April Fools, I Already Have a job!

Over the past 72 hours — I have been humbled by the ‘out-pour’ of support to the “I Got The Job” post I put on Medium dated April 1st, 2016.

But it’s time to come clean — I didn’t get the job….I actually didn’t even apply for a job with Bridgewater.

I did however apply for a job with Talib in May 2014. To some of you this may sound kind of weird — let me explain. I am an entrepreneur, which means I work for two parties:

1) Party #1 — Is Me, this means that when I wake up every morning I look in the mirror and simply get to work. This is an agreement I have between me and me.

2) Party #2 — Is You, this means I will work to deliver value to my customers and clients in the form of un-paralled hustle.

The intent of my April Fools joke wasn’t to solicit unwarranted support for a job that I don’t have — but to solicit support and attention to the subject of Entrepreneurship & Creativity.

To the people reading this post — let’s perform a simple exercise — look around your current environment — now ask yourself what is the most common element?

Times Up — Here is the answer — everything you see in your environment is just a thought manifested. In other words — someone had a thought to create that chair that you are sitting in, the screen you’re reading this on, and the new Tesla unveiled yesterday. The people who manifested these items are creators & entrepreneurs. These are people who bravely accept the risk associated with manifesting new things.

Manifesting things isn’t easy, especially in an environment where resources aren’t evenly distributed. Just the other day I came across an article about Troy Carter (CNN Money), a very successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist (shout to Cross Culture Ventures, follow these folks — they are doing great work). In this article Troy states — “Who said African American founders can’t build a billion dollar company?”, this question was his reply to the ‘surprise to learn that some investors were hesitant to put money behind his latest fund’. Note — some investors (LP’s in VC talk) expressed concern that he (Troy) was only investing in black founders.

….After reading stuff like this it makes me take an even ‘closer look in the mirror’ while I think about the agreement I made between ‘me and me’. In my mirrored reflection I keep it honest with myself — I know I (we) can create a Billion Dollar Enterprise. This can ONLY be done with your support — please take the time out to celebrate and support the entreprenuers and the creative people you know — with your support we can WIN!

For those of you wondering why the elaborate ruse please take a step back and recognize Bridgewater already has $154 billion in global investments (btw, they started in a 2 bedroom apartment in 1975) — it’s safe to say they are now doing ‘OK’.

It’s time for us to get ours. The following images are from the two companies I co-founded with teams of exceptionally brilliant people.

The 1st Image is of Life On Autopilot’s first release — SkyCap (custom cap carrier — hold 5 caps during transit, and its DOPE !) As a luggage and lifestyle company we bring innovation to travelers!

The 2nd Image is from Black Wall Street Homecoming — a Non-Profit focused on providing support to the African-American business & education community. We launched a ‘charge’ to get 15 local HBCU students to SXSW in 2017!

I am asking for you unwavering support for us as we continue to create new things, hustle for our dreams, and ultimately leave the world a better place after we are gone!

Onward and Upward,

-Talib Graves-Manns — Co-Founder Life On Autopilot, Co-Founder Black Wall Street Homecoming, Co-Owner Point AB.