Hope Comes to Visit
Hope Comes to Visit is a soulful podcast that holds space for real stories, honest conversations, and the kind of moments that remind us we’re never alone.
Hosted by author, speaker, and former TV journalist-turned-storyteller Danielle Elliott Smith, the show explores the full spectrum of the human experience — from the tender to the triumphant. Through powerful interviews and reflective storytelling, each episode offers light, connection, and presence for anyone navigating the in-between.
Whether you’re grieving, growing, beginning again, or simply craving something real, Hope Comes to Visit will meet you right where you are — with warmth, grace, and the quiet belief that even in the dark, transformation can take root.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light, reflection, and hope.
Hope Comes to Visit
86,400 Seconds of Hope: Donald Dowridge Jr. on Choosing Purpose Every Day
What would your life look like if you used every single second with intention?
This week on Hope Comes to Visit, I’m joined by Donald L. Dowridge Jr., a man who embodies resilience, purpose, and what it truly means to live with hope.
Donald’s early childhood was filled with pain most couldn’t imagine — abuse, neglect, and words no child should ever hear. But instead of allowing his past to define him, Donald chose to carve out a future rooted in service, courage, and determination.
After serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Army and breaking barriers at the Tampa Post Office, Donald discovered his calling almost by accident — when his fifth-grade son asked him to speak to his class. That one moment opened the door to his life’s mission: motivating and empowering others.
Today, Donald is the founder of DLD Enterprises, the author of 14 books (including The Power of Being a Winner, a #1 Barnes & Noble bestseller in five languages), and a dynamic motivational speaker known for his “unorthodox” style that blends music, dance, and passionate storytelling.
His message is simple yet profound: We each receive 86,400 seconds every day. What will you do with yours?
Donald’s journey is proof that:
- Your past does not determine your destiny.
- Fear and doubt often guard the doorway to your greatest achievements.
- Hope and purpose are choices you can make every single day.
This conversation is filled with energy, wisdom, and inspiration. Donald challenges us not to waste our days on “I would have, should have, could have” — but to live boldly, with hope, and with no regrets.
Connect with Donald on his website: DLT Enterprises.
And on Social - Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.
Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.
For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit
The fear, if you will, began to engulf me because, like they say, you know, quit, give up, it's not worth it. Go go, go turn on your TV, go get a beer, go go go hang out with your friends, go smoke some. But all that can engulf one's mind, especially when they are on the tip of the acknowledgement of success.
Speaker 2:Transformation doesn't happen all at once. It unfolds through stories and moments of truth. This is Hope Comes to Visit. I'm Danielle Elliott Smith. Every episode is an invitation to be seen, feel less alone and to hold space for whatever comes next. Today's guest is the embodiment of transformation.
Speaker 2:Donald Dowridge Jr is celebrating 33 years as the founder and CEO of DLD Enterprises. Determined to learn and develop. After serving five and a half years in the US Army as a sergeant and transitioning to become the first African-American manager of the OCR-BCS department within the Tampa Florida US Post Office, dowridge retired after 11 and a half years. Dld is ambitious in creating new dimensions of motivation for those who seek achievement by focusing energy in areas of obtaining positive outcomes despite life's obstacles. Let's take a quick moment to thank the people that support and sponsor the podcast. When life takes an unexpected turn, you deserve someone who will stand beside you. St Louis attorney Chris Dully offers experienced one-on-one legal defense. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP, or you can visit DulleyLawFirmcom that's D-U-L-L-E-LawFirmcom for a free consultation. Donald, I am delighted you are here with me. Thank you for taking time.
Speaker 1:Thank you, danielle, for having me this morning. I am excited off the charts, if you will, and it's a blessing to be your guest this morning. Thank you.
Speaker 2:You are a blessing. I have been so excited about having this conversation because when I think about hope, when I think about what hope looks like to me and how we are bringing it to visit people all around you are truly that in a human being. You have been through so much and for you it's a mission to show other people that you can take tough circumstances and turn it into a way to hope and inspire and motivate others.
Speaker 1:Well, I look at my life as definitely a blessing, coming through what I would call OJT on-the-job training to prepare me for the path that I didn't see at the time. So, taking it on full thrust, once it was handed to me, I felt like I had no choice in the matter. It was something that I was allowed to overcome, that God allowed me to overcome lesson that I had been given, if you will, as harsh as it was, abusive as it was, and to transpire into a blessing that I could share with others and hopefully help them through the vineyard. Because, in reality, once I studied it and looked at it and looked back at it, studied it and looked at it and looked back at it, it was not my life in the beginning, but I had to go through in order to understand the life that I was given to share with others.
Speaker 1:Who was desperate, who is desperate I shouldn't say was, but is because we still have people that are, unfortunately, in the vineyard and they're reaching to come out of it. So, am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper? Yes, I am, and one thing for sure I cannot flounder this opportunity that has been given to me so many of us, unfortunately. We have the opportunities but we flounder it. We have the opportunities but we flounder it, and it would be the worst crime on this planet, if you will, to flounder my life knowing that the opportunity was given. So no doubt it's the opportunity each day given to wake and give it to somebody else because it is a gift, somebody else because it is a gift, and the last thing that I could do is just waste it.
Speaker 2:Well, let me do this. Let's give people a piece of your story, if you're okay with that, because I think that it's one thing to say that you have been through something difficult and you've turned it into something positive, but I want our listeners to understand where you've come from, so that there is the opportunity for other people who are potentially going through something difficult to understand what tough looks like and what it looks like to turn things around.
Speaker 1:Well, to begin, I was born on Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:Nineteen hundred and fifty six in Baltimore, Maryland.
Speaker 2:Nineteen hundred and fifty six.
Speaker 1:Ok, they don't even say it like that anymore. No, but, yes, 156.
Speaker 1:Okay, she came in to try and save us, to capture us, but it was a few minutes too late and I wound up in. Well, we were all three were separated and I wound up in my second foster home. For, what I understand, started the tribulation, the pain that I would go through until I would say that I am probably 20, 21 years old. Um, and some of the tribulation. Uh, uh, um attempted to be hung out the third floor window at the age of seven. Um, uh, uh, sexually abused, being made to sleep out with the dog, and I was amazed.
Speaker 1:A couple of years ago, I went into the Dollar Tree and I went in, walking down the aisle to purchase another product. However, as I'm looking, I saw way down on the bottom shelf, way in the corner, I saw cans of Alpo dog food Alpo dog food which you would be incarcerated for feeding your dog that nowadays. But can you imagine that? Me myself being made to eat that and being forbidden to eat human food, locked in closets and just to move on, my biological father stabbing me eight times, and we're not even counting the times that I was stabbed or injured as a result of gang warfare in the South Bronx, being incarcerated, expelled third grade, expelled sixth grade, seventh grade and walking away from not education in the 12th grade. And not only that, just carrying that weight that was put on me that basically you're nothing, you're nobody, you're going nowhere, even my biological father telling me you know, I hate that you were born, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2:So I had to really climb that mountain. Did you have anyone you could rely on?
Speaker 1:During those turbulent times. No, no.
Speaker 2:So what? Because it's interesting to me to listen to you. It's such a dichotomy to hear this very upbeat gentleman who is effusive about being motivating and kind, this beautiful, centered, spirited man who's in front of me now.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you remember the recording artist, Bill Withers. I do Sunny Day that was one of his songs, however, he had a song about his grandmother and Grandma Haynes that was the name of it and I had a grandmother. She was my great grandmother and once I was moved from my, from the abusive situation from my biological dad, my grandmother, who I moved in with in the Bronx, as a matter of fact, 504 East 165th Street, apartment four, I still got to keep that apartment.
Speaker 2:If she still lives there, I'd be sending her a letter and flowers right now.
Speaker 1:Trust me, if she still lived there, I wouldn't be on this broadcast right now. I probably wouldn't be there. So, but to any avail, she pulled me to the side and she said baby, and she was a Pentecostal, very religious lady. And she said look, you've been through hell, but if you hold on, if you hold on, jesus got something good for you. You're going to be somebody in this life. And not only are you going to be somebody, you're going to move a lot of people.
Speaker 1:And at that time, 16 years old, I had no idea what she was talking about as a matter of fact, like most kids, what she know. But as time went on, I realized what she know. And when my son, who was in the fifth grade at the time, came to me and invited me to speak to his class and I agree the only reason I agreed because I wanted to be that dad that my dad wasn't to me. That's why I agreed and I really love my son. He's like he'll be 47 in a few months and every time he sees me he's like I'm a little puppy. He said every time you come around me, you're like a little puppy wagging and whatnot. But when he invited me to speak to his class. Danielle, I promise you. I went to speak and I said, ok, I'm going back to work, because my vision at the time was to become the first African-American postmaster of Tampa, florida. That was my dream. However, god used my son to put me on this road that I've been on for the last 33, 35 years, if you will 33, 35 years, if you will. And I mean, I'm so sewn into it. And not only that, just having the opportunity to meet people and be around people such as Les Brown, the renowned motivational speaker, and just eating and drinking that, that, his words, and other people, dale Connolly, et cetera, et cetera, and letting it get into the fibers of my bones and the fibers of my brain. You know so that. And, of course, reading the Bible and getting connected with God. You know those tentacles, if you will allow me, and assisted me and helped me to become the person that I became.
Speaker 1:And if I could say this, in 1989, maybe 1990, 91, somewhere around there, I went to a movie and, matter of fact, the name of the movie was Malcolm X. I took 10 young boys there to see it and there was a scene in that movie that really hit me hard. That scene was Denzel Washington coming out the shower with his cuck that was the name of the hairstyle back then and he was combing it. And there was another brother that was in there and he said look at you, look at you, you know just being who you're not, et cetera, et cetera. And he said you need to speak to Allah, allah, god. So Denzel's character, malcolm X. He said well, how do you speak to this God? He said you speak to him, just like you're speaking to me.
Speaker 1:So after the movie I take the kids home and I stopped by the store and I got me a 40, a 40 years old English 800 beer. So I go home, I get into the apartment, 800 beer. So I go home, I get into the apartment, I open it up and you know, like gangbangers do, I dripped it. You know the first sip. I poured it in the garbage can for my homies that are no longer here, took a couple of sips and then I started talking. I said yo G, yo G. I need to holler at you, homie. They said I can talk to you anyway.
Speaker 1:Yo, I need some help. You know, I mean, if I have to die, I want to die on positive. I don't want to die on negative. I want to be somebody. I want to be somebody great and trust me, it just seems like from that point on it's been like a red carpet ride. It's like I've been riding this carpet and everybody, all of us have problems. But if I could take a little, if I could put a twist on Jay-Z's song, you know, I got 99 problems, but a problem ain't one. It's because of the fact of knowing how to transport that problem into a plus instead of a negative, to keep moving forward, not for yourself, not for myself, but to be able to continue to reach out and inspire others, because if I'm not right, I can't help others to be right.
Speaker 1:So, yes, it's been a trial and it's been tribulation, but I am so thankful that, through the grace of God that I've been able to jump those hurdles, like Moses at the Olympics, and keep moving forward. And through that I must say yes, I failed. Yes, I mean when I say failed, I fell down, I hurt myself, but the moral of the story is I got up, I got myself. But the moral of the story is I got up, I got up, and when anybody who falls can get up and can dust themselves off. Dust that collar off, put the smile back on their face with the 700 muscles that are right here and use those 700 muscles in an up instead of a down. Trust me, there's nothing but sunshiny day. And look, you might not know about this, danielle, you wasn't born yet. But Ice Cube said it himself it's a good day.
Speaker 2:I wasn't born yet. See, yes, I was, yes, I was.
Speaker 1:You're looking so young and vibrant.
Speaker 2:You are very sweet. You know what. We can be best friends. I want to ask you this so your spirit is contagious, but say you get someone in front of you who says I don't know how to get up, right, it feels like my. It feels as though my grief, my hurt, my pain, my suffering is so heavy. What do you say? What do you say? What do you offer them to explain what hope looks like?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, first of all, I would put myself empathy, I would put myself in their shoes. Danielle, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to commit suicide. I can't tell you how many times wanted to commit suicide. I can't tell you how many times I'm talking to you, but I see me right now in the South Bronx, 16 years old, on the sixth floor at a party house party, if you will and I'm running in the room to jump out the window and my guard brother, he stopped me. So I get you know. I wrestle over him and I run downstairs and I lay out in the middle of the street. Here come a big old bus and I'm like, just hit me, I'm done, I don't want to live anymore. And the bus stops and the driver, big old guy, he comes out and he just picks me up like I was a piece of paper and he said what are you doing? Are you crazy? And then he just threw me to the side.
Speaker 1:So, going through these issues of wanting to quit grieving pain, and first of all I had to understand within me that's part of life. But I also had to understand when you flip it, it turns out right. How does it turn out right, because it gives you the strength. It gives you the strength and it gives you the heart to manifest yourself, to want to say hey, okay, I made it through that, now I can make it through another one. Because one thing I learned about this thing called life as soon as you come out of one, get ready because here comes another.
Speaker 1:And like the late, great Jerry Butler said, only the strong survive. In order to survive, you have to have the mental, the heart, the physical to move forth. Rely on G-O-D. God, because God is always going. As long as you want, as long as you thrive, you will continue to move forth, but make sure you are in the company of those that want to see you move forth in such a progressive way, because in reality, it's your prerogative and what you want to do with it.
Speaker 1:Nobody, in honesty, nobody, can tell you what to do with you, but you need and you must want to do the greatness within you, because we all fail. We all fail. But the point and the question is in our fail. Are we fail or are we fail? Yeah, yeah, are we fail? Yeah, and believe, fail, yeah, and believe me, god, don't make junk, and I would let them know how great they are. And they must understand how great they are. And one thing about me yes, I love shaking hands, all right, and I understand the time zone that we in. Okay, and I love hugging because I want people to understand I love you. Don't take it out of content now. I love you because, look, if I can, if I can move for you, cream, I cream.
Speaker 1:We all love ice cream. My favorite ice cream is butter pecan. As a matter of fact, when people say I'm black, I'm not black, I'm butter pecan. So the moral of the story is when we I'm black, I'm not black, I'm butter pecan. So the moral of the story is when we go get our ice cream and we're standing out in the hot sun, that cream is melting, we lift the cone to try to save as much as we can of that ice cream.
Speaker 1:I've grown. I've grown in my time here on earth to love. I have so much love that is dripping over, it's dripping all over me. So I want to share that love. And people say, don, what are you smoking? Are you still snorting? I'm like, no, I don't have any more tissues in my nostrils so I can't snort anymore.
Speaker 1:But I tell you what, in the midst of it, I'm smiling, I'm happy because of the fact that I made it through and I want to share with others, to show them, to speak to them in such a tone that they can grasp it and they can understand it and they can feel the J-O-Y that I feel about myself when I look in the mirror. When I look in the mirror, I don't look here, I don't look here. I don't look at me brushing my teeth, I don't look here. I look definitely here in my pupils. So I can feel the spirit that has been put inside of me to be able to go out of my front door or to be able to go into a program, such as here with you, danielle, and issue out, disseminate the joy that I have of being able to move from that point A, that distress that I was in to be able to move onto an avenue. Oh, I take that back. I take that back to forget about an avenue, to move onto a boulevard. That's right To move onto a boulevard.
Speaker 2:Not an avenue. We're not moving to an avenue, we're moving to a boulevard.
Speaker 1:Yes, that allow one to get the best out of self. And, danielle, I'm not bragging, I'm not boasting, danielle, I'm not bragging, I'm not boasting. God has allowed me, over the last 33 years, to be in front of many people, whether on stage, whether in a classroom, whether church, whether a retreat, conference, business, what have you? And just the mere fact of when I begin, how people they're like, but then, when it's all said and done, they're like I get it. Now, I get it, I am. I am Because it ain't about me when I say I am, that's them saying about themselves I am. So when you recognize what you go through, and then you come through, and then you can able to see through and what fly through, you're no longer in attitude, you're on altitude what I love is to me you are a living example, to be a light for other people.
Speaker 2:You are living as though people can see it was hard, it has been hard, it will be hard and yet I can. So you can. And I think that speaks to you saying I look into my eyes, I look into my eyes and I see my spirit and I'm grateful because I've made it and I continue to make it and because I continue to make it, I know you can, I know you can and you can and you can, and I want people to see the beauty and the joy and the life and the love that exists on this side. And I love that so much because that is why I created this podcast, because I know what it looks like to feel hopeless and I know what it is to live in this beautiful space of hope. How do you define hope, don?
Speaker 1:to believe in the faith that has been stored within. Hope is the ability to be able to clam out of any type of I'll use the word foxhole, if you will, because I was in the military Hope is to be able to see greater than what is less. And not only that when you learn to engulf yourself in hope, then there's no stopping hope, because every day one wakes up, they recognize that they can achieve, and they can accomplish whatever their dreams are. Like we said earlier about fail, well, fail, basically, is on the other side of fail is resilient.
Speaker 1:Being resilient, and not only that, having the goal, if you will, to store up you see a squirrel come down out of a tree and the squirrel grabs up all the little nuts, if you will, that around that tree, takes it back up in the tree and store it. So storing all that equals one word perseverance. To be able to have the perseverance to come back after a major storm, to come back after a major setback, to come back after being denied, and not only that, to have the gall to tell doubt and denial, to step out, to move out my way, regardless, no matter how much it might look, it might break you financially, it might give you stress, it might give you a health issue, but imagine how many people who have overcame a health issue to move forth into their dreams and their desires. If I may, this is my 13th book the Power of being a Winner.
Speaker 2:Look at you go.
Speaker 1:I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting the late, great Miles Monroe. I sat there for three hours and he said just sit there, I'll get with you I could. I had the choice to either get up, look at my like like you know, I ain't got time for this, let me leave. No, I sat there for two hours and then the gentleman gave me two and a half hours of his time for free and when it was all said and done, when I left and I had to go to work that next morning at the post office, I went home and I started writing this, but Danielle here's the secret.
Speaker 1:Here's the secret, and I'm giving it away for free.
Speaker 2:Here's the secret Tell me.
Speaker 1:I'm listening, I wrote the book, but I allow doubt and denial to take over me. It started getting in my head. Nobody's going to read that. Are you crazy? Put that thing in the trash somewhere. Imposter syndrome yes. So you know what I did. I took it After 10 manuscripts. I took all those manuscripts and I put them in a drawer, okay, and I sat in that drawer for 17 years 17 years.
Speaker 1:I promise you 17 years this book sat in a drawer Okay, 2013 or 2012,. I had the gall who am I? Who am I? I had the gall Can you believe that? To go in that drawer and pull that manuscript out and I took it to church watch night and I prayed over it that two weeks later I sent the book to a publisher A dog ear publisher. Next thing I know I look around, the book was number one on Barnes and Nobles. Number one Barnes and Nobles self-help. The book was produced in five different languages and sold throughout the world after 17 years of sitting in a excuse me, in a drawer.
Speaker 2:And that was your 13th book.
Speaker 1:That was my 13th book as a matter of fact. My 14th book is here as a matter of fact, my 14th book is here.
Speaker 2:Okay, hold on a second. What made you doubt after 12 books? Like you were clearly writing other books, so why that book? What scared you about that one? Because clearly you were doing something right as an author. So where did the fear monster come from in that one?
Speaker 1:You know it's funny. You say that because my first book, truth in the Poem, which was done in my house, I sold 5,000 copies of those back in 1994. I had no problem with that. But as I guess, as life progressed, the fear, if you will, began to engulf me because, like they say, you know, quit, give up, it's not worth it. Go turn on your TV, go get a beer, go hang out with your friends, go smoke some. But all that can engulf one's mind. All that can engulf one's mind, especially when they are on the tip of the acknowledgement of success.
Speaker 2:For those, for our listeners, who are not watching us on camera but are listening, say the title of that book for us.
Speaker 1:The Power of being a Winner. W-i-n-n-e-r. And the way that the wording is on the book is because each letter means something. It's an acronym and I can't give it away until you know. Just purchase the book if you will.
Speaker 2:I will link to the book in show notes so people will be able to find it. We'll link to all of your stuff so people can find you. But I'm so fascinated by the fact that that book was. I mean you clearly had had success as an author and then all of a sudden there's this piece of you that says maybe I'm not an author, maybe I'm not worthy. And that's interesting because I think that's a universal experience and I I not. I think I know I know that's universal experience. I know that even when success is something that has happened to us or for us or in our lifetime, we still have doubts creep in about our ability to keep moving forward. What was it that allowed you to say I'm good enough for this? What was your self-talk track that allowed you to pull the book out of hiding and put it in front of people and put it in?
Speaker 1:front of people. Well, basically, when you talk about the self-talk, it's like Dawn, what are you doing? And I'm very hard on myself.
Speaker 2:We all are.
Speaker 1:You got a prize right here. You wrote that that's your words. Are you going to die with that sitting in a drawer? No, don't do that. With that sitting in a drawer, no, don't do that. And then, on top of that, listening to other motivational speakers that got in, you know that inspired me. You know, like I said earlier, the gift this is a gift that was given to me alert me of what time it was and the ability to move forward and not to be or stop being scared. A lot of us, we are scary. We don't even have to look at a horror movie, freddie. You can go back to sleep, Jason. Go back to sleep, because it is greater than being scared out of our wits to go out into the public or to bring something to fruition that is aching and burning us inside. A lot of people get stressed. Can you believe people die because of the fact they allow what is in them to kill them? I'm not talking about health issues.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about the dreams that they have, and they're so afraid to bring it because of what one might say on the outside, if I could add, when I had this urge to want to retire from the post office, I had about five or 10 people come to me and say, don you crazy, ain't nobody going to pay you to go out there and speak, you, a black man, ain't nobody going to pay you. Well, on that November, the 22nd 1996, that was the day that my retirement was approved and, believe it or not, believe it or not, from that day to 1998, I will be honest with you. I mean, my 401k was spent. My cupboards were almost bare, you know, as far as eating, what have you. And the question was Don, are you sure about this? I didn't even have to answer that because I was sure, because I burnt that bridge. Sure, because I burnt that bridge.
Speaker 1:Danielle, two years later, and to be honest with you, when I left the post office, I was making $50,000 a year when I left the post office. So, two years later, I go to my mailbox at the post office. Here come a couple of people I worked with and they're like Donald Dowridge, we see you on TV, blah, blah, blah. And I opened up my mailbox, if you will, and there were two letters. I pulled out the letters and, while they're talking to me, I'm opening it up. And I pulled out the first one, which was a check for $30,000 addressed to me, pay to the order of. I go to the second one, I open it up. It's a check for $50,000 addressed to and paid to the order of me. So I showed them, not boasting, but I showed them, and I said you know what? The best thing that I ever done was to retire from the post office, but I had to go through the best thing you ever did was believe in yourself.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, and I was 39 years old. Ok, and I can't believe it. This November coming will be 29 years since I. Next year will be 30, once I retired. And you're right, I did not ever question the move, no matter how painful or stressful or how you know how many tears I cried, I never questioned the move. When people ask me say Don do you regret? No, I do not regret, I did not regret and I do not regret. I did not regret and I do not regret. All right, we all have regrets. I do have regrets, but that move was the best move that I was allowed to make because of the point that I was sure of what I wanted to do with me and not allow others to do with me what they wanted to do with me, but me to do what me want to do. And, danielle, I'm still trying to figure out for the likes of me, how did I go from 39 to 68 so quick? Well, like what happened? You know where's our dream of Jeannie at? Because it disappeared.
Speaker 2:I still feel 39. Oh, I understand that I still feel 39. Oh, I do I understand that I feel the same way. How did I get from 39 to 52?
Speaker 1:And where did it come from, you're not no 52. Stop playing If you're 52, I'm old as dust.
Speaker 2:Say it again no, I am absolutely. I am every bit of 52. But I appreciate you. Thank you, sir. So I actually have a question because I think and I think that this is something that you're going to be very good at I want you to talk to our listeners and I want you to tell them to have the audacity to believe in themselves, to have the audacity to believe in themselves If I put you in front of them and you know they have that inkling in them. They have that dream, they have that book in their cabinets they've written they want to quit that job, they want to do that thing. They have that hope, they have that thing in them. Tell them, what do you tell them?
Speaker 1:I would tell them the worst thing that you want to do is to allow the ain't, to allow the can't, to allow the won't to be dominant within self. When you know you have something to offer, when you know you're better than, when you know you can rise to the occasion, when you know that the plan is already there, when you know the door is wide open, it's not cracked, it's wide open for one to get up and say you know what? Today is the day. Today is the first day of your brand new life. You got 86,400 seconds within a 24-hour day. It's the opportunity to use it to the fullest of you.
Speaker 1:Look, we got 85,000 thoughts that go through this molecule here. Unfortunately, we allow the majority of that 85,000 thoughts to tell us what we can't do and we get soaked into it. This is the time to erase all that negativity that is stopping one from going forth and thrusting themselves into whatever dream of their desire and bring it to fruition. Is it going to be easy? No, you don't want it to be easy, because if it's easy you won't appreciate it. But if it's hard and you put that effort into it and you put that strength into it, and if you clear that path of people who are in your way, not people who are in your way to assist you, but people that are cluttering up your space with nonsense, with buffoonery, with the I can't and the word that I don't like to use with the hate. Those are the ones that, yes, when you're young, you're going to wake up one day and your whole existence is going to be about.
Speaker 1:I regret, I woulda, shoulda and I coulda, and you hear them stories all the time, because I am in that age bracket. Now, when I get around certain people I hear, yeah, I used to, yeah, I could, yeah, I would have. Well, guess what I should have? You know, the number one song nowadays, let's just say, is Beyonce. Well, guess what? There's an even greater number one song, all right, and what is it you ask? I will tell you don't fall victim to the number one song that is out there. There's two of them. They're tied. What are they? I regret, and if I would have, should have, could have. Those are the two top songs out here. And, believe me, if you believe in yourself and you understand yourself and not allow others to understand you, not allow others to fool you, not allow others to steal your time, not allow others to stand in your way, because we all have a limited time and when the clock starts ticking then it falls back on you. So I send out the message to all the listeners, whatever you're sitting on. Whatever you're sitting on on your diarrhea I mean not diarrhea, but diarrhea. Stay it up and be proud of who you are. Take that, look in the mirror and tell yourself that I am somebody.
Speaker 1:Danielle, when I first started out, I had sticky pads. I had sticky pads. I had sticky pads all over my house, on my mirror, everywhere, that were giving me motivational words that I would read and I would allow to soak me. I would soak myself. You know how you soak yourself in a bubble bath. Well, I'm soaking myself in motivational words and I'm eating this stuff and I'm drinking this stuff and it's just flying off of me, it just flies out of the pores of me. So once you get that enthrushed within self, there's no stopping you now. There's no stopping you now. I mean I hear people say oh, my children, oh this, my bills, oh this. Well, guess what? We all got that same issue. Nobody's exempt. You know, when you're a child, you do what a child do you play, play, play. When you become an adult, you do what adults do. We work, work, work. But when, in the midst of that, work, work, work, make that work, work, work, work for you.
Speaker 2:What inspired you to start DLD Enterprises?
Speaker 1:Well, believe it or not, prior to DLD Enterprises, I was in the music business. As a matter of fact, I auditioned with the Temptations. I had a stint with Kool and the Gang, as a matter of fact, when I was a kid, in my second foster home, and I saw James Brown on the Ed Sullivan show. How many of us have ever done this? I want to be just like that. That's what I want to do with my life. I've always been an entertainer.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you ever heard of the program the Wire. I was. I had a part in the Wire Sequest, that on NBC. I had a part, you know, a model that did all these things and and it dawned on me that I could use all those gifts, all those gifts, all those avenues, all those tentacles, and inspire people. And that's why I call myself an orthodox speaker. I'm an unorthodox speaker because I am the one that comes out. I don't just stay in there. I dance, I rap, I sing and I put all this in, I act, I put all this in my presentation and because of the fact that you know that moves people. When I was in school, I'll be honest with you when I was in school. I'll say it again when I was coming through school, I was not your typical student. As a matter of fact, I wore F and Ds on my report cards. Okay, I spent more time out of school than I did in school. It's just by the grace of God.
Speaker 2:That doesn't surprise me. You didn't have much guidance, you weren't being taken care of, you were not being given the love you deserved, so it doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but. But the moral of the story is here today I'm thankful I got my high school diploma. Now I got my degree, but the moral of the story is is that all of those challenges were the challenges to steer me on the path to be that speaker. But the challenge is to steer me on the path to be that speaker and and just getting into the right company. And I can't. I can't remember the gentleman's name, but he told me. He said you know, I want, I want to take you, I want, I want to introduce you to somebody. And this gentleman paved my way, life and everything, to Atlanta, georgia, to hear Les Brown speak.
Speaker 1:Atlanta, georgia, to hear Les Brown speak. I was big. I sat on the front row and, when it was all said and done, Les Brown, as he was walking off stage, he looked at me and he said follow me. And I went to his dressing room and I sat there and I listened to this man for maybe about an hour. Sometime in the future I wound up being this same man's chauffeur for a weekend and he was steady, pouring into me, and he told me this.
Speaker 1:He said look, if you want to come into this business, understand, it's not about how much money you can make, but it's about the passion of your heart and how you can move an audience. He says, when you're up there speaking, this is your audience right here. But once you know you got that audience in your hands, when you know you got them eating out your hand, then you do this, you spread ego. Why? Because you allow them to fly off into their zones of their life. Because you then gave them the antidotes to be successful.
Speaker 1:I said very interesting. So, being that speaker, it's not about how much I can make. Look, sister, when I first got in, I got on my knees and I said Lord, allow me to use this gift to help those who are still in the vineyard, who are going through what I've been through. Never let it be about how much money I can make. It's not about the money. It's about, if you want to say money, if you want to say M, it's about the memories that I can create of how I inspire people to be the best that they can be in their lifetime. Before the coffin is closed, locked and dropped.
Speaker 2:Well, and hopefully it's about giving them the motivation to move forward as well. I so appreciate you spending time with me. It has been so delightful to have you here as we wrap up. I just want to give you the opportunity to share with everyone. Where can they find you? I know you're working on your 15th book.
Speaker 1:Yes, it 50. As a matter of fact, August, the 16th of this month, would be 51 years of living in Tampa, and it's been a blast. How can they find me? Quite naturally. Here's my phone 5, 8, 7, 5, 8, 1, 3, 3, 9, 4, 5, 8, 7, 5.
Speaker 1:Quite naturally you can email me at BLD282002 at yahoocom, my website, wwwdldenterprisesorg. What does the DLD stand for? Determine, learn and eventually you will be developed, and it's also my initials of my name. I'm on all of these social media platforms and I would love to hear from you. I would love to have the opportunity to stand before you in person to give and to deliver, to inspire and take you to another level of your greatness on altitude.
Speaker 2:You are amazing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you, Daniel.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for being here with me and friends. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Hope Comes to Visit. We so hope that we've given you the hope and the motivation and the light to bring you through another week. Thank you for being here with us. I hope that you will take this episode and share it with the people you love and that until you spend time with us again, you will take good care of you. Thank you for being here. Naturally, it's important to thank the people who support and sponsor the podcast. This episode is supported by Chris Dulley, a trusted criminal defense attorney and friend of mine here in St Louis, who believes in second chances and solid representation. Whether you're facing a DWI, felony or traffic issue, chris handles your case personally with clarity, compassion and over 15 years of experience. When things feel uncertain, it helps to have someone steady in your corner. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP or you can visit dullylawfirmcom to schedule your free consultation.