by Jamie Foxx is one of the most successful entertainers of our time. From music to movies, this Academy Award winner has done it all. However, what’s often overlooked is Foxx’s business savviness and his journey in the entrepreneurial world.
In a motivational speech delivered at a recent business conference, Foxx dropped major bombs of wisdom targeted at aspiring entrepreneurs. He touched on key topics like self-belief, hard work, persistence, learning from failures and the importance of passion when starting a business. His core message: “Work hard and believe in yourself.”
Here’s a summary of the key pieces of advice Foxx offered:
Believe In Yourself
Self-belief is the foundation of any successful entrepreneurial journey according to Foxx. “The first thing you need is to believe in yourself. No one is going to believe in you more than you believe in yourself,” he asserted.
He recounted stories of how he had to overcome self-doubt early in his career. Being rejected at comedy clubs, music venues and acting gigs became routine. However, closing the door on his dreams was never an option. Self-belief and visualizing the future he wanted enabled him to develop resilience and keep forging ahead.
The takeaway lesson is that without sincere self-belief, you stand little chance in business. Back yourself first before expecting others to invest in your ideas and vision.
Work Relentlessly
“Showbizness is a business where you almost have to will things into existence with your work ethic,” Foxx shared.
He doesn’t take his foot off the pedal in pushing himself and his teams because he knows every great empire is built brick by brick. Success demands sacrifice, persistence and relentlessness.
Foxx recalled days when he performed standup sets to near-empty comedy clubs early in his career. He went to clubs daily and reached out to anyone who could help launch his entertainment career. It was tough, depressing even, but he kept at it.
“I put in the work. I went to the clubs every night, even when there were only two or three people in the audience,” the entertainment mogul reminisced.
The lesson is simple: if your business idea is worth pursuing, be relentless in chasing it down. Let passion and diligence propel you through the highs and lows. Understand that overnight success is rare; you have to chip away at it daily.
Learn From Failures
“One thing people don’t talk about enough is how many failures you go through to get to where you wanna be,” Foxx shared in his signature forthright style.
He has had a front row seat to failure throughout his long career as an A-list entertainer and budding entrepreneur. Early on, he dreamt of becoming a first-round pick in the NFL. Even after shifting to entertainment, he was met with constant rejection and setbacks. Comedy clubs turned him away, musicians dismissed his talent, and he lost acting roles to bigger stars.
However, Foxx managed to flip every single setback into an opportunity for growth. He states that if you change your perception, failures contain some of the most important lessons you’ll learn on your entrepreneurial journey.
“Sometimes our minds try to trick us into believing the lie that we can’t do something because we tried and failed at it once.” – Jamie Foxx
So as an entrepreneur, anticipated failures and mistakes. The key is to extract learnings from them, rather than adopt a victim mindset. Allow failures to readjust your approach and realign your business strategy.
Follow Your Passion
Jamie Foxx had one core message for the audience about deciding on a business path: follow your passion.
“If you’re passionate about something and it keeps you up at night, find a way to make that your business,” Foxx shared.
Profitability matters, but it should be secondary. Without passion, the inevitable hurdles along the entrepreneurial path feel insurmountable. However, when you absolutely love what you do, it’s easier to brush off rejections or short-term failures.
The multi-faceted business mogul believes that passion breeds an almost obsessive level of focus. When your business centers what truly sets your soul on fire, no barrier is too big to overcome. The human will finds a way to triumph over impossible odds.
So in a nutshell, Jamie Foxx doled out extremely practical advice for wantrepreneurs based on failures and wins in his long career. Self-belief, relentless hustling, learning power of failures and following your passion were the key cornerstones. Aspiring entrepreneurs would do well to embody his message: “Work hard and believe.”
