Ramon Ray - Conversations with Artists

What is the art of what you do?

The art of what I do is being able to connect with people in a genuine way while trying to make it fun.  I'm just not Mr. Drab and Serious.  I can empathize, but I have to make it fun.

 How is it that you connect with people?

I don't take myself too seriously and I think that puts people at ease.  I enjoy learning about what people do - whether you’re a bricklayer or a lawyer, I want to know how you make it work.  I’m naturally inquisitive and genuinely interested in people.

Part of not taking myself too seriously is knowing that I might screw up and accepting that — especially at live events.   At live events it’s inevitable that something unplanned is going to happen, and I’m ok with it.  For example, I was doing a live 90-minute show with Gary Vaynerchuk for a billion-dollar company.  I made a mistake, and I laughed and poked fun at myself -- always myself, never anyone else.  By laughing at myself nobody noticed the mistake. There wasn't even a bump. In the end, when you can laugh at yourself people connect to you.

You live on the edge a little bit.

Yes.  And it's carried me over the 20-plus years of my career  My first event was for Quickbooks. They asked, ‘Ramon can you do the event?’ My answer was no.  They asked if I could promise that people would come to the event.   Again, I answered no.  Finally, they asked, “Have you ever done an event before?”  I answered ‘No.’  They said, “Ok, we'll send you 15,000 people.”  That's my world.

Part of being a bit of a joker is that you kind of wing it.  I believe we can fly the space shuttle.  I watch a video on YouTube, it looks simple enough, all I have to do is pull the throttle back.  That's how I operate.  So people such as myself do kind of screw up every now and then.  

 So you find comfort in the unknown.

 Exactly.   

It seems that your word is very important to you.

Yes. For example, if I said I'll be there at 4 and I arrive at 4:10 — that’s a problem.  My word is so important to me; if I’ve made a promise I want to make good on it.  Since I am a very small business, my word is really all I have. I'm not INC.  I don't have millions of views.   I have very little to sell, very little to hang my hat on except for myself and a smile, and what I hope is genuine charisma.  If I had more, I'd sell more.  If I was Brooks Brothers I'd sell more sweaters.  But it’s just me - that's it.  So I keep my promises and I deliver.  Then people say "We trust you.  We like you.  We'll invest in you. We'll vote for you with our money.”   That's what people do when they pay us, they're voting for us.  My word is all I have and when I lose that -- I’m done.

So what is it that you actually do?

This should be easy after 20 years and I always pause.  Professionally speaking, the tactical transactional part is that I work with large brands and I help them better connect to smaller businesses.  They often hire me to represent their brands in some way, whatever the brand may be.  There is also a community of business owners that see me speak, whether free or paid, but the bulk of my revenue is large brands paying me to do something for small businesses.  I don't want the small business owner to pay me, I'd rather the big brands pay me to build an experience for you - the small business owner.

 You seem to be a very giving person. 

Thank you….  Now I'm blushing brown.  I haven't blushed pink yet, that's a whole other scale of blush.  Those who want to look up Ramon Ray will know why I'm saying it.  It will quickly not be an inside joke.

Giving is just the DNA of how I build my business and what I do, not in a transactional way. I'd rather give first and add value, how can I help?  I do really mean it - sometimes to a fault.  I speak a lot for free in the NY area.  I think serving and giving is the best entryway.  You can't do it all the time.  My book, Celebrity CEO,  is all about how I'd rather ask for a smile — which is so much easier than asking for a sale.  I'd rather build smiles around me, and then from that, we vote.  Voting means the sale.  That's what I'd rather do - get friends and build community.  Hey, I like you, you like me.  What can we do together?  Together let’s go get some big bucks from somebody else.  

It doesn't have to be a sales-y thing.  It can be genuine.  Human to human.

Yes.  Because I think that's what people want.  John Jantsch, who wrote Duct Tape Marketing - says “Know, like and trust.”  This is what it's about.  So yes.  I'm all about how can I give, how can I add value first.  I'd rather build trust first and foremost and then get something later.

Isn’t that pretty time-consuming?

It is indeed, but I'm here for the long play.  I can afford it.  Not that I'm a man of wealth, but I can afford it emotionally, intellectually. 

What's the joy of it for you?

The audience.  It ignites me and excites me in a heartbeat.  Hitting the stage, seeing people.  It's a trigger.  It's on.   Is it bravado?  Arrogance?  You have to have confidence, and I'd like to think I don't come off as a jerk.  The adrenaline, the joy, and excitement.  It's wonderful.

You put out great energy.  It's comforting to be in the room with you when you're presenting.  

 I'm glad you said that, because as a speaker, you latch on to someone in the audience who you can build something with.  So thank you.  

Do you have a grand scheme as to where you want to take your vision?

I do.

Care you share it?

I want my own TV show.  That's it.  Everything else I’ve wanted to do, I’ve done.  In my industry, a TV show is the ultimate.   

What would the show be?

You've seen Steve Harvey?  I like his swag and what he does. Not just because he's black and has a shaved head.   His swag, his humor the way he connects, his delivery.  He has that element of humor, and also humanity.  He helped a girl stop stuttering once.  I cried.  He has that part of him.  But generally, he's fun - and I’m fun. We're going to find a way to see the humor - somehow- and laugh together in a respectful way.  We're going to have some fun.   The Ramon Ray show.  It could also be about business.  But whatever it is, it would be with humor.  When you lose your humor you lose everything.  You almost lose your will to live.  

 Was it always crystal clear to you that this was your path?

In hindsight, it was crystal clear.  I didn't have people pushing me in any direction.  My family just wanted me to be a good person.  No one in my family was an entrepreneur.  My education was reading INC. magazine, reading Entrepreneur magazine,  picking up business books, going to conferences.  I used to work at the U.N.  I led my first and last press conference there.  “Hey everybody, welcome to the U.N.  you’re journalists, hey!  Who has a question?”  My boss was mortified. “Ramon, no! It needs to be serious.”  It just wasn't a fit. 

Is that why you left?

The main reason was that I had my own business and they have rules against it.  It got very political, and I'm an entrepreneur at heart.  That was the catalyst.  I’m just not a box guy.  I could've stayed there, but I need to have some fun.  “Hey, Nigeria!  Hey France!  Let's rumble!”  It was a good experience.  I learned a lot….. But in hindsight,  yeah.  Learning is the key to it all.  If you learn from your experiences, then you're reasonably wise.  

Speaking of learning, if you could go back to 9-year-old Ramon and could give yourself some advice, what would you say?

I'd say, slow down and think just a little more.  Don't go so fast.  I make mistakes, and I will continue to make mistakes. That's just the result of moving fast - that’s the negative side that I'm happy to live with.  I'm always moving fast.  My wife, who will admit she moves very slow and admits to being a procrastinator, makes less mistakes.  While she's doing step 1, I've already done 100 steps. I've already built a space ship, gone to Mars, realized I forgot to bring enough oxygen tanks, died, came back to Earth and got more oxygen tanks, went to Mars 10 more times, then Pluto, and she's thinking "maybe we should go to the moon." Of course I'm exaggerating.  What I'm trying to say is that I'm always at hyper speed.  We can make mistakes at hyper speed, but there are also tremendous successes.

Ramon Ray is the founder of Smart Hustle Media and Smallbiztechnology.com Ramon is an entrepreneur who started four companies and sold two. He’s a global keynote speaker and author of four books, including his latest “Celebrity CEO - How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building Community and a Strong Personal Brand.” Check out Ramon’s full bio here.