Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When I came into WWE after Monday Night Wars, it wasn't my greatest time in the business... but they kept bringing me back.
I spend 90 percent of my time saying no, and my accountant yells at me for it, but when I started in this business, I wanted my career to have legs.
I think the 'R&B singer' title came from me entering the business at a time when R&B chick singers were the trend. I was fine with that, but I have a lot more to offer.
Well, it is certainly not by choice at this time you don't see or hear about me. This business is very unpredictable. A lot of it is luck and being in the right place at the right time.
I'm a permanently curious person. I probably waste my time being curious about things that have got nothing to do with the business sometimes. What keeps me alive, certainly, is curiosity.
I don't do nudes. I don't do semi-nudes. I don't do cigarette shots. It took me a long time in the business to realize I didn't have to do everything people told me I should if I wanted a career.
I'm doing my sit-ups and watching CNBC. Suddenly, somebody starts talking about me on television... The business has gone into a weird zone of visibility. For those of us who have done it for a long time, it's strange.
Jerry Ormand was already a legendary Texas oilman when I met him. Yet he took the time to introduce me to the fine points of the oil business and how to survive and prosper amid the chaos of a rough-and-tumble industry.
'Blackbird' is the only one I've ever wanted to redo. It just haunted me, this play. There was a sense of unfinished business because at the time we did it at Manhattan Theatre Club, there was real momentum to move it to Broadway.
I've gone far in the movie business, but no matter how far I go, every time I pick up the phone to call Tom Hanks or Robin Williams, I wonder if they'll call me back. And you know what? Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.
Examining other people's motivations, other people's language and other people's way of interacting is much more fascinating to me than spending a lot of time worrying about my own. I've said, 'What other people think of me is none of my business.'
It was tennis that got me started in business. When I was 16 and about to embark on my A-levels, I set up a tennis academy and became one of the youngest qualified tennis coaches in the country. It did well; by the time I was 19 I was able to buy my first house.
Honestly, when I left the business, in time, some people might remember you and some might say they knew the name. But, people move on and there are new interests and all kinds of different things go on all the time. So, it surprised me how people have not forgotten.
Scott Coker, I've known him such a long time, he's always been a straight shooter. He's always been very, very respectful towards me. He understands the business. He understands marketing and how to push the fighters to make them superstars in a household environment.
Some Sundays, I read it quickly - other Sundays, I savor it. I generally spend most of my time in 'The New York Times Book Review,' 'Sunday Business,' 'Sunday Review,' and 'The New York Times Magazine.' I turn all the other pages, only stopping when I find a headline that interests me.
In the early stages of negotiation software, on your smartphone, there may be programs that listen to the pitch of a voice, or that test for stress. You'll just ask the program, 'Was he lying? Was he eager to do business with me?' Maybe the computer will be right sixty per cent of the time.
To me, I think I've always carried that type of WWE style with me throughout my career, even before I got here, so the transition hasn't been that difficult. I've been enjoying the transition, to be honest with you, because in my opinion, this business evolves all the time, and it changes all the time.
I ended up performing one time at BET. I performed my record, like, four times, and the crowd was going super crazy. And Busta just happened to be there; he pulled me to the side and asked, 'Are you signed to anybody?' So we went to the studio a few days later, spoke, and then became business partners.
My second business would have succeeded but for competitors' jealousy. I was selling motorbike gear cheap, but the people I was undercutting complained to the manufacturer and cut off my supply. It showed me how corrupt business can be. When I sold phones, the same thing happened, but this time I was ready.
Oprah Winfrey is a big role model for me from a business capacity and a creative capacity. She is an incredible interviewer who cultivated a certain style by inserting her own personhood into a show on national television at a time when no one was talking about empowerment, spirituality, or our inner lives.
If you want to be more productive, then start at the start: get there on time. Whether it is a meeting, a flight, an appointment or a date, it's important to ensure you are there when you say you will be there. This may feel like an old-fashioned tip to give, but it has served me well for five decades in business.
One of the people who most influenced me was Ben Shapiro, a marketing professor at the business school. He used to rant and rave and pound his fist: 'It's all about the customers!' And he was right. He was also right that, at that time, retailing was devoid of really talented people; he urged me to go in that direction.
The business can be frustrating. For me, Omaha is a rounding foundation. I was raised in a very faith-filled household, very hardworking. It made me aware of what privilege is. And it's a place I can go back to, spend time with nieces and nephews, celebrate the things that have nothing to do with the hubbub of Hollywood.
One time at the University of Colorado, at a faculty dinner, this professor said to me, 'Well, my goodness, a boy from Appa-lay-chee-a with a Ph.D!' The dinner was in her house. And I said, 'My grandparents didn't have indoor plumbing, but they had more books in their house than you do.' I was a little insulted by the Appa-lay-chee-a business.