Anthony Russo is a motivational speaker, emcee, and change maker. He has founded successful 7 figure business’ but decided over the last few years to use his voice for something bigger and lasting impact. He is the founder of #bethechange and speaks on positivity, taking action, and truth in media and politics.
What is #BeTheChange all about?
#BeTheChange is a movement and business dedicated to having conversation, finding truth, spreading positivity, and creating change. Founded in 2016 after the shooting of 5 Dallas Police officers I started the business with the intention of bringing the country together and showing that we have the power to take action beyond creating awareness. I realized that over the last several years our country had become obsessed with the idea of marching, yelling, fighting on social media and forgetting the single greatest cause of Change… Action. The intentions were to remind people to be the change they wish to see in the world.
It’s evolved greatly since the beginning of the CoVID pandemic and the social justice movement in the summer. It has become a podcast and live streaming network dedicated to having hard conversations, showing people that we’re paving their own path to creating change and spreading positivity.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I’ve been a professional emcee and speaker for the last 15 years and wanted to use my speaking ability to created positive change. I’ve been a stadium emcee and host for major events all over the country and a motivational speaker the last 3 years speaking about the power of failure. I had a successful promotional modeling agency where I employed around two thousand independent contractors a year and staffed some of the largest events in the country but I realized I had a greater purpose, and I wanted to make an impact. Using my entrepreneurial experience and my voice, I started #bethechange.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- Willingness to fail. If someone isn’t willing to push themselves to potential failure then they will never reach the level of success a true entrepreneur seeks. And when failures occur they must be willing to use those failures to learn, adapt and pivot in a direction that puts them in a better position for success.
- Throw the common notion of work-life balance out the window. I think that phrase is an entrepreneur killer. People that work the 9-5 style life rely on this for sanity but entrepreneurs must be cut from a different cloth. When it’s time to grind entrepreneurs must realize there is a sacrifice to this delicate balance so that in the end there is not just the basic concept but an extraordinary balance laced with freedom and success. When opportunity presents itself the entrepreneur goes all in and does what it takes to foster and grow their business, and the people in their life have to be on board as well.
- Passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. Having a true passion for an idea, and almost a fervent love for the business above all else is the fuel needed to leave #2 (work-life balance) behind for a period of time. If you are truly passionate about your business then the 90 hour work weeks give a purpose instead of a deterrence.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
We have continued to put out consistent content and grown our podcast network to 5 shows as well as several live shows and events that regularly come out. Our clothing is not just a revenue generator, but also a billboard to share our message with others and grow our movement. We also have digital events in the motivational space that continue to grow as well as conservative political events that grow our message and our voice and our reach.
How have the pandemic and Lockdown affected you or your new business?
The initial concept of #bethechange was to be a content-driven business of positivity that would move to in-person events promotion the philosophy of change through action. The pandemic changed this as events have gone by the wayside and thus forced all of our shows and content to be online-based. In an odd way, it catapulted our reach as people in the country were thirsty for the content we put out. Our message started out very middle ground and I still believe the overriding message still falls there but our audience grew based on some of the influencers that became a part of our network that leaned more towards the conservative side. This is where we started calling what we were doing a “movement for socially conscious conservatives dedicated to making positive change.”
We realized during the civil unrest and confusion surrounding the pandemic that no matter what we did or said, by staying true to our values we couldn’t control who resonated with our message. Our content creators ranged from all races, sexual orientations, and backgrounds and as we continued to have the hard discussions our values aligned with a more conservative audience, and no matter how much we fought that we realized that our power was to do what we could with who we could, and who would listen. So the biggest lesson I’ve learned in this business during the pandemic was to accept what we could not change and hope people from different belief systems would start to tune in and even engage in conversations to bring us closer together.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Truth. Ultimately raw truth, and avoiding the missteps of the main stream media that spins information instead of provides it and has a real discussion surrounding it. We’ve learned there is a huge difference between tone and spin. We strive to not spin anything, simply provide information and give our values and opinions with a tone that hopefully people can learn from and engage with. On top of that, we highlight people from all walks of life that have created change in themselves and in their communities to motivate others to do the same.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
In this business, I started looking for funding too early. I hadn’t fleshed out exactly what the business was yet. I didn’t have a true plan, didn’t know what direction #bethechange was meant to go in. Fortunately, I didn’t take anyone’s money in the beginning but the interest was there. In the end, I would have spent it in the wrong places and we would have been back to square one too soon.
I entered a business incubator/accelerator with the intention of raising funds in the last year to grow the business, but after being in the incubator I realized a bit too late that this wasn’t the group that would align with our belief system because of the political climate and it became a misuse of already limited funds. With that, the education and lessons learned in this program did drastically help the outlook I had for the company, so it was far from a total loss.
Lastly, don’t try to please everyone. I lost valuable time towards growth by playing a little too close to “politically correct,” and it affected our overall growth numbers and metrics. We should have been much bigger even faster than we are now, and it took a bit too long for me to align with my values.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
It sounds odd, but consistency above all else. In the world of social content, being consistent with all of our programming and providing that constant message of #bethechange in all aspects from motivation to politics has been the best form of marketing. Our growth is based on solid content, and regular programming as it helps with the social media algorithms. Second most important, and depending on what day you ask me, it may be the most important, and that is to find influencers that properly align with your business and utilize them to collaborate and invite their following.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenge has been in the process of seeking and providing a message that creates, in some ways, the division I am trying to stop. I’ve come to terms with this, that in order to end division, you have to be divisive at points. The hard conversations are going to cause a certain level of frustration, anger, and a whole slew of haters. Some of the haters unfortunately were friends that have had a difference in opinion that became too much for them. Psychologically that was the hardest toll on me. Do I continue to pursue my values and mission and lose friends, or do I just stop doing what I’m doing. In the end I trusted the universe, trusted God and a whole different set of friends have been provided, ones that I can disagree with, learn with and grow with. And in this group I’ve been able to foster real change, help lives, and truly grow myself.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
My first real business started in 2007, yeah… I know, great timing. It was a collegiate and collectible dog tag business called “Pride Tagz” where I created a phenomenal business plan, got a small business loan of almost six figures, and went to work. I attained collegiate licensing, and started the process of looking for vendors to carry the product, then… 2008 hit and with the economic collapse there was no purpose for a one-product business in collegiate merchandise. I did what I could to keep the business alive, but it was simply bleeding out and I had to move on. I took on a couple of promotional goods clients with some liquor brands that used our branding and their logo with, “be a part of something bigger than yourself,” that was part of the company mantra, and did what I could. In the end, I shifted back to experiential and promotional marketing to pay my bills. So at this point, Pridetagz is but a distant memory.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
Humility and to put purpose over profits. Profits will come, and I have faith in that, but knowing that we are changing and in some cases saving lives while providing a platform for people creating real actionable change in the world allows me to push through some of the haters. I’m also learning that when you truly believe in something you have to be willing to let people go in your life that don’t want to be there based on your beliefs. I’ve lost numerous friends in the last year simply without conversation and just from pure judgement but understanding what we have done for other people that I barely know has allowed me to push through. Without that concept of humility and purpose, this struggle may have been too daunting.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
What a hard question. As someone that is a motivational speaker on the power of failure, I can’t say that I would do anything differently. I think the biggest key learning I can make is that I would make changes faster, pivot faster. Once my gut told me something was off I would I should have followed said gut a little faster and started to shift. At the beginning of CoVID, I was still using my #bethechange messaging on a different channel and I really should have been doing everything from the BeTheChange hub instead of spending so much of that “whole country at home time,” dedicated to a different network.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
We’ve used several different organizational software methods and honestly Slack has been used as a channel that all of the different organizations that make up the #bethechange family can communicate best on. Bar none. There are little tips and trigs and ways to tag everyone to make sure messages are seen and that we can even house files.
From the store perspective, the one seamless thing that I can proclaim is the store shipping method of Shippo. I’ve decided to stay away from the Shopify’s of the world in order to sustain small business and work with an actual vendor and have a little more control of quality control. With that, shipping can be a problem but with the ability to work with my vendor to also become a drop shipper we have been able to streamline the process.
Lastly… and unapologetically for meetings and personal meeting, Calendly is an absolute lifesaver. I’m able to turn things on and off, have it synced to my ical and still able to just send that link out instead of play baby games to try and say, how’s your Tuesday, no, Wednesday, wait, I’m busy Wednesday. It’s such a small thing, but clears up so much inefficiency.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
I am a list maker and a list checker off. I keep an organized to do list that is evolving all day and all week, and as I get about half of everything done and the paper is getting too full I start it over. There is something so important to me about creating this old school, pen, and paper list. In my coaching business, I really push this to the people I’ve worked with that are struggling to stay focused. It keeps everyone focused and tuned in to the tasks at hand and helps things not slip through the cracks… and for some odd reason, just doesn’t work the same on a phone or tablet.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
I’ve always been religious about my recommendation of The Go Giver by Bob Burg. It’s a great way to look at how to do business. It’s not what you can receive but It’s what you can give that provides your value.
One podcast that I love that’s a bit of sleeper is a good friend of mine that has exploded on the podcast scene with Craig Siegel and the CLS experience. It has phenomenal guests and an energy that’s simply different than anything you’ve seen on any of the “motivational” podcasts.
An online course that I would suggest for a budding entrepreneur looking to get more visibility in their brand (if that is important to their ROI) to become a member of PR Accelerator with Lauren Salaun). It is a multipurpose tool of online course because it includes some actual real-life agency help, and has one, one hour class a week, and includes a ton of online resource and course work.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Not going to lie, loaded question, haha. Some business’ and passions require more than others to get started. Ultimately I would use that money to find someone in a similar space that is doing it right and shows they have a willingness to help others, and I’d offer to take them out to dinner after buying their book and learning more about them. Essentially I would use that $1000 strictly for research and building contacts in the space. Dinner, coffee, zoom conferences, etc. Every industry is so unique that I don’t think there is a right answer on how to spend $1000 dollars.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
Purpose and Passion. Period.
What is your favorite quote?
If you do what is easy life will be hard, and if you do what is hard life will become easy.
– Les Brown.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Greatness in life comes to those willing to take that next step and put themselves in a position to not just succeed, but also fail. Most of the time people are deathly afraid to fail, and that’s why they never start. Once you change your mindset to understand failure is part of the process, then starting becomes that much less daunting. Everyone has failed, and every great business has had stumbles, roadblocks, and failures along the way. It’s how you fail and how you get back up that makes you and your business succeed. So… what are you waiting for?
Who should we interview next and why?
Craig Siegel, if you haven’t already.
What is your definition of success?
Waking up in the morning knowing you are doing something that gives you purpose and enjoyment, no matter how good or bad of a day it is.
How do you personally overcome fear?
I’m an odd bird, I love facing the flame. It’s almost exciting to me, just like confrontation. But I know I’m not normal. Personally, I gear up, clear my mind, sometimes go for a run to get my heart on even keel and then go for it. Fear is my best friend because if used correctly fear turns into fuel.
How can readers get in touch with you?
I always love getting contact after these articles, please check out our website hashtagbethechange.com to learn more about our mission and I regularly check my email for my speaking business and that’s the easiest way to get a hold of me @ anthony@doubledownstrategy.com. All of our content is also easy to find if you search BeTheChangeUSA on Facebook and YouTube.
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