BARS! for Business: Manifest, Trust and Pivot

Music connects individuals with purpose — and rap is no exception. Rappers’ lyrics show us the power we hold to change the world. Whether it’s Jay Z or Nipsey Hussle, plenty of bars have inspired me in life and business.

The search for lyrical motivation served as a launching pad for my hip-hop-based podcast BARS! Myself and several incredible guests have highlighted songs that pushed us through our entrepreneurial journeys and cheered us on as we achieved the (supposedly) impossible.

With the start of BARS! Season 2, I’ve brought in one of the most inspirational people I know: my husband and best friend, Frederick Akpoghene. As the founder and CEO of JeGo, the future of driverless automobile technology, Frederick is able to share how music influenced his dreams as a young immigrant in the U.S. and how it taught him to seek more for himself.

When it comes to succeeding as an unconventional entrepreneur, our combined expertise led us to these key points:

Manifest the Details

The word manifest has been thrown around for a while, but it’s popular among my most successful guests for good reason. It’s easy to have a good idea, but you have to visualize the path of your work to allow the project to truly take hold in your life.

For Frederick, this meant taking pen to paper and drawing everything. From product design to a mock-up of how a person would utilize his service, Frederick has filled notebook after notebook with his manifestations. One of his bars emphasizes this transition from mind to matter:

“Please believe it, if the mind can conceive it. Then the man can achieve it, you gotta breathe it.” Paradise, LL Cool J

This line has punctuated Frederick’s life. He focused on conceiving every aspect of his project to give it life — and it worked.

Trust Yourself

As simple as it seems, you need to rely on your instincts and inherent value. You can’t enter a room full of great networking or investor opportunities and spend your precious time second-guessing yourself.

Start with an understanding that you can bring value to any conversation. No matter what the power balance is, know that you are giving…