We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Denzel Smalls. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Denzel below.

Hi Denzel, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I was twenty-two or twenty-three—whatever age I was in 2014. At the time, I was a recent graduate from the illustrious South Carolina State University, just back from deployment as an Air Force veteran. I was working at Walmart, and the manager at the time was willing to pay me a whopping $7.20 an hour—lol. I don’t know what it was, but by the end of the day, I found myself on a three-way call with two of my close friends, Steve (an engineer with BMW and a fellow Air Force veteran) and Faheem (who later earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering). We’ve been friends for fifteen years now.

During that call, we all had the same thought: There’s no way in hell people are getting rich and living comfortably working like this. That realization was the spark that started this journey. Over the years, we learned about finances, entrepreneurship, lifestyle design, and so much more. What began as a desire to escape the rat race transformed into a mission to explore life and enjoy every opportunity and experience that came our way.

Through this journey, I’ve grown tremendously. I went from being a college graduate to a four-time graduate, now pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology. I’m also the CEO of two companies and an international best-selling author of the book Art of Connections. These achievements aren’t meant to boast about myself but to inspire others. I want to show people how they can find success in their own way by sharing what I’ve learned throughout the years.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My journey has been interesting, to say the least. I’ve been involved in just about every industry you can imagine, but at my core, I’ve always been connected to the arts. In many ways, I give true meaning to the term “struggling artist”—lol. Being an artist, no matter the medium, is essentially an entrepreneurial career. It’s similar to being an athlete: the only way to improve is by practicing and studying your predecessors. The difference, however, is that there’s no league to join—you have to create your own. While practice is obviously essential, art is unique in that only the cream of the crop tends to rise to the top, if they know how to market themselves. That’s where entrepreneurial skills become crucial.

Throughout my journey, I’ve learned a lot in my attempts to “display” my art to the world. I discovered at a fairly young age that success in the arts requires more than talent. As an alumnus of Full Sail University, where I earned a Master’s in Entertainment Business, I quickly learned that if your business isn’t in order, you won’t get far—or worse, your ideas can be taken right from under you. I’ve had opportunities to work for major corporations, but I’ve never been a fan of giving my art away for free. By that, I mean I’ve never supported the idea of free internships, especially in this industry. At any given time, I could offer a million-dollar idea, so why work for someone else when I could build something for myself?

Over the years, I’ve learned to develop my own brand, Word of Mouth Productions, a company centered around promoting a positive and healthy lifestyle in all aspects. Along the way, I’ve assisted in developing others’ projects, which has helped me achieve significant milestones. These include becoming an international best-selling author in the book Art of Connections and serving as the CEO of a television channel called On The Marc TV. However, what I’m most proud of is earning my Ph.D. in Organizational/Industrial Psychology

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“Business is just business, and people often do what’s best for themselves, but that mindset rarely takes them far.”

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

“Nobody is bigger than the mission, and those who believe they are rarely make it far.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wordofmouthproduction.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouthproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WordofMouthProduction/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denzel-smalls-345130228/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WordofMouthProduction