
August 27, 2020
From Son of A Pimp to CEO of Scribe Media|Jevon “JT” McCormick on The James Altucher Show
Check out The James Altucher Show Episode Page & Show Notes
Key Takeaways
- “My dad, he taught me a few things what to do, but more than anything, he taught me what not to do. He taught me how not to be a father.” – JT McCormick
- JT eliminated 3 words from his vocabulary: hope, wish, and luck
- “You can wish all day, it’s not going to produce anything”
- “I don’t do hope, I believe. Believe forces execution” – JT McCormick
- Don’t spend time hoping, wishing, or waiting to get lucky. Instead, believe in what you want and go after it.
- Instead of debating people online, JT focuses on his business, wife, and children
- “I focus on the things that I can influence, have a bit of control over, and outside of that I don’t really get involved with other people’s opinions or thoughts” – JT McCormick
- An important lesson JT learned at 9 years old: “Everyone is not going to like me. I’m never going to be able to make everyone happy, so I’m not going to spend my life trying to make everyone happy.” – JT McCormick
- If no one loves or believes in you, then love and believe in yourself:
- “So at the end of the day, there’s always one person in this world that loves me and believes in me, it’s me” – JT McCormick
- “You’re only as good as the great people you’re surrounded by and that became the way I did business” – JT McCormick
- Writing a book is a difficult skill; it’s hard to be a top endurance runner and a professional writer. Scribe helps amazing people tell their stories without them having to spend years learning how to write a book.
Intro
- JT McCormick (@realjtmccormick) is an American author, public speaker and businessman. In 2016, author Tucker Max hired McCormick as CEO of Scribe Media.
- Host: James Altucher (@jaltucher)
Books Mentioned
- JT is the author of I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream
- If you want to learn more about the life of a pimp, James and JT recommend reading Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim
About JT
- JT is the author of I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream
- JT never planned on publishing his book, as it was meant only for his family, but after support from friends and family, he decided to share it with the world
- JT had a rough upbringing:
- His dad was a drug-dealing pimp who fathered 23 children and one of his father’s prostitute molested him from the ages of 6-8
- That same prostitute smothered his baby sister
- JT spent time in juvenile jail and didn’t go to college
- His dad was a drug-dealing pimp who fathered 23 children and one of his father’s prostitute molested him from the ages of 6-8
- JT’s first experience with business was observing how his father collected cash from prostitutes
- If you want to learn more about the life of a pimp, James and JT recommend reading Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim
- The lack of positive male and female role models in JT’s life made it impossible for him to maintain a healthy relationship
- “My dad, he taught me a few things what to do, but more than anything, he taught me what not to do. He taught me how not to be a father.” – JT McCormick
Eliminate Hope, Wish, & Luck
- JT eliminated 3 words from his vocabulary: hope, wish, and luck
- When JT hoped he would get something to eat or for his dad to pick him up, it never happened so he stopped hoping
- “I don’t do hope, I believe. Believe forces execution” – JT McCormick
- “You can wish all day, it’s not going to produce anything”
- Don’t spend time hoping, wishing, or waiting to get lucky. Instead, believe in what you want and go after it.
- “You can wish all day, it’s not going to produce anything”
Valuable Life Lessons
- “I may never touch perfection, but damn it I’m going to get close enough that I can smell it”– JT McCormick
- JT stays away from most social media platforms except LinkedIn
- Instead of debating people online, he focuses on his business, wife, and children
- “I focus on the things that I can influence, have a bit of control over, and outside of that I don’t really get involved with other people’s opinions or thoughts” – JT McCormick
- Instead of debating people online, he focuses on his business, wife, and children
- An important lesson JT learned at 9 years old: “Everyone is not going to like me. I’m never going to be able to make everyone happy, so I’m not going to spend my life trying to make everyone happy.” – JT McCormick
- People will judge you by your name: JT started going by JT instead of his first name, JeVon, because he saw people treating him differently based solely on his name
- If no one loves or believes in you, then love and believe in yourself:
- “So at the end of the day, there’s always one person in this world that loves me and believes in me, it’s me” – JT McCormick
From Toxic Salesman To Amazing Leader
- JT has worked in the sub-prime mortgage industry briefly before becoming the president of a software company
- When JT first got hired by that software company, he was the lowest-paid employee and went to a storage closet to make his sales calls
- “I should have been fired 71 different times from that company because I was not a culture fit…I was toxic” – JT McCormick
- However, because he was so great at sales, he eventually got promoted to EVP of sales and marketing
- “So then I went from toxic person to creating a toxic team”
- However, because he was so great at sales, he eventually got promoted to EVP of sales and marketing
- “I should have been fired 71 different times from that company because I was not a culture fit…I was toxic” – JT McCormick
- When JT first got hired by that software company, he was the lowest-paid employee and went to a storage closet to make his sales calls
- However, once JT was promoted to president, he realized he was responsible for everyone in the company
- “You’re only as good as the great people you’re surrounded by and that became the way I did business” – JT McCormick
- JT’s 3 rules for business:
- 1) Surround the company with people far smarter than yourself
- 2) Surround yourself with people far smarter than yourself
- 3) Repeat rules one and two
- Focus on people, process, and profits, in that order
- If you’re a leader, you need to serve and support the people you work with. Move the roadblocks or obstacles that stop your employees from achieving their goals.
About Scribe Media
- JT is the CEO of Scribe Media, the company helps authors write, market, and publish their books
- “We help you from start to finish” – JT McCormick
- “We help people from book idea, all the way to publishing, getting it up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, and so forth”
- They’ve helped 1,700 authors and worked with several big-name authors and organizations including David Goggins, Tiffany Haddish, and the Nobel Peace Prize committee
- “We help people from book idea, all the way to publishing, getting it up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, and so forth”
- “We help you from start to finish” – JT McCormick
- Scribe Media provides the same quality services of publishing companies, but in a more flexible manner
- The key difference is that Scribe’s model allows authors to keep 100% of the royalties of their books
- “You own 100% of the IP, the book is yours” – JT McCormick
- The key difference is that Scribe’s model allows authors to keep 100% of the royalties of their books
- Scribe’s creative director has created book covers for 17 NYT bestselling books
- Writing a book is a difficult skill; it’s hard to be a top endurance runner and a professional writer. Scribe helps amazing people tell their stories without them having to spend years learning how to write a book.
- Scribe also takes care of the marketing plan for authors
- Scribe is profitable, has no debt, and hasn’t taken any VC investments
Additional Notes
- “Remote is here to stay, it’s never going away” – James Altucher
- JT says that most employees at Scribe work 2-3 days a week at the office and spend the rest of the time working from home
- If JT could make one change to the education system, he would add a class for freshmen in high school called “Show and Tell.” It would show students a wealth advisor and tell them how they can become wealthy.