Chancellor Speaker Series Brings to NC A&T By Imani Maatuka, Special Correspondent

Daymond John headlined the Chancellor Harold Martin’s Speaker Series, in Harrison Auditorium, April 27, 2017.

Daymond John of Queens, New York, came from the humble beginnings. He is now an accomplished entrepreneur. John is the founder of the popular, American clothing brand, FUBU.

FUBU, which stands for, “For Us By Us,” is an urban- wear fashion line. FUBU was a pioneer in the fashion industry, as it was one of the first clothing lines to make sportswear fashionable. According to the Gazette Review, FUBU is now worth over 6 billion dollars.

John is a New York Times bestseller and a motivational speaker. Daymond John’s New York Times Best-Selling books include: “Display of Power,” “The Brand Within,” and “The Power of Broke,” which is currently free, and is available on Daymond John’s personal website, https:// daymondjohn.com/.

Recently, President Barack Obama appointed Daymond John as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. The position focuses on promoting the significance of entrepreneurship, on a global scale.

“Fortunately, right now 'entrepreneurship' is one of the business world's biggest buzz words and so many young people in our country are looking up to this new generation of CEO's as their modern day rock stars. Whenever you have that effect, it makes the job of promoting entrepreneurship much easier.” Daymond John said.

In 2014, Daymond John won the Hennessy VSOP Privilege Award, for his avid display of philanthropy. John is active in the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, which is an organization dedicated to mentoring the youth.

John’s business savvy has been recognized, as he has acted as a “Shark” on ABC’s , for the past eight years. Shark Tank is a reality television show, where aspiring entrepreneurs present their business ideas to business executives and investors.

Shark Tank has various, “Sharks,” including Daymond John. The other sharks are: Barbara Corcoran, , , , and Kevin O’Leary. Shark Tank has been awarded an Emmy, for Outstanding Structured Reality Program, for three consecutive years.

In addition to reality television, Daymond John owns a brand consulting company called, “The Shark Group.” The company focuses on sharing advice and business strategies with its clients.

The Speaker Series, in Harrison Auditorium, was a revised version of the popular televisions show, Shark Tank. Four NC A&T students were chosen to present their business ideas to Daymond John, as well as Janice Howroyd, the founder of the ACT-1 Group and NC A&T Board of Trustees Member, and Chancellor Harold Martin. The students chosen were the following: Emani Harris, Robert Mwaniki, Jordan Thomas and Darius Wright.

After receiving the student’s business ideas, Daymond John gave a brief keynote, in which he detailed his pathway to success, while leaving the audience with tips to increase their likelihood of success.

One of Daymond’s tips was to, “Do Your Homework.” To explain the advice, he mentioned a mistake GAP made, which cost them 60 million dollars.

“So GAP calls LL Cool J up, and they’re like, ‘LL we love this hippity hoppitty stuff you’re doing. We want you to do this commercial us.’ LL agrees, but he just has one stipulation, he has to wear this custom- designed hat, in the commercial. That custom-designed hat, was a FUBU hat. You see GAP didn't do their homework, they just paid 60 million dollars for a FUBU ad.” Daymond John explained.

The full GAP commercial can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3L04ry7a4o

Following the event in Harrison Auditorium, there was a reception held in the Alumni Event Center Ballroom. The reception was only open to the Board of Trustees who attend the, “Building Your Empire,” event in Harrison Auditorium.

Daymond John is a multi-faceted business mogul, from whom NC A&T students gained valuable, business knowledge. However, John is not the first affluent guest of Chancellor Harold Martin’s Speaker Series.

Last fall, President Barack Obama headlined Chancellor Harold Martin’s previous Town Hall event. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the popular social media platform, Facebook, visited the North Carolina A&T campus, in March. Facebook is currently the world’s most popular social media platform, with over 3 billion users.

The Chancellor Harold Martin Speaker Series is dedicated to providing cultural and educational experience to the NC A&T students. Through the most recent Speaker Series, the University has gained national recognition.

For more information regarding the Chancellor Harold Martin Speaker Series, please visit the following webpage: http://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/ssth.html