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Speaker 1: From Stomp the Yard to Ride Along to Girls Trip and many more. Willpacker's films have collectively grossed more than one billion dollars at the box office, with ten opening at number one. To outsiders, the unabashed confidence that has driven him since his college days when he was trying to sell a micro budget indie film may look like arrogance. To Packer, that's just what it took to make it on his own terms. In his new book, Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Willpacker provides a master mentorship by sharing secrets to success honed from working with the biggest stars in the world. As Kevin Hart says of working with Will Packer, quote, I became a student and I learned from the way he was moving. The man helped me grow and gave me the knowledge unquote. And now to discuss more on his new book, Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, we have legendary Hollywood producer Will Packer. This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast and I'm your host. Rams this job all right, mister Will Packer, Welcome to the show. We have been very much looking forward to having this conversation. Talk to us a little bit, man, what's going on in your world today.
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Speaker 2: I'm exciting, man, I'm excited to be here. You know, Listen, we live in a time right now where people's whole existences are under attack. Right your value is under attack. Your ability to live your best life and be successful is underattack. It has never been more important rams is to understand your value, but not just understand your value, to be able to get other people to understand your value, and to know how deserving of success you are. So I live my life like that. I am somebody who absolutely believes that you need to be able to tell your story. You need to be able. One of the things that's interesting that I like, I love that my parents did when I was growing up is they put me in debate class. And I always encouraged people if you have kids, or if you you are a teenager in high school, you have an opportunity to take debate. I didn't want to do it because the cool kids weren't in debate. The cool kids while running track and playing football, basketball, right, I was an athlete, So my parents put me in debate. I didn't want to be in debate, but I actually found my voice, and in debate you learn how to formulate an argument and then defend that argument. Man, if there was ever a time when you need to make sure that you can formulate your argument and to defend it, especially in defense of yourself and your right to be successful, it's right now. So that's the kind of thing that you know, I think about a lot. That's one of the main reasons that I wrote the book, and it's one of the reason I'm happy to be here today because you all are a platform that is literally about giving information to people than to a community and a culture that people are trying to keep information from.
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Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, sir, I love that energy, and as a person who letters in speech and debate, didn't do realize that it would bring me here. But yeah, I have on my letterman, I have my football and my basketball, my track, all that stuff, but I have speech and debate there. So we might have a little bit of a similar story in that regard. I feel like maybe there's something there. One of the things that we do on the show typically is we start our stories at the beginning with our guests. Now, obviously you're a person who's very successful. Your name is all over the place, you know. I did a deep dive on you before having this conversation, and I realized that the roots run even deeper than I thought. So for folks who may not be as intimately familiar with your background. You mentioned a bit about you know, your parents putting you in speech and debate class. Talk a little bit about you know, growing up, what inspired your passions to pursue you know, what it is you're doing right now, and sort of what led you to our conversation today.
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Speaker 3: We'll do that before we get into the book. Of course.
00:03:54
Speaker 2: Listen, I grew up in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and I was a kid that was I was middle class. I had a two parent home, and I had parents that instilled in me early and this is absolutely the foundation of the success that I've had. My parents took me like Simba in the Lion Key. They took me to the highest mountain making fine, and they lifted me up and said, so everything the light touches can be yours. Right. I had parents that told me that you can be anything you want to be if you're willing to work hard for it, If you're willing to put in the effort anything as possible. And as a young kid, I had the audacity to believe them. And that's very very important. It's important that you know, we tell that to our kids and to our youth, because that's when they're the most impressionable, and they believe these things if we tell them, and they can be true. And so I grew up in Saint Pete and I was always somebody that was astute in math and science. And so I got a scholarship to attend in HBCU. Brought in and universe, very very proud fam you graduate, shout out to Florida and m And I didn't want to go to family. I didn't want to go to an HBCU. I had the great ty test scores all that I want to go to an ivy ing school. I felt like, that's why I deserved to be that's the best of the best. That's where I want to go. And I'm actually headed to Penn And I was going to enter into the Wharton School of Business. So I had looked up at one of the best busin schools in the country, and my parents said, well, how much money is Wharton offering you, you know, in scholarship, might as well. They're not offer anything like they're like, you know, we let you in. Be thankful, right, you're welcome. They said, well, what's Florida and am offering you? I saw Family was offering me, you know, full ride scholarship. They're trying to get more African Americans in the STEM program Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and they want me to go there and be an engineering major and I'll get a full ride scholarship. And they said, guess where you're going, young William Packet. That decision that was ever made for me. It wasn't my own personal decision. I went to fam You, and that's actually where I hooked up with a buddy. He was one of my fraternity brothers, one of my line brothers. I'm a proud member of Alpha Fraternity, and we together. He wanted to be a filmmaker. It was his dream, and I helped him to make his very first movie there I fam You, which was called Chocolate City. I didn't know. I didn't have film school pedigree. He didn't know the mechanics of how you make a film project. But we were hustlers and we were dreamers, and we went out and raised a little bit of money and shot a movie there on that campus, and Hollywood couldn't care less. And this is a very very important lesson that I learned early on. I felt like I needed to make a project that impressed the gate that impressed the important people, the people with the statuses and the titles and the resources. They couldn't care less about our little, tiny movie. But you know who did care. Stull at Florida and m University were peers, and they cared in a huge way. And it showed me that if you make something, you don't always have to make it for the quote unquote important folks. We spend so much time chasing people with titles, with money with brands, and not pouring into the communities that support us or the people that actually want us to succeed when they are what you need. The reason I got Hollywood to finally pay attention to me is because I made money without one. That's how you do it. Because I had a core audience that was happy to see themselves on screen. So Chocolate City was that first movie, and that taught me that, you know what, I don't need to go to Wharton. I don't need to go off and get an NBA and learn how to sell widgets. This is my widget right here, this thing that I've done. What is this called? I had no idea that. I said, Oh, that's called producer. You're the producer. I said, yeah, that's what I'm going to be, but to be a producer, and my career was born. And along the way, I fell in love with the art of storytelling.
00:08:04
Speaker 3: I love that. I love fantastic.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad I asked that question because I think it gives a little bit of background in context to the energy that you're bringing to this conversation. That's just, you know, a man with passion who's followed his dreams, and that culminated, at least in part in the book that we're discussing today. So talk to us a little bit about what inspired who better than you? The art of healthy arrogance and dreaming big?
00:08:31
Speaker 2: You know what it was about. I wrote this book because I have people that come to me and say, can you mentor me? Can you show me what it took for you to become successful? And I realized that over my three decade career in Hollywood, working with some of the biggest names, biggest personalities, most successful people in the world. That I've also worked with some of those same people, some of the most toxic people, some of the most insecure people, some of the most negative people in the world. And I have learned skills to navigate not only all those various personalities, but I've also learned what separates some of the most successful people from some of the people that are just desiring to be successful. And oftentimes it is the understanding and the belief and the faith that you deserve success. That is the number one thing that holds people back. People oftentimes don't feel like they deserve success. Some of the most successful people in the world they feel like, not only do they deserve it, they're predestined for it. It's going to happen, and they walk into rooms with that level of supreme confidence. And when you walk in with that kind of confidence, it changes the way that you interact in those rooms, the way that you answer the phone, the way you wake up in the morning, everything you do is different when you have that level of supreme confidence that says I deserve this and I'm going to be successful whether you know it or not. You should whether it happens today or tomorrow, or next month or next year, it's coming. And that confidence is a muscle. It's a muscle that you can build. So I wrote this book and i'm and the book is is very much in my voice. It's high energy, it's also very funny. I'm telling stories of, you know, interacting with people like Kevin Hart, who's one of my best friends, but who I also call a spawn of Statan because he's tried to stick my career more than once. I talk about Beyonce and how she repeatedly told me no, she wasn't going to be in my movie Obsessed, and how I finally convinced her and then that movie Open number one. And I tell stories about you know, Steve Harvey and yourself, all these people I've interacted with, And the point of the story RAMS is is to make sure that people understand that my journey has been very carefully and strategically built from this belief that I could do it, and that nobody's voice, no matter who they were, was more important than my voice, and that my voice kept telling me you're going to be successful even when I wasn't. I graduated from FAMU in ninety six. My first number one movie was it until Stomped Yard in two thousand and seven. That's eleven years, brother, that's eleven years where I was eating Ramen noodles and answering, you know, answering calls on a desk, working for a tip service, and you know, deliver newspapers, selling newspapers, like I was doing anything to just make ends meet. But till it's a long time, I was not an overnight success store. But I had this belief, in this faith and confidence. And so somebody out there listening needs to hear that because they also may feel like, oh, man, do I deserve such test? Cannot be successful? Am I doing the right thing? And so I talk about all the various principles that got me to where I am.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned, you know, someone out there listening might be, you know, confronting the same set of circumstances, or they might be you know, maybe perhaps hoping that one day they will be able to you know, pursue their passions or you know, whatever the case is. Talk to us a little bit about who you envision reading the book. Is this a young person who's you know, about to graduate high school or just started college. Is this a person who's well into their career, and whoever this is, what do you expect them to take from it?
00:12:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so interesting because as a movie producer, when I go into making a movie, when I decide whether or not I'm going to make a project or not, I always think about who the audience is. And I mean really really specifically. When I have a movie that comes across my desk, I think about a very specific person who that movie is going to be for. So, for example, with my movie Girls Trip, I thought very specifically about a woman named Sharon, and she lives in Detroit, and she's got two kids, and she's a pharmacist and she's divorced and she goes out with her girls on the weekend for wine, and she goes to the movies every now and then. But when she goes, she wants to have a good time. She doesn't like horror, she doesn't like thrillers, she doesn't like the stuff that's gonna make her sad, she don't like period pies. She likes to go and escape and have a good time. And Shironda was my model for the movie Girlcery, and I do that for every movie. That I make who is it for? So I did the same thing with this book. So when you ask about who this book was for, I thought about two people specifically. I thought about somebody that is in their forties and fifties who are already into the throes of a career but are ready to pivot, ready to make a change, ready to do something different, not totally satisfied and totally happy with where they are in their lives right now, and think that more is out there, better is out there, Greater is out there for them, but they don't know how to do it, and they are understandably apprehensive and anxious about making a major life change. And one of the things I talk about in the book is the power of the pivot. And the other person I made it for is somebody that is a millennial gen Zia who is about to graduate college or recently graduated college. Somebody who's out there and hasn't found their passion yet, who is trying to figure out what is my place in the world right They've either got a college degree or maybe thought about going to college, but they're in their like, you know, early twenties, maybe late twenties, and they're trying to figure out how am I going to kickstart my life because I haven't found the thing that I feel like I was put here to do. I haven't found the thing that is waking me up every morning going I have to do this. And there are a lot of people like this. And one of the things I say is that that's okay. You don't have to find that thing, right you don't. I have to just wake up and expect your passion that you're gonna do for the rest of your life to hit you in the face. It didn't for me. I did not have a passion for movie making. Initially, I did something that I was good at, which was going out and raising money, finding audiences, self distributing, and later, while doing things that I was good at, I found my passion in my love for storytelling. Later, but I didn't wake up saying I want to tell stories. I just was doing the things that I was good at, and I found enjoyment in it and then ultimately unlocked my life's passion. It's more often that that happens in that order than the other way around. It's okay if you haven't found the one thing that you feel like you will put on this earth to do. It's okay, it's not too late. You can still find it. But you gotta double down and triple down on the thing that you're good at and try to find enjoyment within that. You know.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: I think your point is well received, certainly by me, because it's amazing the similarities that I'm hearing in our stories. You know, for a long time, I was a and I still am, a broadcaster radio personality, and you know from hip hop, you know hip hop radio. I'm a DJ, like nightclub DJ, headphones, turntables, that whole thing, and a personality gave away concert tickets. You know, stick around till after the break because we're going to be talking about Who's Dayton and who that sort of thing.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
00:16:29
Speaker 3: And I loved it.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: It was it was amazing, But I never felt like this is what I was created to do, this is why God made this person. It was just a fun, cool job and I could have certainly done a lot worse, so I didn't complain. And then when twenty twenty rolled around and everyone got outside and everyone was protesting, you know.
00:16:50
Speaker 3: The death of George Floyd Q and my self q Ward and myself.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: We ended up starting a show called Civic Cipher that existed to foster allieship. We targeted hip hop stations because that was where we'd find potential allies and bring them over to our cause and give them the information they needed to be better allies. And we started to make content that felt true to our spirit. We have long form conversations instead of thirty second talk breaks. We broke down concepts, and then we look back on the sum total of our lives, all of our mentors, all the paths that we walked, and we realized we brought some really meaningful perspective to those conversations. And at that point I finally was able to have a conversation with the president of this network, and I told him that I have to do Civic Cipher, and ultimately it ended up in you know me, you know, hosting this show for the Black Information Network.
00:17:43
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's interesting, you're right.
00:17:45
Speaker 1: How it does sometimes happen in an order that you might not be familiar with, and so I could certainly see people appreciating this book. Now, you did mention a couple of things you mentioned so far. You mentioned Kevin Hart, you mentioned, you know, girls Trip and how who you had in mind when you sat down to tell that story. I'm curious, you know, how much of your experience as a producer, you know, with things like you know, you mentioned Girls Trip, I think like a man, you know, Stump the Yard, you know, all the all the films. How much of that has made its way into your book because you got a perspective that I'm sure only a handful of people and even less black men could tell. So I'm just curious how much of that has made its way in there?
00:18:36
Speaker 2: All? A lot of it that is that is that's really the foundation of the book. The foundation of the book is a successful movie producer who happens to be African American, happens to be an African American male, who has succeeded at the highest heights of an industry where there are not a lot of folks that look like me, especially behind the camera, succeeding at the highest level, who happens to have worked with all these edible actors and all these incredible folks from around the world and around the industry. And it really is about my story of navigating those worlds and finding success and how that's translatable to any industry. But in order to get folks to understand what I've learned and the skill sets that I've acquired along the way, I've got to tell these stories. So the book is about the stories of how I got Girls Trip greenlit, and how I made Stomp the Yard my first number one movie after all the studios told me no, And how my movie Takers, which was another number one movie that started Get Yourselba and Paul Walker, and how that movie almost got stunk on the very very first day of filming because of a big fight that was happening, and how I navigated. So these are stories I've never told before. But there's stories that I think, first of all, they're going to take and they're crazy, you know. I I tell the story about how, you know, there was an actor that didn't show up one day for set and we thought he was dead. Everybody thought he was dead because he'd gone out the night before and party really really crazy and there was rumors and drugs and stuff happening and nobody could find them. And Ramsey I end up having to burst into a hotel literally, have to get hotel security, We have to knock the door down. I don't know what I'm gonna find. I'm so afraid we find this this this actor and he is hungover at butt naked, and I'm like, oh my god, easy breathing, and I like poke him. You know how you might see like a damn pat in the park. You just poke. That is how I poked this chrome man like are you alive? And poked this person who woke up, looked at me, did not recognize me, didn't know who I was, totally hungover, immediately tried to kiss me. True story. I cannot make this up. I said, Uh, first of all, not doing that. You are late. Get set ass, Oh, I know you hung over. It's time to go and set right. All go back to first of all we doing.
00:21:12
Speaker 4: And so the story is about the crazy things that I've had to deal with on set and how you navigated and how you get past and how you end up still staying focused on your goals finding success.
00:21:26
Speaker 2: You may not ever be in a crazy situation like I was on the day of one of my biggest movies in a nightclub with Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Harden, and Carmelo Anthony told me were gonna die tonight, Like he literally said those words. And we were in New York and I had to get back to Atlanta, and I had thirty minutes to get Kevin Hart out of that nightclub to get him back on set. In Atlanta, we had to catch a jet that was flying back, and if we didn't get to the airport within thirty minutes for that private plane, we were not gonna make our flight. It was the biggest movie in my career. My whole career would have gone down the toilet. That's the story. You may never be in that situation, right, but you can certainly learn something from the fact that I was in it and I survived, and there are lessons that apply. I don't care if you are a movie producer, an accountant, a teacher, a broadcaster, doesn't matter. There are transferable skills that you can learn and use in any environment. And that literally is what the book is about. And it's also fun. I'm not gonna lie to you, man, it's fun and it's entertaining because that's who I am. I tell stories and I make entertaining contents. So I wasn't gonna make some boring self help book. I wanted it to be inspiring inspiration, motivational, but also entertaining. I wanted to be a fun read or fund listen. If you're somebody that does audio books, I've got you know. I called in all the folks that are in the book. So Kevin Hardy is on the audiobook, so as Regina all from Girls Strip, so with in yourself, but and Steve Harvey and these other folks. So it's entertaining because I wanted it to be something that you could consume, learn something from, but have a good time.
00:23:03
Speaker 1: Why you oh man, It definitely definitely sounds like a fun read.
00:23:07
Speaker 3: I'm very much looking forward to it.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Brother Black.
00:23:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, Peaks of the Planet.
00:23:14
Speaker 5: I go by the name of Charlamagne and God and I can't wait to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival.
00:23:19
Speaker 2: That's right.
00:23:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, number three Baby.
00:23:21
Speaker 2: Black called Black Rose More Black CEO.
00:23:23
Speaker 5: We're coming back to Pullman Yard Saturday for twenty six in Atlanta, coasted by none other than Mandy B and Weezy. That's right, Decisions, Decisions. The Black Effect is bringing some of the biggest and best podcasts in the world to the stage for one day only. Get Ready, we got the R and B Money Podcast with Tanking Jay Valentine. We got the Woman of All Podcasts with Sarah J. Roberts, Good Mom's Bad Choices, Neked Sports with Carrie Champion, and the Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of course it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect Marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court to keep you fed.
00:23:58
Speaker 3: While you visit us.
00:23:59
Speaker 5: All right, if all my firing podcasters, we got something for you too. You know, we got informative panels and you can go to the Career corn Up for exclusive one on one time.
00:24:06
Speaker 3: With industry leaders.
00:24:07
Speaker 5: Tickets on Selle now tap into at Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast Festival.
00:24:15
Speaker 1: We are here today with legendary Hollywood producer and the author of the new book Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Will Packer. All Right, So when we first started chatting, you know, you kind of mentioned that.
00:24:34
Speaker 3: I'll paraphrase that we're.
00:24:35
Speaker 1: Kind of living in some interesting times, you know, from a lot of people's perspective in mind included, there are some forces working against we'll call it a more progressive, inclusive future, particularly for marginalized folks.
00:24:57
Speaker 3: Do you think or or rather, what do you think.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: This book could have in terms of impact on folks who feel like they're being affected by this current political administration.
00:25:12
Speaker 3: I know that you mentioned that this is infused.
00:25:14
Speaker 1: With a lot of laughs, a lot of positivity, and that's a fantastic place to start.
00:25:19
Speaker 3: But you know, I'll let you tell the story.
00:25:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen. I think that it is an entertaining book, but make no mistake, it is a book about making sure that you know your value. Number one first and foremost, you know your value. Number two, that you have the ability to get other people to understand your value. Because if you are not able to get other folks to recognize and appreciate your value, then somebody who is less talented than you, who is less deserving than you, they will get the things, whatever the things may be, in your life that you deserve. You say that again, if you're not able to get other people to understand and appreciate your value, then someone who is less deserving than you will get the things that you deserve. That the subtitle of the book is the Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, and my concept of healthy arrogant. Not to be confused what toxic errot is, which is about saying how you're better than everybody, are right, that's toxic ritings. You walk into a room and go, everybody, look at me, I'm better than you. That's not what we're talking about. Healthy arrogance means you walk into a room and it doesn't matter who's in that room. It can be some of the most important and powerful people in the world, but you understand that you have a right to be there, and that you're supposed to be there, and that you have something that nobody else in that room has, and you have to be confident about it. And in a society where you're absolutely right, inclusive ideals, progressive ideals, diverse ideals are all on attack, and there are forces and systems that are trying to hold down people that are in marginalized communities. The way that you have to combat that is with your excellence, by understanding your value and making sure that other people around you see the benefit in being in business with you and being in community with you, in recognizing your contributions and your culture and the value thereof. So I'm not somebody that says, you know what the world is a tough place, it's unpredictable, and you know the environment is not favorable to me. So I'm just going to go in a corner and die or just mad and yell about it. No, I'm going to say, what are the parameters, what are the metrics that it takes to be successful in today's world, in today's society, in a particular industry, And then I'm going to go out and figure out how to be successful according to those metrics and those parameters. See, I don't have ten number one black movies. I don't have a billion dollars in box office off of black dollars. Right. I got a billion dollars in box office off of American Right. I got ten number one movies, not just in Atlanta and Detroit. Shout out to my people in those markets, but I got them across the country and across the board. So you can't come to Will Packer and say, oh, you're only successful because you look a certain way, or because you got a leg up, or because of some program. No, I'm successful on any metrics or parameters and anybody else's and that's very, very important. But you got to be able to do that and be successful and understand that you absolutely should use your community, use what makes you unique, use your place in society, but use that to then succeed on whatever metrics, whatever parameters, whatever value system is out there that is determining success. That is how you silence those people that don't recognize your back. But one of the things you have to do is make sure that you number one, understand.
00:29:04
Speaker 3: Your own about I love it.
00:29:06
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. Now you mentioned also, you know, while we're here, you mentioned the subtitle of the book and you talked about healthy arrogance versus hic arrogance, right, yes, and and you know you would imagine that people would know the difference. But I'm glad that you broke it down, and indeed I had a note here for you to break that down, because there is a There are a few pieces of advice from the book that I wanted you to expound upon, and I'm glad that you took the first one, so I got a couple more for you.
00:29:38
Speaker 3: But I appreciate you kind.
00:29:40
Speaker 1: Of delineating healthy arrogance from you know, arrogance in the way many people, you know, perceive it as that sort of insolent off putting pride where you feel like you fly above other folks. Now there's another piece of advice from the book. Convince people your goals are essential and vital. Now I want people to read the book, but I want you to expound on that piece of advice, just to give people a glimpse of what they're going to get when they pick up this book. Again, convince people your goals are essential and vital.
00:30:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you have to understand that everybody is always thinking about what's in it for them for themselves, right. True leadership is getting people to align with your goals and your value. See when I talk about healthy arrogance and walking into a room and what you add to a room, the real key to success in any room is to get other folks to understand that you have a commonality of value. If I walk into a room and I say, Ramses, I need you to follow me. We're gonna lift this box and take it and put it over here in the corner. Well, you're thinking immediately, well, why am I helping you lift the box? What's in it for me? Box looks heavy? Why does it need to go in the corner? I was over here, you know, en or durv the crew to day having my drink, right, I don't want to go over there and help you lift the box. So the first thing I have to do is to get you to understand that lifting the box will help both of us, Like, what's in the box, what's the reason for it to go over there? What is it about this action I'm asking you to take that could benefit you. And if I'm able to get you to understand, oh, yeah, you know what, that box actually looks better in the corner, and I want this room to look good, and I think that this is a good thing for the room. To move the box, then you're gonna help me move the box. You have to be able to get people to row in the same direction in a metaphorical robo, right, And if you're able to do that, you have a much better chance for success than somebody that's just going out saying, Hey, this is what I want to do and y'all should follow me. No, you have to get people to understand it. You have to first of all understand people. Everybody's thinking, what's in it for me? Why am I doing it? What do I get out of it? So start there. Good leaders are able to get the teams and the people around them to support a common vision and a common goal. And so if you can make sure that your goals and your vision align with the people around you, they will help you to achieve those goals.
00:32:17
Speaker 3: I love that.
00:32:17
Speaker 1: Okay, I got another one for you, all right, again directly from the book. It's the work you put in when nobody's watching then makes everyone pay attention later. So it seems self explained to her, but I'm sure there's a little bit more there, so explain.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, listen, this is very important because we live in a world where everybody is always talking about everything that they're doing. Social media obsessed world. Right. One of the phrases people say is picks or it didn't happen right. Sure, you went out and ran a marathon, where the picks? Where's the video? Or you're training, you know for a marathon, you're about to lose weight, you're about to start your own company. Well, let me see it. What's happening? And we feel the pressure to show everybody what we're doing every step of the way. You know what you do. When you do that, though, you lose focus on your own goals. You're so busy trying to show other people what you're doing and your progress and get other people to cheer you on for your progress. That you're exposing whatever it is you're working on, whatever project, whatever goal, whatever mission, your baby, so to speak, and you're exposing it to the world before it's ready. The work you put in when nobody is looking. Everybody pay attention later. I have a theory that I call stay in the lab. Stay in the lab. When you're in the lab, you're working, you're focused, you're grinding. Don't worry about what everybody else is doing, and don't worry about feeling the need to validate the work that you're doing to everybody else before you finish the work. It's not ready yet, right. I didn't post chapters of this book online before the book was done. No, I needed to go back and edit it and re edit it and re edit it again, and then get it ready. And then when it was a complete book and a complete story with the beginning and an ending in the middle and chapters that said what I wanted to say, then I showed it to the world. We are so busy trying to make sure that we get like some comments and posts and reshares that were not staying in the lab. Put in the work, grind, put your head down, focus on your goal. Then then when it's time release it, show everybody because then everybody's gonna come pay attention. But it was the work you put in when they weren't looking that made it matter.
00:34:32
Speaker 3: Fantastic Well said, I think that.
00:34:37
Speaker 1: This is about as necessary a book as I've ever seen.
00:34:42
Speaker 3: And you know.
00:34:44
Speaker 1: I know that in addition to that, at least our listeners here on this show getting a chance to get a sense of your personality, get a sense of you know, who you are, how you move, the energy that you have about you, the frequency at which you vibrate, so to speak. Is that you know, folks are going to want some connective tissues. So I do want you to plug the book. But in addition to that, any social media, any upcoming projects outside of the book that you want people to support, any websites, anything like that before we let you go.
00:35:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, I mean I'm easy to find on social media will power packer, which is very apropos because I believe you got to have will power. So that is and by the way, ramses I was a DJ in college too. Yeah, so, yes, you're a professional DJ. I was a fun having fun while I was in college DJ. But I still you know what I was. I was a good COVID DJ. You know, everybody got on and was doing the live shit. My COVID DJ parties were rocked. Okay, I was having a good time. I got the turntables, I got the whole thing. I don't do it as much anymore, but I did have some fun being a DJ. So will Power Packer, my DJ name was DJ Willpower. Okay, I'm will Power Packer on all my social handles. Obviously, the book is out now. Wherever you buy books, I always tell people, try to support, you know, local bookstores. Try to support black owned bookstores. You know nothing on Amazon. I get it. Everybody's going and shopping with the behemoths. Nothing wrong with that, but got to support local businesses when you can. My book is available everywhere, so whatever platform you buy your books on or buy your audiobooks, it's out there. I've got several projects that I'm working on as a producer. You're always juggling a bunch of things. Right now on air is my the longest running African American dating show in television and it's called Ready to Love and it airs on Own the Own network on Friday nights, and it's a lot of fun. And so if you're into reality shows, you're into dating shows, check out Ready to Love. You can easily catch up or just jump right in with whatever the latest episode is. And last year, we actually released Fight Night, which is a limited series that is airing right now on Peacock and we won the NAAC Image Award for Best Limited Series and I'm very very proud of that. And it stars Sam Jackson, Taraji Henson, Don Cheatle, Terrence Howard, and Kevin Hart. And he's playing a dramatic role, okay, and he does an excellent job with it. So it's a true story based on the biggest heights in the history of Georgia that actually really happened after an unsanctioned Muhammad Ali fight. So that's called Fight Night. Check it out and just continue to support will pack of projects, but most importantly, continue to support yourself. You owe it to yourself. You deserve success. Go out and get the tools necessary for you to go and find your own success. That's what I want, That's what I want for my people. For my community. I want us to know that we are just as deserving of success as anybody else.
00:37:51
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I love that.
00:37:52
Speaker 1: Well, you know what, I couldn't be happier with the conversation that we've had. I appreciate that you're taking the time to come and talk to us here on the Black Information Network Q of course regretfully, Uh.
00:38:06
Speaker 3: You know, you know, but we had it down for you, brother, Yeah, yeah, we.
00:38:12
Speaker 1: Did our best. But yeah, I just I can't thank you enough. You're an inspiration. You know, your commitment to you know, your people, your commitment to your passion to yourself is infectious. And you know, obviously having a book out that people can you know, purchase and kind of have a piece of that, you know, in their lives, especially for folks kind of dealing with a tough time right now. I just I couldn't be happier with with the work that you're doing. And so my hat's off to you, sir. Thank you very much for your time and your insight. Once again, today's guest is legendary Hollywood producer and the author of the new book Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Will Packer, Thank you.
00:38:56
Speaker 2: For having me, mam.
00:38:58
Speaker 1: This has been a production of the Black Information Network. Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host Ramse's Jah on all social media and join us tomorrow as we share our news with our voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast.
Speaker 1: From Stomp the Yard to Ride Along to Girls Trip and many more. Willpacker's films have collectively grossed more than one billion dollars at the box office, with ten opening at number one. To outsiders, the unabashed confidence that has driven him since his college days when he was trying to sell a micro budget indie film may look like arrogance. To Packer, that's just what it took to make it on his own terms. In his new book, Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Willpacker provides a master mentorship by sharing secrets to success honed from working with the biggest stars in the world. As Kevin Hart says of working with Will Packer, quote, I became a student and I learned from the way he was moving. The man helped me grow and gave me the knowledge unquote. And now to discuss more on his new book, Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, we have legendary Hollywood producer Will Packer. This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast and I'm your host. Rams this job all right, mister Will Packer, Welcome to the show. We have been very much looking forward to having this conversation. Talk to us a little bit, man, what's going on in your world today.
00:01:12
Speaker 2: I'm exciting, man, I'm excited to be here. You know, Listen, we live in a time right now where people's whole existences are under attack. Right your value is under attack. Your ability to live your best life and be successful is underattack. It has never been more important rams is to understand your value, but not just understand your value, to be able to get other people to understand your value, and to know how deserving of success you are. So I live my life like that. I am somebody who absolutely believes that you need to be able to tell your story. You need to be able. One of the things that's interesting that I like, I love that my parents did when I was growing up is they put me in debate class. And I always encouraged people if you have kids, or if you you are a teenager in high school, you have an opportunity to take debate. I didn't want to do it because the cool kids weren't in debate. The cool kids while running track and playing football, basketball, right, I was an athlete, So my parents put me in debate. I didn't want to be in debate, but I actually found my voice, and in debate you learn how to formulate an argument and then defend that argument. Man, if there was ever a time when you need to make sure that you can formulate your argument and to defend it, especially in defense of yourself and your right to be successful, it's right now. So that's the kind of thing that you know, I think about a lot. That's one of the main reasons that I wrote the book, and it's one of the reason I'm happy to be here today because you all are a platform that is literally about giving information to people than to a community and a culture that people are trying to keep information from.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, sir, I love that energy, and as a person who letters in speech and debate, didn't do realize that it would bring me here. But yeah, I have on my letterman, I have my football and my basketball, my track, all that stuff, but I have speech and debate there. So we might have a little bit of a similar story in that regard. I feel like maybe there's something there. One of the things that we do on the show typically is we start our stories at the beginning with our guests. Now, obviously you're a person who's very successful. Your name is all over the place, you know. I did a deep dive on you before having this conversation, and I realized that the roots run even deeper than I thought. So for folks who may not be as intimately familiar with your background. You mentioned a bit about you know, your parents putting you in speech and debate class. Talk a little bit about you know, growing up, what inspired your passions to pursue you know, what it is you're doing right now, and sort of what led you to our conversation today.
00:03:51
Speaker 3: We'll do that before we get into the book. Of course.
00:03:54
Speaker 2: Listen, I grew up in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and I was a kid that was I was middle class. I had a two parent home, and I had parents that instilled in me early and this is absolutely the foundation of the success that I've had. My parents took me like Simba in the Lion Key. They took me to the highest mountain making fine, and they lifted me up and said, so everything the light touches can be yours. Right. I had parents that told me that you can be anything you want to be if you're willing to work hard for it, If you're willing to put in the effort anything as possible. And as a young kid, I had the audacity to believe them. And that's very very important. It's important that you know, we tell that to our kids and to our youth, because that's when they're the most impressionable, and they believe these things if we tell them, and they can be true. And so I grew up in Saint Pete and I was always somebody that was astute in math and science. And so I got a scholarship to attend in HBCU. Brought in and universe, very very proud fam you graduate, shout out to Florida and m And I didn't want to go to family. I didn't want to go to an HBCU. I had the great ty test scores all that I want to go to an ivy ing school. I felt like, that's why I deserved to be that's the best of the best. That's where I want to go. And I'm actually headed to Penn And I was going to enter into the Wharton School of Business. So I had looked up at one of the best busin schools in the country, and my parents said, well, how much money is Wharton offering you, you know, in scholarship, might as well. They're not offer anything like they're like, you know, we let you in. Be thankful, right, you're welcome. They said, well, what's Florida and am offering you? I saw Family was offering me, you know, full ride scholarship. They're trying to get more African Americans in the STEM program Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and they want me to go there and be an engineering major and I'll get a full ride scholarship. And they said, guess where you're going, young William Packet. That decision that was ever made for me. It wasn't my own personal decision. I went to fam You, and that's actually where I hooked up with a buddy. He was one of my fraternity brothers, one of my line brothers. I'm a proud member of Alpha Fraternity, and we together. He wanted to be a filmmaker. It was his dream, and I helped him to make his very first movie there I fam You, which was called Chocolate City. I didn't know. I didn't have film school pedigree. He didn't know the mechanics of how you make a film project. But we were hustlers and we were dreamers, and we went out and raised a little bit of money and shot a movie there on that campus, and Hollywood couldn't care less. And this is a very very important lesson that I learned early on. I felt like I needed to make a project that impressed the gate that impressed the important people, the people with the statuses and the titles and the resources. They couldn't care less about our little, tiny movie. But you know who did care. Stull at Florida and m University were peers, and they cared in a huge way. And it showed me that if you make something, you don't always have to make it for the quote unquote important folks. We spend so much time chasing people with titles, with money with brands, and not pouring into the communities that support us or the people that actually want us to succeed when they are what you need. The reason I got Hollywood to finally pay attention to me is because I made money without one. That's how you do it. Because I had a core audience that was happy to see themselves on screen. So Chocolate City was that first movie, and that taught me that, you know what, I don't need to go to Wharton. I don't need to go off and get an NBA and learn how to sell widgets. This is my widget right here, this thing that I've done. What is this called? I had no idea that. I said, Oh, that's called producer. You're the producer. I said, yeah, that's what I'm going to be, but to be a producer, and my career was born. And along the way, I fell in love with the art of storytelling.
00:08:04
Speaker 3: I love that. I love fantastic.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad I asked that question because I think it gives a little bit of background in context to the energy that you're bringing to this conversation. That's just, you know, a man with passion who's followed his dreams, and that culminated, at least in part in the book that we're discussing today. So talk to us a little bit about what inspired who better than you? The art of healthy arrogance and dreaming big?
00:08:31
Speaker 2: You know what it was about. I wrote this book because I have people that come to me and say, can you mentor me? Can you show me what it took for you to become successful? And I realized that over my three decade career in Hollywood, working with some of the biggest names, biggest personalities, most successful people in the world. That I've also worked with some of those same people, some of the most toxic people, some of the most insecure people, some of the most negative people in the world. And I have learned skills to navigate not only all those various personalities, but I've also learned what separates some of the most successful people from some of the people that are just desiring to be successful. And oftentimes it is the understanding and the belief and the faith that you deserve success. That is the number one thing that holds people back. People oftentimes don't feel like they deserve success. Some of the most successful people in the world they feel like, not only do they deserve it, they're predestined for it. It's going to happen, and they walk into rooms with that level of supreme confidence. And when you walk in with that kind of confidence, it changes the way that you interact in those rooms, the way that you answer the phone, the way you wake up in the morning, everything you do is different when you have that level of supreme confidence that says I deserve this and I'm going to be successful whether you know it or not. You should whether it happens today or tomorrow, or next month or next year, it's coming. And that confidence is a muscle. It's a muscle that you can build. So I wrote this book and i'm and the book is is very much in my voice. It's high energy, it's also very funny. I'm telling stories of, you know, interacting with people like Kevin Hart, who's one of my best friends, but who I also call a spawn of Statan because he's tried to stick my career more than once. I talk about Beyonce and how she repeatedly told me no, she wasn't going to be in my movie Obsessed, and how I finally convinced her and then that movie Open number one. And I tell stories about you know, Steve Harvey and yourself, all these people I've interacted with, And the point of the story RAMS is is to make sure that people understand that my journey has been very carefully and strategically built from this belief that I could do it, and that nobody's voice, no matter who they were, was more important than my voice, and that my voice kept telling me you're going to be successful even when I wasn't. I graduated from FAMU in ninety six. My first number one movie was it until Stomped Yard in two thousand and seven. That's eleven years, brother, that's eleven years where I was eating Ramen noodles and answering, you know, answering calls on a desk, working for a tip service, and you know, deliver newspapers, selling newspapers, like I was doing anything to just make ends meet. But till it's a long time, I was not an overnight success store. But I had this belief, in this faith and confidence. And so somebody out there listening needs to hear that because they also may feel like, oh, man, do I deserve such test? Cannot be successful? Am I doing the right thing? And so I talk about all the various principles that got me to where I am.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned, you know, someone out there listening might be, you know, confronting the same set of circumstances, or they might be you know, maybe perhaps hoping that one day they will be able to you know, pursue their passions or you know, whatever the case is. Talk to us a little bit about who you envision reading the book. Is this a young person who's you know, about to graduate high school or just started college. Is this a person who's well into their career, and whoever this is, what do you expect them to take from it?
00:12:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so interesting because as a movie producer, when I go into making a movie, when I decide whether or not I'm going to make a project or not, I always think about who the audience is. And I mean really really specifically. When I have a movie that comes across my desk, I think about a very specific person who that movie is going to be for. So, for example, with my movie Girls Trip, I thought very specifically about a woman named Sharon, and she lives in Detroit, and she's got two kids, and she's a pharmacist and she's divorced and she goes out with her girls on the weekend for wine, and she goes to the movies every now and then. But when she goes, she wants to have a good time. She doesn't like horror, she doesn't like thrillers, she doesn't like the stuff that's gonna make her sad, she don't like period pies. She likes to go and escape and have a good time. And Shironda was my model for the movie Girlcery, and I do that for every movie. That I make who is it for? So I did the same thing with this book. So when you ask about who this book was for, I thought about two people specifically. I thought about somebody that is in their forties and fifties who are already into the throes of a career but are ready to pivot, ready to make a change, ready to do something different, not totally satisfied and totally happy with where they are in their lives right now, and think that more is out there, better is out there, Greater is out there for them, but they don't know how to do it, and they are understandably apprehensive and anxious about making a major life change. And one of the things I talk about in the book is the power of the pivot. And the other person I made it for is somebody that is a millennial gen Zia who is about to graduate college or recently graduated college. Somebody who's out there and hasn't found their passion yet, who is trying to figure out what is my place in the world right They've either got a college degree or maybe thought about going to college, but they're in their like, you know, early twenties, maybe late twenties, and they're trying to figure out how am I going to kickstart my life because I haven't found the thing that I feel like I was put here to do. I haven't found the thing that is waking me up every morning going I have to do this. And there are a lot of people like this. And one of the things I say is that that's okay. You don't have to find that thing, right you don't. I have to just wake up and expect your passion that you're gonna do for the rest of your life to hit you in the face. It didn't for me. I did not have a passion for movie making. Initially, I did something that I was good at, which was going out and raising money, finding audiences, self distributing, and later, while doing things that I was good at, I found my passion in my love for storytelling. Later, but I didn't wake up saying I want to tell stories. I just was doing the things that I was good at, and I found enjoyment in it and then ultimately unlocked my life's passion. It's more often that that happens in that order than the other way around. It's okay if you haven't found the one thing that you feel like you will put on this earth to do. It's okay, it's not too late. You can still find it. But you gotta double down and triple down on the thing that you're good at and try to find enjoyment within that. You know.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: I think your point is well received, certainly by me, because it's amazing the similarities that I'm hearing in our stories. You know, for a long time, I was a and I still am, a broadcaster radio personality, and you know from hip hop, you know hip hop radio. I'm a DJ, like nightclub DJ, headphones, turntables, that whole thing, and a personality gave away concert tickets. You know, stick around till after the break because we're going to be talking about Who's Dayton and who that sort of thing.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
00:16:29
Speaker 3: And I loved it.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: It was it was amazing, But I never felt like this is what I was created to do, this is why God made this person. It was just a fun, cool job and I could have certainly done a lot worse, so I didn't complain. And then when twenty twenty rolled around and everyone got outside and everyone was protesting, you know.
00:16:50
Speaker 3: The death of George Floyd Q and my self q Ward and myself.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: We ended up starting a show called Civic Cipher that existed to foster allieship. We targeted hip hop stations because that was where we'd find potential allies and bring them over to our cause and give them the information they needed to be better allies. And we started to make content that felt true to our spirit. We have long form conversations instead of thirty second talk breaks. We broke down concepts, and then we look back on the sum total of our lives, all of our mentors, all the paths that we walked, and we realized we brought some really meaningful perspective to those conversations. And at that point I finally was able to have a conversation with the president of this network, and I told him that I have to do Civic Cipher, and ultimately it ended up in you know me, you know, hosting this show for the Black Information Network.
00:17:43
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's interesting, you're right.
00:17:45
Speaker 1: How it does sometimes happen in an order that you might not be familiar with, and so I could certainly see people appreciating this book. Now, you did mention a couple of things you mentioned so far. You mentioned Kevin Hart, you mentioned, you know, girls Trip and how who you had in mind when you sat down to tell that story. I'm curious, you know, how much of your experience as a producer, you know, with things like you know, you mentioned Girls Trip, I think like a man, you know, Stump the Yard, you know, all the all the films. How much of that has made its way into your book because you got a perspective that I'm sure only a handful of people and even less black men could tell. So I'm just curious how much of that has made its way in there?
00:18:36
Speaker 2: All? A lot of it that is that is that's really the foundation of the book. The foundation of the book is a successful movie producer who happens to be African American, happens to be an African American male, who has succeeded at the highest heights of an industry where there are not a lot of folks that look like me, especially behind the camera, succeeding at the highest level, who happens to have worked with all these edible actors and all these incredible folks from around the world and around the industry. And it really is about my story of navigating those worlds and finding success and how that's translatable to any industry. But in order to get folks to understand what I've learned and the skill sets that I've acquired along the way, I've got to tell these stories. So the book is about the stories of how I got Girls Trip greenlit, and how I made Stomp the Yard my first number one movie after all the studios told me no, And how my movie Takers, which was another number one movie that started Get Yourselba and Paul Walker, and how that movie almost got stunk on the very very first day of filming because of a big fight that was happening, and how I navigated. So these are stories I've never told before. But there's stories that I think, first of all, they're going to take and they're crazy, you know. I I tell the story about how, you know, there was an actor that didn't show up one day for set and we thought he was dead. Everybody thought he was dead because he'd gone out the night before and party really really crazy and there was rumors and drugs and stuff happening and nobody could find them. And Ramsey I end up having to burst into a hotel literally, have to get hotel security, We have to knock the door down. I don't know what I'm gonna find. I'm so afraid we find this this this actor and he is hungover at butt naked, and I'm like, oh my god, easy breathing, and I like poke him. You know how you might see like a damn pat in the park. You just poke. That is how I poked this chrome man like are you alive? And poked this person who woke up, looked at me, did not recognize me, didn't know who I was, totally hungover, immediately tried to kiss me. True story. I cannot make this up. I said, Uh, first of all, not doing that. You are late. Get set ass, Oh, I know you hung over. It's time to go and set right. All go back to first of all we doing.
00:21:12
Speaker 4: And so the story is about the crazy things that I've had to deal with on set and how you navigated and how you get past and how you end up still staying focused on your goals finding success.
00:21:26
Speaker 2: You may not ever be in a crazy situation like I was on the day of one of my biggest movies in a nightclub with Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Harden, and Carmelo Anthony told me were gonna die tonight, Like he literally said those words. And we were in New York and I had to get back to Atlanta, and I had thirty minutes to get Kevin Hart out of that nightclub to get him back on set. In Atlanta, we had to catch a jet that was flying back, and if we didn't get to the airport within thirty minutes for that private plane, we were not gonna make our flight. It was the biggest movie in my career. My whole career would have gone down the toilet. That's the story. You may never be in that situation, right, but you can certainly learn something from the fact that I was in it and I survived, and there are lessons that apply. I don't care if you are a movie producer, an accountant, a teacher, a broadcaster, doesn't matter. There are transferable skills that you can learn and use in any environment. And that literally is what the book is about. And it's also fun. I'm not gonna lie to you, man, it's fun and it's entertaining because that's who I am. I tell stories and I make entertaining contents. So I wasn't gonna make some boring self help book. I wanted it to be inspiring inspiration, motivational, but also entertaining. I wanted to be a fun read or fund listen. If you're somebody that does audio books, I've got you know. I called in all the folks that are in the book. So Kevin Hardy is on the audiobook, so as Regina all from Girls Strip, so with in yourself, but and Steve Harvey and these other folks. So it's entertaining because I wanted it to be something that you could consume, learn something from, but have a good time.
00:23:03
Speaker 1: Why you oh man, It definitely definitely sounds like a fun read.
00:23:07
Speaker 3: I'm very much looking forward to it.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Brother Black.
00:23:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, Peaks of the Planet.
00:23:14
Speaker 5: I go by the name of Charlamagne and God and I can't wait to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival.
00:23:19
Speaker 2: That's right.
00:23:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, number three Baby.
00:23:21
Speaker 2: Black called Black Rose More Black CEO.
00:23:23
Speaker 5: We're coming back to Pullman Yard Saturday for twenty six in Atlanta, coasted by none other than Mandy B and Weezy. That's right, Decisions, Decisions. The Black Effect is bringing some of the biggest and best podcasts in the world to the stage for one day only. Get Ready, we got the R and B Money Podcast with Tanking Jay Valentine. We got the Woman of All Podcasts with Sarah J. Roberts, Good Mom's Bad Choices, Neked Sports with Carrie Champion, and the Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of course it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect Marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court to keep you fed.
00:23:58
Speaker 3: While you visit us.
00:23:59
Speaker 5: All right, if all my firing podcasters, we got something for you too. You know, we got informative panels and you can go to the Career corn Up for exclusive one on one time.
00:24:06
Speaker 3: With industry leaders.
00:24:07
Speaker 5: Tickets on Selle now tap into at Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast Festival.
00:24:15
Speaker 1: We are here today with legendary Hollywood producer and the author of the new book Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Will Packer. All Right, So when we first started chatting, you know, you kind of mentioned that.
00:24:34
Speaker 3: I'll paraphrase that we're.
00:24:35
Speaker 1: Kind of living in some interesting times, you know, from a lot of people's perspective in mind included, there are some forces working against we'll call it a more progressive, inclusive future, particularly for marginalized folks.
00:24:57
Speaker 3: Do you think or or rather, what do you think.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: This book could have in terms of impact on folks who feel like they're being affected by this current political administration.
00:25:12
Speaker 3: I know that you mentioned that this is infused.
00:25:14
Speaker 1: With a lot of laughs, a lot of positivity, and that's a fantastic place to start.
00:25:19
Speaker 3: But you know, I'll let you tell the story.
00:25:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen. I think that it is an entertaining book, but make no mistake, it is a book about making sure that you know your value. Number one first and foremost, you know your value. Number two, that you have the ability to get other people to understand your value. Because if you are not able to get other folks to recognize and appreciate your value, then somebody who is less talented than you, who is less deserving than you, they will get the things, whatever the things may be, in your life that you deserve. You say that again, if you're not able to get other people to understand and appreciate your value, then someone who is less deserving than you will get the things that you deserve. That the subtitle of the book is the Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, and my concept of healthy arrogant. Not to be confused what toxic errot is, which is about saying how you're better than everybody, are right, that's toxic ritings. You walk into a room and go, everybody, look at me, I'm better than you. That's not what we're talking about. Healthy arrogance means you walk into a room and it doesn't matter who's in that room. It can be some of the most important and powerful people in the world, but you understand that you have a right to be there, and that you're supposed to be there, and that you have something that nobody else in that room has, and you have to be confident about it. And in a society where you're absolutely right, inclusive ideals, progressive ideals, diverse ideals are all on attack, and there are forces and systems that are trying to hold down people that are in marginalized communities. The way that you have to combat that is with your excellence, by understanding your value and making sure that other people around you see the benefit in being in business with you and being in community with you, in recognizing your contributions and your culture and the value thereof. So I'm not somebody that says, you know what the world is a tough place, it's unpredictable, and you know the environment is not favorable to me. So I'm just going to go in a corner and die or just mad and yell about it. No, I'm going to say, what are the parameters, what are the metrics that it takes to be successful in today's world, in today's society, in a particular industry, And then I'm going to go out and figure out how to be successful according to those metrics and those parameters. See, I don't have ten number one black movies. I don't have a billion dollars in box office off of black dollars. Right. I got a billion dollars in box office off of American Right. I got ten number one movies, not just in Atlanta and Detroit. Shout out to my people in those markets, but I got them across the country and across the board. So you can't come to Will Packer and say, oh, you're only successful because you look a certain way, or because you got a leg up, or because of some program. No, I'm successful on any metrics or parameters and anybody else's and that's very, very important. But you got to be able to do that and be successful and understand that you absolutely should use your community, use what makes you unique, use your place in society, but use that to then succeed on whatever metrics, whatever parameters, whatever value system is out there that is determining success. That is how you silence those people that don't recognize your back. But one of the things you have to do is make sure that you number one, understand.
00:29:04
Speaker 3: Your own about I love it.
00:29:06
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. Now you mentioned also, you know, while we're here, you mentioned the subtitle of the book and you talked about healthy arrogance versus hic arrogance, right, yes, and and you know you would imagine that people would know the difference. But I'm glad that you broke it down, and indeed I had a note here for you to break that down, because there is a There are a few pieces of advice from the book that I wanted you to expound upon, and I'm glad that you took the first one, so I got a couple more for you.
00:29:38
Speaker 3: But I appreciate you kind.
00:29:40
Speaker 1: Of delineating healthy arrogance from you know, arrogance in the way many people, you know, perceive it as that sort of insolent off putting pride where you feel like you fly above other folks. Now there's another piece of advice from the book. Convince people your goals are essential and vital. Now I want people to read the book, but I want you to expound on that piece of advice, just to give people a glimpse of what they're going to get when they pick up this book. Again, convince people your goals are essential and vital.
00:30:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you have to understand that everybody is always thinking about what's in it for them for themselves, right. True leadership is getting people to align with your goals and your value. See when I talk about healthy arrogance and walking into a room and what you add to a room, the real key to success in any room is to get other folks to understand that you have a commonality of value. If I walk into a room and I say, Ramses, I need you to follow me. We're gonna lift this box and take it and put it over here in the corner. Well, you're thinking immediately, well, why am I helping you lift the box? What's in it for me? Box looks heavy? Why does it need to go in the corner? I was over here, you know, en or durv the crew to day having my drink, right, I don't want to go over there and help you lift the box. So the first thing I have to do is to get you to understand that lifting the box will help both of us, Like, what's in the box, what's the reason for it to go over there? What is it about this action I'm asking you to take that could benefit you. And if I'm able to get you to understand, oh, yeah, you know what, that box actually looks better in the corner, and I want this room to look good, and I think that this is a good thing for the room. To move the box, then you're gonna help me move the box. You have to be able to get people to row in the same direction in a metaphorical robo, right, And if you're able to do that, you have a much better chance for success than somebody that's just going out saying, Hey, this is what I want to do and y'all should follow me. No, you have to get people to understand it. You have to first of all understand people. Everybody's thinking, what's in it for me? Why am I doing it? What do I get out of it? So start there. Good leaders are able to get the teams and the people around them to support a common vision and a common goal. And so if you can make sure that your goals and your vision align with the people around you, they will help you to achieve those goals.
00:32:17
Speaker 3: I love that.
00:32:17
Speaker 1: Okay, I got another one for you, all right, again directly from the book. It's the work you put in when nobody's watching then makes everyone pay attention later. So it seems self explained to her, but I'm sure there's a little bit more there, so explain.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, listen, this is very important because we live in a world where everybody is always talking about everything that they're doing. Social media obsessed world. Right. One of the phrases people say is picks or it didn't happen right. Sure, you went out and ran a marathon, where the picks? Where's the video? Or you're training, you know for a marathon, you're about to lose weight, you're about to start your own company. Well, let me see it. What's happening? And we feel the pressure to show everybody what we're doing every step of the way. You know what you do. When you do that, though, you lose focus on your own goals. You're so busy trying to show other people what you're doing and your progress and get other people to cheer you on for your progress. That you're exposing whatever it is you're working on, whatever project, whatever goal, whatever mission, your baby, so to speak, and you're exposing it to the world before it's ready. The work you put in when nobody is looking. Everybody pay attention later. I have a theory that I call stay in the lab. Stay in the lab. When you're in the lab, you're working, you're focused, you're grinding. Don't worry about what everybody else is doing, and don't worry about feeling the need to validate the work that you're doing to everybody else before you finish the work. It's not ready yet, right. I didn't post chapters of this book online before the book was done. No, I needed to go back and edit it and re edit it and re edit it again, and then get it ready. And then when it was a complete book and a complete story with the beginning and an ending in the middle and chapters that said what I wanted to say, then I showed it to the world. We are so busy trying to make sure that we get like some comments and posts and reshares that were not staying in the lab. Put in the work, grind, put your head down, focus on your goal. Then then when it's time release it, show everybody because then everybody's gonna come pay attention. But it was the work you put in when they weren't looking that made it matter.
00:34:32
Speaker 3: Fantastic Well said, I think that.
00:34:37
Speaker 1: This is about as necessary a book as I've ever seen.
00:34:42
Speaker 3: And you know.
00:34:44
Speaker 1: I know that in addition to that, at least our listeners here on this show getting a chance to get a sense of your personality, get a sense of you know, who you are, how you move, the energy that you have about you, the frequency at which you vibrate, so to speak. Is that you know, folks are going to want some connective tissues. So I do want you to plug the book. But in addition to that, any social media, any upcoming projects outside of the book that you want people to support, any websites, anything like that before we let you go.
00:35:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, I mean I'm easy to find on social media will power packer, which is very apropos because I believe you got to have will power. So that is and by the way, ramses I was a DJ in college too. Yeah, so, yes, you're a professional DJ. I was a fun having fun while I was in college DJ. But I still you know what I was. I was a good COVID DJ. You know, everybody got on and was doing the live shit. My COVID DJ parties were rocked. Okay, I was having a good time. I got the turntables, I got the whole thing. I don't do it as much anymore, but I did have some fun being a DJ. So will Power Packer, my DJ name was DJ Willpower. Okay, I'm will Power Packer on all my social handles. Obviously, the book is out now. Wherever you buy books, I always tell people, try to support, you know, local bookstores. Try to support black owned bookstores. You know nothing on Amazon. I get it. Everybody's going and shopping with the behemoths. Nothing wrong with that, but got to support local businesses when you can. My book is available everywhere, so whatever platform you buy your books on or buy your audiobooks, it's out there. I've got several projects that I'm working on as a producer. You're always juggling a bunch of things. Right now on air is my the longest running African American dating show in television and it's called Ready to Love and it airs on Own the Own network on Friday nights, and it's a lot of fun. And so if you're into reality shows, you're into dating shows, check out Ready to Love. You can easily catch up or just jump right in with whatever the latest episode is. And last year, we actually released Fight Night, which is a limited series that is airing right now on Peacock and we won the NAAC Image Award for Best Limited Series and I'm very very proud of that. And it stars Sam Jackson, Taraji Henson, Don Cheatle, Terrence Howard, and Kevin Hart. And he's playing a dramatic role, okay, and he does an excellent job with it. So it's a true story based on the biggest heights in the history of Georgia that actually really happened after an unsanctioned Muhammad Ali fight. So that's called Fight Night. Check it out and just continue to support will pack of projects, but most importantly, continue to support yourself. You owe it to yourself. You deserve success. Go out and get the tools necessary for you to go and find your own success. That's what I want, That's what I want for my people. For my community. I want us to know that we are just as deserving of success as anybody else.
00:37:51
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I love that.
00:37:52
Speaker 1: Well, you know what, I couldn't be happier with the conversation that we've had. I appreciate that you're taking the time to come and talk to us here on the Black Information Network Q of course regretfully, Uh.
00:38:06
Speaker 3: You know, you know, but we had it down for you, brother, Yeah, yeah, we.
00:38:12
Speaker 1: Did our best. But yeah, I just I can't thank you enough. You're an inspiration. You know, your commitment to you know, your people, your commitment to your passion to yourself is infectious. And you know, obviously having a book out that people can you know, purchase and kind of have a piece of that, you know, in their lives, especially for folks kind of dealing with a tough time right now. I just I couldn't be happier with with the work that you're doing. And so my hat's off to you, sir. Thank you very much for your time and your insight. Once again, today's guest is legendary Hollywood producer and the author of the new book Who Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big, Will Packer, Thank you.
00:38:56
Speaker 2: For having me, mam.
00:38:58
Speaker 1: This has been a production of the Black Information Network. Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host Ramse's Jah on all social media and join us tomorrow as we share our news with our voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast.
