Legally Blonde. And while I was there, I found out that I, they called me and said, we'd like to invite you to be a part of Col- Col- Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple on Broadway. And I freaked out and it was just the best thing that's ever happened to me because it changed my life. I got to meet Oprah and work with Fantasia every single night.

• 14:35Speaker 00

  And meet tons of celebrities and people I had looked up to and admired my entire life. And I would have never dreamt in a million years, I'd get to meet those people in person because I grew up in Plainview, Texas where you could only see people like that on TV and they don't, they don't come and tour near you or anything. So it was just an amazing, amazing experience. Unbelievable. It, I still every day like cherish that moment and I'm so proud that that was my first Broadway experience. How long were you on the play for? I did it every eight shows a week for a year. And um, and then-

• 15:05Lewis Howes?

  And what was your, were you the lead or were you like a-

• 15:06Speaker 00

  No, I was just in the ensemble and I understudied one of the leads and I had like a small featured role. His name was Bobby, I was a plumber.

• 15:13Lewis Howes?

  Nice.

• 15:13Speaker 00

  And um, but um, but from being on that show, I got to see how being on American Idol had changed Fantasia's life. And so I decided to go- Yeah, she was the lead. And so I decided to go audition for American Idol.

• 15:26Lewis Howes?

  And when was this, what year?

• 15:27Speaker 00

  This was two thousand nine.

• 15:30Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 15:31Speaker 00

  By the time, well after, it was a couple of years later. So I did Broadway in two thousand six, two thousand seven and then I went and did other shows. And then in two thousand nine, I decided to audition for American Idol.

• 15:40Lewis Howes?

  And you were twenty-five then, or how old were you?

• 15:42Speaker 00

  I was twenty-three, almost twenty-four.

• 15:44Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. And you made it to the semifinals, right?

• 15:47Speaker 00

  Yeah, I was in the top thirteen and it was just a crazy eye-opening experience because I had never been on television before. And I was just like thrust and it's like, when you're on American Idol, one day you're just Joe Schmo and the next day it happens overnight. Yeah, because so many people at that point, it was, I mean thirty million people were still tuning in every single day.

• 16:07Lewis Howes?

  It was a lot bigger then than it is now.

• 16:08Speaker 00

  Yeah, and especially where I'm from, in Texas, American Idol is huge. I mean Kelly Clarkson came from Texas. She was in our hometown. I used to work with her at Six Flags, funny story. Um, and so people really supported the show in that area and-

• 16:21Lewis Howes?

  Everyone voted for you, everyone rallied?

• 16:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, and well, that year, there was four people in the semifinals from Texas and three of them were from Dallas. And it had never happened that way, so our votes were super split.

• 16:32Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 16:33Speaker 00

  But it was a really good experience. I had never been known as a singer before then. I was a mo- mostly a dancer. Um, and so it was like my first real singing experience and it was on national television. So I was very nervous every night, but um, it, I learned so much and I, and I learned so quickly.

• 16:50Lewis Howes?

  What was the biggest lessons you learned that were different from, from the Broadway performances? Because that's every day in front of a new audience, you know.

• 16:58Speaker 00

  I just learned that being on television, people are getting to know you and you're not a character. I mean, within a reality TV show, you're, they're getting to know what they think you are. And so people, unlike on Broadway where people are patrons of the arts, they're coming out and they're supporting and they want to see you do well. People, when you're on American Idol, a lot of people do love you and most, most of the people that reach out to you like you, but it was my first time to get like bullied or have people say horrible things about me or not like what I wore or not like how I sang and stuff. So that was kind of hard because I wasn't used to that and on Broadway, no one knows who you are.

• 17:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 17:34Speaker 00

  And so it was really difficult because so you're in the limelight and there was a lot of like controversy and stuff going on and, and just things that, that people would make assumptions about things about your life.

• 17:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 17:45Speaker 00

  And also at that point, I wasn't really, I had told my mom that I was gay, but I had, I had never like come, I didn't come out to people like on television.

• 17:53Lewis Howes?

  But you did on the show for the first time for everyone.

• 17:55Speaker 00

  No, no, no, I didn't. I was, I was very like trying to pretend that.

• 17:59Lewis Howes?

  Like you're me.

• 18:00Speaker 00

  I was channeling you. Yeah. Yeah.

• 18:02Lewis Howes?

  Like your brother.

• 18:02Speaker 00

  And it was hard. I was trying to talk deeper. I was trying to not wave like a princess and stuff and it was just really hard and, and, and every day the producers of American Idol would say, make sure you appeal to middle America. And I'd be like, what the hell does this mean?

• 18:16Lewis Howes?

  You had to be, you almost had to tell a lie.

• 18:18Speaker 00

  Yeah. And I feel like a lot of people have felt that way. If you remember Adam Lambert didn't say he was gay until after he got off the show.

• 18:24Lewis Howes?

  And he didn't dress differently. He kind of dressed like clean cut, right?

• 18:26Speaker 00

  He was like a rocker still, but it was very, he didn't put those rhinestones on his eye until the finale when all the voting was already done.

• 18:32Lewis Howes?

  It's interesting. I wonder, um, do you think anything would have been different if you would have been your fully expressed self and you just said, screw you guys, I'm going to wear what I want. I'm going to dress and perform and talk like I want. Do you think things would have been differently?

• 18:43Speaker 00

  I don't think that the outcome would have been differently, uh, would have been different, honestly, because I wasn't used to, the people that are on American Idol, even if they're just singing at their local bars or local churches, they know the songs that sound good on their voice. And I feel like I made it that far by a fluke. I wrote a song, an audition song that was like funny. And so they kept me going and I always was like, I'm going to go home. So I wasn't trying to pick the songs that I thought would sound great on my voice. And I always wanted to like mash up things and do things differently, which now people appreciate online. But also I just think, I mean, five years ago. Even though it was only five years, the world has come so far.

• 19:21Lewis Howes?

  So different. No Instagram, there's no YouTube, there's none of this stuff online as well, really.

• 19:25Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:26Lewis Howes?

  That was that big, but people are being more accepted in what you're saying.

• 19:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, it was, yeah, everything is just different. The social media is definitely different, but also I think someone being openly gay on American Idol five years ago would play out a lot differently now.

• 19:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:38Speaker 00

  And so, all I really learned from that experience is that I feel like I got voted off as someone else. Like, I wasn't being myself, and I always vowed to myself, if I ever get an opportunity to be on television again, I'm gonna use my voice to, to represent people that are all over the world that are like me, that don't have people that are influences in their life, that they can look up and say, I identify with this person. And that's why I think shows like Glee are so amazing, because it's giving people that had never seen someone that they felt parallel to in their life. It, it gives them a voice and it gives them somebody, somebody to look up to that they think is cool.

• 20:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:15Speaker 00

  As opposed to being like, well, if I'm not a jock or a cheerleader or a football player, then where do I fit in? Cause before, those characters weren't praised or appreciated.

• 20:23Lewis Howes?

  On TV, yeah.

• 20:24Speaker 00

  They were there, but they were like geeks and on the side and that, not a person that you would wanna be.

• 20:29Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:29Speaker 00

  And I think Ryan Murphy has done a really good job at like championing those people and making them seem cool. And giving them a voice and making them talented, and making even people who are like super straight athletes, like watching the show.

• 20:41Lewis Howes?

  Full of it, yeah.

• 20:42Speaker 00

  Yeah, and everybody can appreciate it, and I think it's not such a foreign concept now. Like, people, you have Ellen, you have Rosie O'Donnell, but you also have like Sam Smith, who just came out.

• 20:51Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 20:52Speaker 00

  And no one even really talks about the fact that he's gay. He's just an amazing artist, and I think that's what it should be about. If the music is great, then the person should be able to be on the radio and play right and sandwiched in between two straight guys. No pun intended.

• 21:04Lewis Howes?

  I like it. What, did you ever audition for Glee?

• 21:08Speaker 00

  I did audition for Glee. I put out an audition video for Glee. I never got to go in and actually audition, but they had a MySpace audition, that's how long ago this was. MySpace was still killing it.

• 21:17Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's a long time ago.

• 21:19Speaker 00

  Yeah. And so I put up the audition, you should check it out. It's called I Wanna Be on Glee, and it's on YouTube. It's a pretty good audition.

• 21:25Lewis Howes?

  Why didn't they bring you in?

• 21:26Speaker 00

  They were hatin', man.

• 21:27Lewis Howes?

  What about the years following, you know? It's like they brought on new characters constantly, why didn't they?

• 21:32Speaker 00

  Honestly, don't.

• 21:32Lewis Howes?

  Were you off the bigger things, you were like, eh?

• 21:34Speaker 00

  No, I went back to Broadway after I got off of American Idol, so I wasn't living in LA really to be able to audition for it. But, um, I don't know, I just think it wasn't the right fit at the right time, and I was really bummed out about it in the moment. But now, if I had been on Glee, I wouldn't be able to have my own show on MTV, so everything happens for a reason and...

• 21:51Lewis Howes?

  Because those guys can't really do their own thing right now, they're kind of locked in, right?

• 21:55Speaker 00

  Well, they can do their own thing, but my show right now is about an upcoming artist making a name for himself online and how important it is to be an online presence these days. And if you are a star of Glee, that doesn't necessarily make you an online presence.

• 22:08Lewis Howes?

  You're not a, yeah, yeah.

• 22:09Speaker 00

  You could also be, but you're a celebrity who just happens to have a YouTube channel.

• 22:14Lewis Howes?

  You're already a celebrity, yeah. So how did you, um, get the show and how did you get on Scooter Ron's radar?

• 22:20Speaker 00

  Well, I made a video called, well, I, okay, so after I went, got off of American Idol, I made a video of me singing My Order to drive through at McDonald's, and that video went super viral and I started realizing I was getting more recognized from being the McDonald's guy, quote unquote.

• 22:33Lewis Howes?

  And the target guy.

• 22:34Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly, from those things than being on American Idol, and so I started saying, "There's something about this YouTube thing, I could probably make a name for myself here." And that way, I don't have to answer to anybody, I don't have to be judged by Simon Cowell. I don't have to have people or producers like projecting me in a light that I don't feel like is really representing who I truly am. I can put myself out the way I want to be represented. Also, being on American Idol, it kind of made me lose a little confidence, and so, being on YouTube was a way for me to film myself with no one really seeing me and being able to put it out and regain my confidence as a performer, because it really does something to you when you're on a show like that and you get kicked off.

• 23:12Lewis Howes?

  And everyone's judging you and this and that.

• 23:13Speaker 00

  Yeah, it makes you question what you, the talent that you knew you had before. I, I knew that I'd been on Broadway before and that wasn't a fluke that they would cast me in a Broadway show, so I was like, "I clearly have talent," but it took me a while to like, get my swag back, and so, anyway, I made a video called Beauty and the Beat, and it was about, it was the opening number of Beauty and the Beast where Belle is like walking through the village, but she was like in the hood and everybody was ratcheted and all these like ghetto fabulous people were talking to her, and it ended up... Up being really super viral. It got a million views in less than a day.

• 23:45Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 23:45Speaker 00

  And ironically, Justin Bieber's song, Beauty and the Beat, was about to come out the next week.

• 23:50Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 23:51Speaker 00

  I had never knew that. No one had ever known the song.

• 23:54Lewis Howes?

  It was the same name.

• 23:54Speaker 00

  It was the same name, and it was just a God-sent thing that I named it that. They thought that the song leaked, and so people were reaching out to Scooter Braun and me, like, someone's leaked this song. This video's going viral a week early. He watched the video and was like, this is brilliant. I gotta meet this kid. And he scheduled a meeting with me. Had I not done that video, I would not have been represented by him, but.

• 24:15Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 24:15Speaker 00

  He was like, I don't know exactly what to do with you. You're crazy. You're quirky. I don't know what you're wearing right now, but I think you're really interesting and really talented, and I'd like to work with you. So he signed me immediately, and. Um, the rest is history. It was crazy because when I lived in New York, before I made the decision to move to LA, I watched the Justin Bieber Never Say Never movie.

• 24:35Lewis Howes?

  I'll tell you what, I just had John Chu on.

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Uh huh.

• 24:37Lewis Howes?

  Last week, we direct, yeah, directed a video with you.

• 24:39Speaker 00

  And John Chu and I did Virgin America commercial together, yeah.

• 24:42Lewis Howes?

  So I just had him, he was sitting here last week, and I go, dude, Never Say Never. Again, this is telling you who I am. I, I watched it three times, first off.

• 24:50Speaker 00

  You did not cry.

• 24:51Lewis Howes?

  And I cried. Every time. When the grandparents are talking about him leaving, and I just re-watched it last week because I was like, so inspired after we got in here of how cool that video was.

• 25:01Speaker 00

  That's so funny.

• 25:02Lewis Howes?

  Sorry, sorry, go ahead.

• 25:03Speaker 00

  No, it was a life-changing movie for me, and, um, it, it.

• 25:09Speaker 00

  That's so crazy, dude. You see it. I feel this 5,000 volts of friendship energy going across this table right now. Um.

• 25:16Lewis Howes?

  So the movie cha-changed the game for you.

• 25:18Speaker 00

  It changed the game for me, and I actually made a bucket list or like a vision board and said, I'm gonna move to LA, and I'm gonna find my own version of Scooter. And ironically, I moved here and found the real Scooter.

• 25:31Lewis Howes?

  Oh my goodness.

• 25:31Speaker 00

  The real Scooter found me, and it's just a crazy, like, rags-to-riches story because since I've signed there, my life is completely, in the words of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, turned upside down. And, um.

• 25:44Lewis Howes?

  In what ways? Tell me, is this two years you've been with him now?

• 25:47Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 25:47Lewis Howes?

  So what has happened? What has he done for you? Or what has happened? Or what doors have opened up that have given you where you're at now?

• 25:52Speaker 00

  Well, he's just put me, he and his team have just put me in a position with the best lawyers, the best business management, the best agents, and people that really work hard for me. Like, his, his team and the, the lady Penny that he, oh, you know Penny.

• 26:05Lewis Howes?

  She's amazing. She's a text me.

• 26:06Speaker 00

  She is the most amazing person ever, and she's his right-hand woman, and she is like completely, every night, she's the type of person that will stay up till 6 a.m. If that's what it takes to make somebody's dreams come true. And I'm just so appreciative to have her like as a part of my team.

• 26:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 26:21Speaker 00

  And, um, I mean, I got the Virgin America gig. I mean, just life has just changed and being attached to his name has given me a, a much greater platform. I got to open the Kids' Choice Awards. I did the Virgin America Safety Video, which is such a random gig, but people watched that video every, every day and tagged me in pictures of that.

• 26:39Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 26:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, and then, you know, he and his team helped me, uh, work on the deal with MTV to get my show on MTV. And so that was, that was a dream come true because I just, I love the fact that I have a show where people get to see the hard work that goes on behind our videos. Because sometimes you watch a video and you don't realize the lighting and the costumes and the hair and the shoes. You realize that it all looks like it's in place, but it

• 27:03Lewis Howes?

  Takes forever to get it done.

• 27:04Speaker 00

  Yeah, and if someone was on television with a ball gown, but she had like some Nikes on, you'd be like, oh shit, something's not right there.

• 27:11Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 27:11Speaker 00

  But, um,

• 27:12Lewis Howes?

  It's like recreating a Broadway play every

• 27:15Speaker 00

  Every week.

• 27:15Lewis Howes?

  Episode, right?

• 27:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, every, yeah.

• 27:16Lewis Howes?

  Every week, and only doing it once.

• 27:19Speaker 00

  And with a very small budget is the problem. We don't have a lot of money. We have to stretch the little money that we have and just make it work for ourselves. And so, um, that's what's really hard about it. But it's just been, I'm just so grateful for where I am right now in life. And sometimes I wake up in my house that looks like Pee-wee Herman's Playhouse. I have like eight-foot-tall ice creams everywhere. You should come over. You should come. You would love it.

• 27:41Lewis Howes?

  I'll be out of place, but I'll appreciate it.

• 27:45Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious now, as a performer, is that quadruple threat? Is that what I heard you are? What does that mean, a quadruple threat?

• 27:51Speaker 00

  Well, a quadruple threat means you're more than a singer, dancer, actor. You also-

• 27:57Lewis Howes?

  Something else.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  But someone gave me the name octo threat, which I'm now taking on because I direct, I choreographed, I do sing, dance, and act, but I do also the costume designs and I help edit the videos and I cast my own videos. And so, there's just so many aspects of the videos that we do.

• 28:13Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 28:13Speaker 00

  And I am very, very hands-on, so I do every single aspect of the video.

• 28:18Lewis Howes?

  You're a producer and performer.

• 28:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:21Lewis Howes?

  Essentially everything.

• 28:21Speaker 00

  Exactly. You gotta come be in a video one day because people would freak out, they would love it.

• 28:26Lewis Howes?

  I don't know what I'd do. I can salsa dance.

• 28:27Speaker 00

  Oh, I heard. I heard a little birdie told me you could salsa dance.

• 28:30Lewis Howes?

  If you find a girl who's really good at salsa, I will make you look like the man.

• 28:34Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 28:35Lewis Howes?

  I'll make your video great.

• 28:35Speaker 00

  Deal. Deal. I definitely know some girls. I know a beautiful girl with a big old bubble butt. She would look amazing. The hourglass figure for days. We call her Kaylee Cake.

• 28:45Lewis Howes?

  She can salsa?

• 28:46Speaker 00

  She can salsa.

• 28:47Lewis Howes?

  Let's do it.

• 28:48Speaker 00

  Yeah. She's in. Okay.

• 28:50Lewis Howes?

  Now, I'm curious. So, you've been on Broadway, American Idol, you've got your own TV show, you've done a lot of other performances in between, opening up for Kids' Choice Awards and a lot of other stuff. What is the mantra or process before a performance, a big moment, that you do for yourself? Is there something you say to yourself? Is there a ritual? Do you do something weird or do you ground yourself? Do you pray? Do you? What's something you do?

• 29:13Speaker 00

  Usually, our life is so crazy and we're trying to do something that should take a normal team of people, that is like a 50-man army, we will be doing with four people. And we're doing something that it would take that 50-man army two months to do. We're doing it in literally-

• 29:30Lewis Howes?

  Two days.

• 29:30Speaker 00

  Two to three days.

• 29:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 29:32Speaker 00

  So, usually, there's not a moment. We are literally rushing until that moment. But, right before I go onstage, I always just bow my head and pray. I'm not the most crazy, like overly religious person, but I do believe that there's no way I could be here without somebody much bigger than I watching over me and guiding my footsteps and making sure that I was in the room with the right people at the right time. And so, I just like- Have to pray and like ground myself to get myself prepared because otherwise I will I will go crazy. And it's like I always get this calming feel feeling like thirty seconds before I go on. I'm a nervous wreck until thirty seconds before I go on. And then I get calm and I'm like, okay, you can do this. And then we make magic.

• 30:12Lewis Howes?

  Well, I love that. What would you say to someone who feels like overwhelmed and anxious and has a lot of pressure on themselves when they want to perform? Whether it be a business pitch meeting or singing or dancing, whatever it may be, some type of performance going on their first date. What would advice would you give to someone to overcome pressure?

• 30:30Speaker 00

  I would just say that this whole world is like a big game, you know? And you have to walk into a room and at least have a great poker face. You can be nervous and that's normal. I think a lot of people think that nerves are not normal. And then that means that they're second guessing themselves or doubting the talent that they know that they have. But I don't think that's what it means. I think if you're not nervous, then you're way too confident and and and you're probably not going to get the things that you are looking for. I think anybody who's an artist or really passionate about anything that they're going in for. A a good amount of nerves is important. I think put on a good poker face and go in there and remember that every single person that is in a position to make decisions to guide your career or change your career are also just people and people are attracted to confidence.

• 31:13Speaker 00

  And if an idea is great or if the talent is truly there, then I think ultimately in the end that will always prevail.

• 31:20Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, that's great. With all the talents you have, what would you say is your superpower?

• 31:26Speaker 00

  My superpower is that I feel like I I would say my superpower is being a chameleon. And I say that because chameleons can transform into any place that they are. They can talk to anybody, they can blend into any surrounding. I went on.

• 31:39Lewis Howes?

  You blend in?

• 31:40Speaker 00

  Oh, I don't blend in. I always stand out, just remember that. But but I'm able to like to to change and like.

• 31:48Speaker 00

  Make sure that I like fit into, I can talk to anybody about anything, I feel.

• 31:52Lewis Howes?

  You can connect with people.

• 31:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I, and like I went to Broadway, had never been in a Broadway show, but I've made myself fit in there. And I went to American Idol, made it pretty far for somebody who wasn't constantly singing and stuff. And I, I also, I don't miss anything. I'm that person, like if something happens behind me, I will see it, I will catch it, I will clock every little detail of any room that when I walk in.

• 32:14Lewis Howes?

  You have a good memory then?

• 32:15Speaker 00

  Yeah, and that's why I say chameleon, off the, off the cuff, because chameleons also have those eyes that are, they're one of the few animals that their eyes can move differently. At the same time, they can be looking in four different directions.

• 32:28Lewis Howes?

  I love that.

• 32:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 32:29Lewis Howes?

  What keeps you grounded with all the success you're getting and the recognition and the YouTube crazies?

• 32:35Speaker 00

  What keeps me grounded is I have the most amazing mom in the world. Not to go on a 20 minute tangent about my mom, but there was no dance studio where I lived. My mom got a new job so she could drive me an hour and a half to, to dance class every day in an hour and a half home. She never let me miss class, she never let me be late. And I don't think without her telling me, even though she had no idea what to do with a child like me, because she'd never seen anybody like this and for me to be her child. I think she really jumped on the bandwagon and just tried to learn as much as she could about getting me out there. And also I have amazing, amazing friends who not only are there to support me at any day, any time, but they also tell me when I'm wrong.

• 33:18Speaker 00

  And I think that's the most important thing, to keep someone humble.

• 33:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, and you're receptive to it probably, it sounds like, yeah.

• 33:23Speaker 00

  Because I know that they wouldn't lead me astray, and even if sometimes I don't want to hear it, I'm always, always, always so grateful that I have friends that will be like, "Todrick, I love you, but you're being ridiculous right now, and this is not a good move, or this would be better," you know?

• 33:36Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 33:37Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 33:37Lewis Howes?

  If there was a TV show, a movie, a performance, a play, a video, that you could create, the biggest dream that you could think of, with one person that you want to collaborate with, what would the person, who would the person be you'd collaborate with? And what would the performance be, in what stage?

• 33:57Speaker 00

  Um, I just thought about this the other day. First of all, Beyonce is like my favorite person in the world, so that goes without saying.

• 34:02Lewis Howes?

  She's one of the two people you're following on Instagram.

• 34:04Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 34:06Speaker 00

  Yeah, so I would love, I would love to work with her. But I think my dream thing that I want to do, and I just decided this last week, is I want to make the first like fairy tale with like two princes. And I don't want it to be like a super gay story, even though that's hard to make, to make that not super gay. But I want it to be a story about two princes that just happened to fall in love. And, because I imagine that in maybe a hundred, maybe a thousand years from now, people will be born and there will be cartoons that have gay characters and stuff. So that a character being on a show and being gay is not the subject of that character being there. That's just also happens to be what they are. But there's no movies about people being straight, like, oh, that's the, the situation that they have to overcome.

• 34:49Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 34:49Speaker 00

  And I just think that that would be such, it's such a simple thing. But I think it would be such a beautiful and epic thing if there was a gay couple and their problem was not that they were gay. That just happened to be two princes that fell in love in a fairy tale one day.

• 35:03Lewis Howes?

  So who would play those parts in a performance?

• 35:05Speaker 00

  Well, I would want to be one of them because not only are they going to be gay, but they're going to be interracial. It's going to be a gay, black prince and Ebony and Ivory. And if you want to play the other prince, we could be two salsa dancing princes in a fairy tale.

• 35:16Lewis Howes?

  I don't know if I could play it, but uh.

• 35:18Speaker 00

  Just think on it though, just think on it.

• 35:19Lewis Howes?

  If I was gay, I would be a hundred percent in.

• 35:21Speaker 00

  Awesome, thank you. That's all I needed. That's all I needed for today.

• 35:24Lewis Howes?

  I would be in.

• 35:25Speaker 00

  Awesome, okay.

• 35:26Lewis Howes?

  Um, but I, I will appreciate and support your choice of who you want to choose.

• 35:30Speaker 00

  You'll buy a ticket to my movie.

• 35:31Lewis Howes?

  I'll buy a ticket to it. I'll watch it on YouTube or whatever it is.

• 35:34Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 35:35Lewis Howes?

  But if it could be any actor, who would it be?

• 35:37Speaker 00

  I would probably choose somebody who is not gay. I would probably choose someone like a Zac Efron or someone.

• 35:46Lewis Howes?

  That'd be interesting.

• 35:47Speaker 00

  Or my main man, Joseph Gordon Levitt, because I think he's such an amazing actor. And he has become a good friend of mine recently.

• 35:54Lewis Howes?

  He's amazing. He'd be great at that role.

• 35:56Speaker 00

  Yeah. I just wanted to like break, break boundaries and like be so out of the box, but be so amazing that people are talking about it and everybody has to go see it.

• 36:06Lewis Howes?

  So when you want to create that by?

• 36:08Speaker 00

  I would like to to be, I have two movies that I want to create before that. I want to be, I want to be the new like mixture between Tyler Perry, because I look up to him so much. He's so hilarious and he's somebody who came from being homeless to creating this huge brand and is now a multimillionaire, um, and Walt Disney, because I love creating content for kids and I just think it's so powerful.

• 36:30Lewis Howes?

  I could see you being that, that's cool.

• 36:31Speaker 00

  Yeah. So I don't know how many years, but in the next five years, I hope that at least my first great movie is out. And I'm gonna invite you to the premiere.

• 36:39Lewis Howes?

  Please do.

• 36:40Speaker 00

  And we're gonna salsa.

• 36:40Lewis Howes?

  I'll come and salsa. What, what's next for you? After this show, you know, the show, tell us a little bit about the show and then what's, what's after the show?

• 36:48Speaker 00

  The show is almost over. We have one more week. This week I'm doing Peter Perry, which I'm so proud of. I'm, uh, it's, uh, telling the story of Peter Pan with all Katy Perry songs.

• 36:59Lewis Howes?

  This is amazing.

• 37:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, so that comes on this Monday.

• 37:01Lewis Howes?

  It's kind of like Glee.

• 37:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly. It, I feel like our show is like the reality version of Glee.

• 37:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's cool.

• 37:07Speaker 00

  And, um, and, um, what's next for me is I, I would love to EGOT. I would love to go back to Broadway, but I want to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony. So I gotta talk to my team and figure out exactly which one of those we want to go after first. But I would love to have a song on the radio. I think that's like my biggest dream. Um, and one of my songs has been playing on the radio all over the country. It's called Wind It Up and it's doing pretty well. So I'm excited about that. Um, but I would, I would love to go back to Broadway. I would love to be a recurring character on a major network, on a scripted show, not just a reality show. And I would love to be in a huge movie, preferably one that had to do with music and dancing, like a musical movie.

• 37:46Speaker 00

  Or something that, um, is, is very, um, like life-changing, like something about something powerful.

• 37:53Lewis Howes?

  Epic, yeah. So this is the question from Penny.

• 37:56Speaker 00

  Oh geez.

• 37:57Lewis Howes?

  I just said, you know, what's the question that I should ask that no one's been, that no one asked him? And she said, no one ever asked him about relationships and love, only about sexuality.

• 38:07Speaker 00

  Got it.

• 38:07Lewis Howes?

  So I want to ask you about.

• 38:10Lewis Howes?

  Relationships and love, how does love and relationships play into your success? And do you feel like with where you're at in your life right now, are you able to have a great relationship and still pursue your dreams and your passion and have the freedom of flexibility to be creative and artistic? Is it possible to have both with where you're at?

• 38:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, well, the answer is yes. I only follow two people on Instagram and the other person is my partner and his name is Jesse and he's awesome. And I dated a lot of people before him that it was difficult because my life requires a lot of like me not being around or there's always people around it. There's hardly ever any sleep. Like sometimes we're together for days, but we don't ever get to talk to each other hardly because we literally wake up 6 a.m. and go to sleep at 4 a.m. And that whole day, we were working the entire time. But I just feel like if you find the right person who believes in you so much and wants you to be so successful, then all of the problems that you would normally have with someone not

• 39:11Speaker 00

  being there or them not feeling loved or supported, go out the window. So I'm really, really happy where I am in my relationship right now. Who knows what the future holds? I can see us being together for a very, very long time and I'm just happy that I have somebody that really understands me and is like not judgmental of the fact that I live in a candy house.

• 39:32Lewis Howes?

  It's literally a candy house.

• 39:33Speaker 00

  I mean, it's literally, I mean, the chairs are ice creams, the table is a cupcake.

• 39:39Lewis Howes?

  Katy Perry's house, like Pepe Herman and Carrie Harry.

• 39:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, Katy Perry. That sounds like a bad situation, Katy Perry. But, uh, yeah.

• 39:48Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing. Okay. Well, I'm glad to know that you've been able to make it work. That's really cool.

• 39:54Speaker 00

  How about you?

• 39:55Lewis Howes?

  We'll talk about that afterwards.

• 39:56Speaker 00

  Got it. Oh, see, how my how the tables have turned. Okay, we're gonna find out all the juice afterwards and I'll just tweet it to everybody.

• 40:03Lewis Howes?

  So, so I want to do something. I want to have a couple of questions left for you, but I want to hear your voice. I want to hear you, if you're open to it, to singing something. And I should have whipped out my guitar and played something, but I think it'd be better just to hear maybe something, something you love to sing. Here's what I want to hear, something you love to sing. It can be like 30 to 60 seconds, doesn't have to be wrong, that.

• 40:27Lewis Howes?

  Tells about who you are, speaks about who you are, and also shares a message to the world of what you want the world to be. Is there a song, or a verse, or a message that you can sing that would do that?

• 40:42Speaker 02

  Um, I would say the song that I have, "Haters", is like, a song that, to me, means a lot because I always wished that I had like some anthem that I could rock out to when I got home after people were like making fun of me. And, uh, and when I felt like nobody understood me, I wrote this song and I put it out and people, the kids have like gone crazy for this. And all of these kids around the country are performing this song at their, um, talent shows and their dance recitals and stuff, and, um...

• 41:12Lewis Howes?

  Can we hear a part of it?

• 41:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was, I was... Okay.

• 41:15Lewis Howes?

  Go ahead.

• 41:16Speaker 02

  Okay. I don't need your love, love, love to tell me I'm good enough. And you ain't worth my time if you don't think I'm fine. And you don't need to lose one more pound to keep that scrub of yours around. If he don't know you're beautiful, if he don't know you're beautiful, then turn the radio up, play that beat loud for anyone that tried to bring me down. This one's for you, this one's for you.

• 41:57Speaker 02

  So make the radio blast, hands in the air, they can kiss my, ask me if I care. This one's for you, this one's for you, haters.

• 42:11Lewis Howes?

  Wow, I loved that, man. That was epic. That was amazing.

• 42:15Speaker 02

  I did not think I was gonna be singing anything today, but because I love you so much and because we're best friends and also separated at birth, and also gonna be salsa dancing, and also gonna be gay prince lovers in a video, possibly hypothetically thinking about it, thinking about it, then I was just like, I'll just go ahead and sing this little ditty for him.

• 42:31Lewis Howes?

  That was amazing, man.

• 42:32Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 42:33Lewis Howes?

  Thank you, I really appreciate that.

• 42:34Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 42:34Lewis Howes?

  Um, wow, I'm inspired. You know, I could listen to people sing all day. It's for me, it's like, uh, it's a dream to be able to do that stuff. And I appreciate the craft and the art and the talent that you've developed because I know it's been a lot of hard work over the years, so. Um, couple final questions.

• 42:50Lewis Howes?

  If all your videos were erased for some reason, all the shows you've ever done.

• 42:55Speaker 00

  Oh my god, I just almost panicked.

• 42:58Lewis Howes?

  Or let's just say, let's say they're all up there.

• 43:00Speaker 00

  I just got hot a little bit, a little bit.

• 43:02Lewis Howes?

  I know how much hours has been into that.

• 43:04Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 43:04Lewis Howes?

  Let's say they're still there, but there's one final message that you want to share with people. There's a message that is everything you've learned from now until you were born about three truths of what you've learned about life, the three simple truths. If you had a video that was 60 seconds long, it was you in a video, no costumes, no music, no dancing.

• 43:27Speaker 00

  Got it.

• 43:28Lewis Howes?

  And you got to say, here are the three, the three simple truths. By Todrick, what would you be, what would you say are the three simple truths?

• 43:38Speaker 00

  I would say the first truth is make sure that you are nice to every single person that you ever meet and anybody that you encounter, always treat them as if they, as if how you would treat the Beyonce or whatever of your life, because you never know where someone will be tomorrow and where you will be next week.

• 43:59Lewis Howes?

  That's number one.

• 44:00Speaker 00

  Number two, I would say keep great people around you that love you and that are really, truly friends, and if people show you who they are, don't give them a million chances, because more than likely what they showed you the first time was who they really are. And thirdly, I would say be true to who you are, like above and beyond anything else. I think before I was like, I just want to be famous at whatever cost, even if it means I don't ever tell people that I'm straight, I mean, that I'm gay, or that I don't, you know, whatever the situation may be, I would rather now be 10 times less famous and be happy and be at least successful doing what I love to do, and maybe I will never sell

• 44:42Speaker 00

  out Staples Center or Madison Square Garden, but I will sell out a 500 seat theater with fans that really love and appreciate me and my voice will be a voice for people who really need to hear what I have to say. So I think being true to yourself, as cliche as that sounds, is the most important of those three things.

• 45:00Lewis Howes?

  I love that. Very cool. Um, one final question before I ask.

• 45:06Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 45:06Lewis Howes?

  I want to acknowledge you for a moment.

• 45:07Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 45:08Lewis Howes?

  For your gift, your unique gift to inspire and entertain and make people think and open up and love in a different way. I think it's really beautiful what you've created over your whole career and your life by being true to who you are.

• 45:22Speaker 00

  Well, thank you.

• 45:23Lewis Howes?

  It's really inspiring and I want to acknowledge you for maximizing your gifts because you're impacting the world in a major way, even if you don't think you are. So I acknowledge you for that.

• 45:33Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 45:34Lewis Howes?

  And my final question, it's what I ask all my guests at the end.

• 45:37Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 45:37Lewis Howes?

  This is the school of greatness.

• 45:38Speaker 00

  Wait, wait, wait. Can I say one more thing?

• 45:40Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 45:40Speaker 00

  I wish that I had four things. This is really important. The fourth thing is don't wait for the opportunity to come knock at your door because we live in a day and age where anybody can make their own dreams come true. And I think that is the most important thing. I should have said that in there. That's how I got, I've gotten here is not waiting for opportunity. I go seize those opportunities.

• 45:57Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 45:58Speaker 00

  As you were saying.

• 45:59Lewis Howes?

  So as being the school of greatness, I would ask you, what's your definition of greatness?

• 46:04Speaker 00

  The definition of greatness is someone who naturally can command an audience and have a voice that is authentic and true to themselves and not have to have gimmicks or anything. I would say the definition of greatness is Beyonce.

• 46:21Lewis Howes?

  I love it. I love it. Where can we connect with you online? Where do you want us to hang out? YouTube, where should we go?

• 46:27Speaker 00

  You can connect with me online on, um, at Twitter and Instagram at, at Todd Rockstar. I'm on Facebook. You can look me up there. And also, um, on my YouTube channel, search Todrick. My mom came up with a really unique name, so I think I'm the only one. T O D R I C K. And I will pop up and entertain you.

• 46:45Lewis Howes?

  Are you on Snapchat and everything else as well?

• 46:47Speaker 00

  I'm on Snapchat, but I'm a little iffy. I'm inconsistent in that, in that department, but I will be there occasionally.

• 46:53Lewis Howes?

  Awesome. Todd Rockstar, thanks so much for coming on. I appreciate it.

• 46:55Speaker 00

  Thanks so much for having me. It was great.

• 46:59Lewis Howes?

  And there you have it guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode with the one, the only Todrick Hall. Make sure to share this with a friend. If you know someone who would be inspired by Todrick's message, please email them, lewishouse.com/240. Send them this email and say, "Hey man," or "Hey girl, check out this episode. I think you're gonna be really inspired by Todrick's message. Check it out." Also, share it with your friends over on Twitter, on Facebook. Tag both of us over on Instagram. Again, the link is lewishouse.com/240. You're gonna get all of the show notes back if you go to that link as well, to see how you can connect with Todrick on all of his social media accounts. We'll put up a video

• 47:43Lewis Howes?

  there that he did of Taylor Swift remake that is incredible, so you can check out how talented this guy is on video and see all the great things he's doing. Make sure to check out his TV show. You can watch the replays online as well. A lot of great stuff by this guy. I feel very connected to him. I want you guys to connect with him as well. And again, make sure to share this with your friends. The link is lewishouse.com/240. I appreciate you all so very much for coming on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for all the greatness that we put out together. And it's all because of you that I continue to get amazing guests like Todrick. So, thank you all for showing up in a powerful way

• 48:26Lewis Howes?

  in the world. Thank you for bringing your truth to what you're doing and for living a passionate, powerful life. You guys know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.