Diversity Speaker and Social Justice Co-Host:

Tayo Rockson and I catch up on his mission to improve the cross-cultural relations in the business world. We catch up on his diversity talks, his recent TEDx public speaking achievement and reconnect since our meeting at the Mid-Atlantic Podcast Conference in 2016. Tayo is a podcaster, keynote speaker, and diversity entrepreneur ready to rock the mics with us!

On This Episode You Will Hear:

Tay hits us with his backstory with our mutual friend Joe Pardo and being a keynote speaker at MAPCON 2016.

Connecting across cultures is important to Tayo.

Developing social skills, networking, Diplo-brats.

Tayo gets out of college and has 85+ rejections, he's a foreigner in our country, so he really needed to find a job to sponsor his Work VISA.

His missing energy and the story of his car accident, swerving out of control in the rain and hitting multiple cars and guardrails. His thoughts of "I haven't done anything I wanted to do and I'm about to die.

Tayo starts his blog to share his diversity stories and his messaging to develop his own brand.

He's been broke, everyone has to put in the work. If we aren't stepping out of our comfort zones, we aren't living our life.

What led Tayo to speak at his recent TEDx event.

He decided to become an influencer and to help others connect across cultures. His focus on Diversity Inclusion and now his podcast starts to rise.

One thing he's always learned is to "Be Grateful for the Now."

MAPCON, the Mid-Atlantic Podcast Conference with Joe Pardo.

It's like the monkey bars, having one hand forward and one hand holding you back. It's about the two hands being free, about being in that moment. Experience for Tayo is the best teacher.

Live Life to the Fullest from Ernest Hemmingway which helped inspire the creation of LIVETHEFUEL. LIVETHEFUEL stands for Live The Fired Up Epic Life.

Live Life To The Fullest - Ernest Hemmingway

College does not teach you to be an entrepreneur.

Scott applied to over 200 jobs while living in Colorado after the firefighting years.

If you live a life so cautiously, that you don't fail, then you've not lived a life worth living.

Apply for that job, date that person, buy that plane ticket, move to that city, do all the things that scare you because they're worth it.

Apply for that job, date that person, buy that plane ticket, move to that city, do all the things that scare you because they're worth it! - Unknown

His first TEDx talk was on "How to be an Inclusive Leader". His first few years of his life, Tayo lived in a military dictatorship in Nigeria. He saw exactly what it was like to have your civil liberties taken away from you.

His second TEDx talk was on "The Art of Diplomacy". Don't be reactive, become proactive. Seek mastery.

Tayo calls out Scott on him not having applied to speak at the local TEDx Lehigh River here in Pennsylvania.

THRIVE: Make Money Matter event and Jack Canfield having spoken at this event in 2016.

Tayo started doing things that scared him the most, like agreeing to perform the keynote speaking at MAPCON.

Sometimes it takes a little jealousy, confusion, or intrigue to inspire people to think outside the box.

Tayo gets so nervous right before the stage.

If you say something with enough conviction, people believe it.

Shoutout to our evangelist supporters, like LIVETHEFUEL's Brian Strauser.

Tayo has a rule he likes to live by: Put a smile on five people's faces a day.

Open a door for someone, this doesn't have to be rocket science to make people smile.

 Chivalry is dead... It's only dead if we allow it to be dead.