Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Karon Joseph Riley.
He co-stars in the popular The Black Hamptons series on BET+. His book navigates life's ups and downs and uncovers the importance of perseverance, resilience, and determination. It shares his insightful reflections entitled "Keep Pedaling: Things I Learned On My Bike."
- Whether facing steep inclines or unexpected detours, he learns to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and transformation. Through encounters with nature, encounters with others, and moments of solitude, he discovers the power of mindfulness and living in the present moment.
- "Keep Pedaling" is more than a self-help book; it's a roadmap for navigating life's twists and turns with grace and courage.
- Through Karon's heartfelt lessons and candid reflections, readers will find inspiration to overcome obstacles, pursue their passions, and savor the beauty of the journey itself.
- "Keep Pedaling" is a reminder that no matter where life takes you, as long as you keep moving forward, the possibilities are endless.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the show. I'm Rashaan McDonald, the host of
Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop
reading other people's success stories and start planning their own.
Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,
talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running
their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making
(00:25):
a difference in their local communities. Now, sit back and
listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome, Welcome to Money Making Conversations
Master Class Class Wow, Money Making Conversations Master Class. I'm
your host, Rashawn McDonald. As every week a new adventure,
(00:46):
new set of guess, a new set of motivators, people
who have ideas that have worked in their life, and
I asked them to tell their stories so hopefully the
keys to their success or the keys to their perseverance
will motivate you to be successful. That's for Money Making
Conversations Masterclasses all about. I welcome anybody who wants to
call in on the show because the fact that I
(01:07):
enjoy talking to individuals and hopefully inspire you to get
up the next day and say I'm gonna change the world.
But more importantly, if you want to be a guest
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be a Guest button. It's like be a guest, and
(01:29):
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have all the guests that are booked on this show,
and I enjoy that process because I know why you're
being interviewed on this show, and I know what you
have to offer, and so I live those different points
of interests, in those different styles of grace that I
tend to offer the people who appear on my show
(01:51):
on a regular basis. Now, let's get the show moving on.
My first guest is now available on the show, and
let's rote and again my guests on the show today.
Co stars in the popular The Blackhampton series on BT.
His book navigates through life's ups and downs, and he
uncovers the importance of perseverance, resilience, and determination. The book
(02:14):
shares and insightful reflections and titled keep Peddling Things I
Learned on my bike. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation
master Class. Karan, Joseph Riley. How you doing, Koran?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Thanks of love, Sean. How you doing, James?
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well? You know I I first of all thank you
for coming on Money Making Conversation master Class. You know,
this is a young brother that I'd like to believe
I mentor. You know, he calls me for advice and
I try to lead him down that path as an
older gentleman, because that's what mentorship. What role does mestership
mentorship plan in your life? Because I know I'm not
the only one that mentors your office advice when you
(02:49):
request it.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I'll be honest with Shot. I haven't had a lot
of mentors in the entertainment world, as much as I
would love to have had. Right My first one, I
would have to say was great timing forward. He looked
out for me earlier in my career, gave me a
lot of great jews. I think mentorship is necessary, man,
I think it's part of the journey. I think if
you get any kind of any monochrome of success, it's
(03:13):
your responsibility to mentor somebody and pay it back for it.
That's what this book is. It's a mentorship to the
young black girl or the young black boy who didn't
grow up with a village like I had, like a
great coaching coaches, my dad, my brothers, my uncles, my friends.
I mean, I stand on so many shoulders, Rashaan, that
I can't take credit for any of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'm literally I'm literally living out the dreams of myself.
But I'm also living out on the field that people
put that people put in instilled into me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Great' that's detailed, and so I want to introduce you
to my audience who are alive every Tuesday o w
c OK in Atlanta, Georgia, and give a little background
about you before we get into the book. Keep peddling
the things I learned on my bike, which I loved
the title. By the way, tell us a little background
about you.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Wanted to be
an actor since I was in the first grade, but
sports took over my life shortly there after that. So
I took that journey for as long as I could
take it. And after I retired from football, I jumped
back into my original dream and passion of becoming an actor.
Fast forward seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Excuse me there, short change yourself. Professional football.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Okay, professional football in the NFL, in the NFL, NFLL.
That was my best part time job I ever had.
By the way, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Could have said I retired from football and did they
even become close to playing high school football's saying I
would not let you say that. You're part of the
biggest sports franchise in the world today, most watched media
forum on television, and that's professional football. You in all America,
in college and so because the reason I say that
(05:04):
because I always step back when we talk about branding
on this show, and sometimes when we start telling that story,
we short change ourselves. Because the uniqueness of you is
because you are a chameleon. You're a person who's been
successful at so many different levels and athletics, academics, you know, acting,
(05:26):
you know, each one of those levels have a lot
of turn back in it. And that's where the conversation perseverance,
and that's why I brought up those perseverance, resilience, and
determination because in the things that you've become successful in, Karan,
a lot of people tell you no a lot of
people doubt you, A lot of people would question your dream.
(05:49):
How have you survived? Let's start with sports first.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I basically my mother, man. My mother instilled a unwavering
love and belief system in my in my spirit and
my soul. Man. So like all those nose that you
would get coming up as an athlete with all the doubts,
and athletics is not so much the nose as it
is in the acting game, because in athletics there is
(06:15):
a barometer that you can see immediately if a kid
has potential to be good or something. So it wasn't
so much nose in athletics. It was more like you said,
the naysayers, the dollters. You know, coming out of college,
you know, I was the all time sack leader in
the University of Minnesota history. Still to this day, I'm
the all time sack leader in the University of Minnesota's
(06:36):
history twenty some years later. Even then, coming out getting drafted,
every every everybody their their job is to find knocks,
bad things about your game, to not pay you what
you're warranted to be paid. So, you know, I went
through that whole journey of getting to the NFL, getting
drafted by the Chicago Bears in two thousand and one
draft in the fourth round. Now, if you look over
(06:59):
the course of the draft in the last twenty some
years and you take my stats against any other first
round defensive end past rushing linebacker for out of college stats,
I still have some of the best stats over the
last twenty years. That wasn't a first round draft pick,
So that says I should have been a first round
draft pick. But I dealt with that again that that
(07:20):
was probably my biggest hurdle coming into the NFL of
how to deal with adversity of like, man, I done bust,
my button, did everything right. I thought to really secure
myself and my family very lucrative payday with a first
round signing bonus, which would probably you know, change my
trajectory as a person at that point. But it didn't
(07:41):
go that way. You know, I got a decent sign
the bone. This was like three hundred and fifty thousand.
You know, that's nothing to you know, sniff at it
in two thousand and one. But again I was totally
undervalued based on my production. And I believe, and you
and I have talked about this, I believe it was
because of my sickle sale status as having to trade
(08:02):
as an athlete. I think that hurt me a little
bit as well, and also being more of an outspoken
athlete who didn't just fall in line with the status
quo as an athlete. I've never been that. I've always
been a free thinker and a leader, a leader of thought.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Please don't go anywhere, We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(08:41):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Wow, you know, I love the fact that you know
you're honest about the whole journey. But as an athlete,
and a lot of people don't know when to stop.
You know a lot of people working jobs right now
that they should walk away from and really evaluate the
next steps in their life. And so in athletics, and
when you are successful, you've been doing something so long
(09:07):
and sometimes it becomes easy and it becomes a pattern.
How did you know it was turned time to change
your career path?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
But the NFL kind of lets, you know, you get
cut where I can kind of dictate when and where
I'm gonna you know, hang up my cleats. It was
one of those things. I was in Washington with the
Redskins and had a great preseason, but it wasn't great enough.
Obviously they had to signed another guy in my position
(09:37):
that at the same time they signed me as a
free agent, and they actually paid him a lot more
money to come in and play. So again, so it
always comes down to economics at the end of the day. Uh,
they had invested more money in his in his plan
and then invest in mind. So they let me go,
and at that point it was more relief for me
because I wasn't the kind of athlete like you said.
(09:57):
I wasn't a guy who was gonna keep from lying
at different cities and trying at my you know, trying
out for teams and you know, living out of a
suitcase for the next two or three years like a
lot of a lot of my peers did when they
were trying to hold onto the dream. Because I'll share
this with you, the NFL was never my dream. NFL
was was was my was like a mistress or in
(10:18):
a way or or a backup playing to the to
the main plan. My main plan was to go to
the NBA. And after I didn't grow to be six
six sixty seven like I thought I was, I made.
I just made an executive decision at the age of seventeen.
You know, they were like, you know, because I was
still was getting recruited for basketball. I was, I was
All State in basketball, so I was getting recruited for basketball.
(10:40):
But my dad was like, man, you know, I saw
Kevin Garnett play in the same summer I was deciding
what scholarship I was gonna take, and I realized that
the future of the NBA was not looking anything like me.
So I made. I made an executive decision and said,
you know what, I'm pretty good this football. I do
believe that I can make it to the NFL football
because again the numbers fifty three man roster versus twelve
(11:03):
man roster. My skill set transferring from being a great
basketball player translated to being a great pass rusher in
football because my speed, my quickness, and my footwork that
I was blessed with from basketball. So it was it
kind of made my story kind of created itself as
it was going one loss ended up proving to become
a win. And when I walked away from the game,
(11:25):
it was like I'm walking to my next play man,
which is my original plan was to be an actor.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I went straight went straight to La and started
pursuing acting right away. Man. I literally went back to Atlanta,
packed my bag and got on a plane with La.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Wow. Now I keep peddling. That's the book. Were brought
you on the show to discuss things I've learned on
my bike. When did this whole concept of this book
come about? Was it something that? Is it something that?
Like I said, we all know our first experience on
the bike when I can remember my dad pushed me
and I was wabbling with the training wheels and I
remember when the training wheels come off. So I can
(11:58):
remember my experience in my life on a bike, especially
in my early years. You know, when I got older,
I give on the bike and I can't figure out
why I'm on it, but I know I had I
bought the bike, said I was gonna ride and never
wrote it for the years I've owned it. But I
do remember my experience on the bike. So why was
it important to name your book? Keep peddling things I
(12:19):
learned on my bike.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, the book started ten years ago and it started
off to become like a man law book, just young
men in general. It was a time about ten years
ago and I was starting to notice the pandemic going
on amongst our brothers. The pants sagging below the bud
and not having the ability to shake a man's hand
and look him in the eye, you know, simple things
(12:42):
that I saw that our culture was going down right,
But I need to write a book on man laws.
And eventually, as I started working on that, I started
realizing that I don't really have all the laws. I'm
just one man. And in the midst of that ten
years I started I created my key telling and my
key pelling in matra Own one of my bike rides
(13:04):
to Alabama, I do. I do a bike ride to
Alabama every year on my birthday. So as I'm riding Alabama.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Where do you start? You draw from Atlanta and bike
ride to Alabama.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah. I started Sandy Springs, Atlanta, and I arrived the
comments Silver Commissary all the way to Alabama and it's
about ninety eight miles one way, so it ends up
being about a two hundred mile two day trip. I
stay over night in the hotel in Jackson, Alabama, get
up the next day, and come back. So the day
coming back, the next day, coming back is what I
tell people. I get all of my spiritual and universal
(13:37):
downloads because I believe that as an athlete, some of
my spiritual gifts will come through my body. So me
getting to my body, to that physical point where I'm
completely exhausted and I gotta rely on my spirit and
my willpower to keep going, that's when I start getting
the blessings. So all of a sudden, I got this.
(13:57):
I got this thought, and this voice kept saying to me,
just keep no matter how long it takes, keep healing,
keep healing. It just kept saying it right, And I said, saying, man,
I've been doing this my whole life. Keep pealing thing,
ain't It's not just really all about being on this bike.
This is a This ride from Alabama is it's like
a It's my life. It's like a life journey for me.
(14:20):
So I came home and I designed the logo and
I told Terry and my wife, I said, look, I
had a vision, and this is gonna be the new,
my new, my new, my new manifesto of my life.
I've named it and and it's gonna be what precedes me.
If I came up with to key Healing and then
after that, man it, you know, I just kept building
on that, and again something came up and I needed
(14:43):
to do a speaking event, and they were like, we
want to come through the speaking event. What am I
gonna talk about? So I said, I broke down keep
Helling into an acronym, and then I broke down each letter,
what it meant to me, and how I've developed each
letter along the way, and how they all pay homage
to the next lets and it builds on something. And
once you master each letter of keep Peddling as an individual,
(15:06):
I guarantee you you're going to be a lot better
often where you found yourself before you've picked up Keep Peddling.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
In the book, Wow Kuran. Before we go to break,
tell everybody how they can buy the book.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Www. Karan Joseholey dot com and anywhere all books are sold.
That means Barnes and Noble, Amazon, anywhere else. But I
always say this first and foremost. If you want my
signed autograph copy, you're ordered through Karan Joseraley dot com
everywhere else. You'll just get the book, and you'll have
the book and it's no love lost. But you won't
(15:39):
get to have my energy infused with the book, as
I will send you a positive note in my autograph
with it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
His book Keep Peddling is more than a self help book,
be ause a roadmap for navigating life's twists and turns
with grace and courage. You know I wanted I got
to go back to what you're staring on right now
because I watch it all the time. The Blackhamptons. Know
you said you said seven years old you wanted to act.
I would honestly tell you seven years old, my daddy
(16:07):
probably was thanking me because I was tearing up the room.
How does one I just want to see that. I
always I always marveled when I hear people tell me
they understand that vision, understand that this is what I
want to be at such a young age. Talk about that,
because I think that drives who you are today. And
I think people have children who see it too, but
(16:27):
they might dismiss their kids dreams.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Uh yeah, man. Again, I give credit to my mother
to always allow me to have that freedom to speak
my mind and encourage me to speak my mind and
and propicide my visions. So in the first grade, so
actually it was all younger than seven. Man, it was
actually I think six when I really came to the
I got the vision to be an actor. I was
playing Pussing Boots in a stay in a stage, playing
(16:53):
in element in school. And you know, you don't have
a lot of lines at that age, so I think
I delivered my line in the line was not I said,
the cat and my mother, my grandmother, everybody, like you know,
the women in my family were at they were at
the play, and my mom and them, they screamed so loud,
and cheers so loud, and sean in that very moment,
(17:14):
I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna do this forever. And
and shortly after that, Man, she had me performing everywhere
she could. Man, we be at the mall, She'd like,
do the Billy Jean. I would do the Michael Jackson
Billy Jeans dance. So I was a natural, A natural
ham in a way, I guess I didn't. I never
never shied away from a camera or an audience or
(17:35):
anything like that. So so I played sports. It was
no different than me. Man. I always usually had my
best games in the biggest game, and people were like, man,
you always come to play when it's really a big game.
I said, Yo, the stage the biggest and the bright
the lights of the brightest. Is time for me to
show up.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Baby, I'm just laughing, not I the cat, said the cat.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
That was my line. Baby. So I say, I say
to encourage the kids and everything. And again, you know,
a lot of kids have the visions of what they
want to do and what they want to be for themselves.
But and then and a lot of kids don't. And
it's okay either way. But if you do. I'll tell
any parent that's listening that has young kids, if they
(18:17):
if they vocalize what they want to do early on,
please please please listen. Because when I believe as a child,
we are as close to our purpose of remembering our
purpose than we ever was. You know, as we get
older and we get you know, blindsided by the world's
blind spots, it's easy to forget what we came here
to do. And uh, I think you know, kids are
(18:38):
still in touch.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know, one of the greatest gifts I've always known
about you, even when you didn't know me. There's always
always you know one thing about me. People always say
we're shiny. You seem to have your hands. You know,
people that don't even even they've never met you, But
you seem to impact people you've never met. And and
you understand the value of relationships. You understand and understand
(19:01):
how to connect the dots, and that led to your
role on The Black Black Hamptons. Can you tell everybody
about that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Absolutely, man, Relationships. Networking is your network in this world.
If you you can have ten million degrees, you can
have ten millions uh be read ten million books. But
if you don't have any connections to anybody that can
help expand your web or your net around the world,
then it's all wasted knowledge. So to get how I
(19:29):
got my gig on The Black Hamptons was a relationship.
It's a simple relationship that started with a dinner and
a conversation with a really dope brother by the name
of Trey Haley. He is the director of All the
Black Hamptons, one of the co creators and producers of
Tridathin Films. And he and I just had a really
good night. Like you and I would sit down and
(19:50):
we have dinner, we'd talk and it was just that.
And fast forward like a year and a half, two
years later, I get a phone call on this trade. Hey, Karen,
I got this, I got this part, and I think
it's perfect to you. And you know, he broke it
down to me and he said, man, I would love
to offer this to you if you want to get
down with us. And long story short, bro it walked
onto something and it was. It was an amazing experience
(20:11):
with Nikki, Indy Indie and Carl Weber and those guys.
And Uh, I've been very blessed and fortunate along the
way to to have had a lot of success based
on just the sheer ability to be able to connect
with people. And thank god I had the talent to
back it up and and and the and the and
the stay and power to stay once I get the opportunity.
(20:33):
But like I said, man, the network, your network is
your net worth.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
You know, when when I think about it, I'm talking
to Karan Joseph Ridley. He's the author of the book
Keep Paddling Things I Learned on my bike. Uh, you
are a bike rider and uh and uh, you know
you talk about ride a bike and I earlier in
my life I did, Uh, long distance running. And you know,
if you run for a while, you didn't get that pain.
(20:57):
You have to be able to run through that pain.
I'm sure you get it. You've gotten it on your
especially in those long trips. It's a pain. And once
you get through that pain, it's kind of like a
sense of uh for you. Yeah, and you and you,
and you start thinking differently. It's like a certain drug
body drug gets into you and relaxes you. And you go,
Where's where did that pain go? And and you know
(21:19):
the thing about because I've read your book, and you
know that I felt your book was very relaxing to me.
And tell everybody the importance of the book, you know,
like you said, it's a transformative book. It's more than
a self help book. But it also is a book
a tell all. And when I say tell all, not
from a standpoint of personal but to tell all about
(21:41):
what you can do and what you can become. It's transformative, correct.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Absolutely, And I've took it from a very very basic
fundamental of if I'm sitting down with a young brother
that looks like me or a young sister that looks
like me, and they're like Koran, I love the fact
that you mentioned and it fail. I love fact that
you're an actor. I love how did you do all
of those things? And how are you still aiming for
(22:07):
higher and higher plateaus? And I would say everything that's
in this book, I would tell him that, you know,
if I could tell them in one conversation, I would.
It would take a little while, but I could tell them,
and I say, look, man, I have a set of
rules and a set of morals that I stand on,
and those keep me safe from the human side of me,
(22:27):
which is the doubt, which is the fear, which is
the insecurity, which is which is all the things that
we all deal with. Right And I tell people all
the time, create a system for yourself, and that system
will protect you when the human side, if you tries
the rear is a little head. Because I believe in
walking in God's power, because God's power is within me,
(22:50):
and God's power tells me that I am I am
a creator of my life, and I am a creator
of all creation. So therefore whatever I see Raseean, I
can make it happen. But without that set of rules
in this this manifesto that I call keep heeling the
things I learned on my bike I would not be
able to make those things manifest.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay. We talked about your past athletic life, we talked
about you being an actor. We're also discussing on the
show keep Heeling things I've learned on my bike. But
as we close out the show your production company, talk
about that. Seconds now, he's trying to change lives from
a creative standpoint, talk about that as we close out
the show.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, man, I created a production company Dedicated Prophecy with
my partners Lim Collins and Marcus Monroe. During the pandemic,
we were sitting around and we said, man, the world is
afraid and scared of his shadow. It's time for us
to make a move. We formed a company. We did
four productions in that time, real quick fast in her
just to put our feet in the ground. And there's
nothing more fulfilling than being able to a produce my
(23:51):
own work show what I can do as an actor
on my own, in my own terms and control my
own narratives. But the biggest gift I find would produce
in doing that is being able to give another actor
that's right behind me or another another opportunity for them
to shine, for them to have freedom, for them to
do their thing, and then for one day along their journey,
(24:11):
they might look up twenty thirty years from now. I'm
the man. Karan gave me an opportunity, but nobody else
gave me an opportunity. Or he gave me an opportunity
when I needed an opportunity because I was doulling myself.
And I believe that's my ministry, that's my purpose, is
to spread spread the positive energy and show my people
the way through collective building and resources.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Love it, love it. We're speaking to Karan. His book.
He encouraged the importance of perseverance, resilience and determination. Tell
us again how we can buy that book.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Kuran www dot Koran Josephreilly dot com. That's my website.
You can go on. It's about three clicks and you'll
have the book. And also I will autograph that book,
sign it, send you a positive noe to affirmation and
you will have a piece of my energy forever and ever.
And also if you just don't feel like going through
(25:02):
the website, you can go through Amazon or any other
place that books are sold.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you, Karen for taking the time to tell your story. Man.
It's very motivating and I appreciate any time I talk
to you because you do inspire me. Man, You do
make me think about other ways that I can look
at how I get up in the morning, in value
my hours in the day. Because I know you out
there peddling.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Brother, I am man, I am brother. I thank you
for your mentorship, and I thank you for your friendship,
and I thank you for your brotherhood. You just keep
peddling because because we got a lot of a lot
of wins to make together.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Brother, I know that's right. You stay strong. That's Karan
Joseph Riley his book. Keep peddling. You know things I
learned on my bike. We righte back with more money
Making Conversation Masterclass. Don't go nowhere. We got more guests
coming Lisa Hankins. This has been another edition of Money
Making Conversation Masterclass posted by me Rashn McDonald. Thank you
(25:55):
to our guests on the show today and thank you.
I'll listen to audience now. If you want to listen
to any episode I want to be a guest on
the show. Visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle
is Moneymaking Conversation. Join us next week and remember to
always leave with your gifts. Keep winning,
Welcome to the show. I'm Rashaan McDonald, the host of
Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop
reading other people's success stories and start planning their own.
Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,
talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running
their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making
(00:25):
a difference in their local communities. Now, sit back and
listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome, Welcome to Money Making Conversations
Master Class Class Wow, Money Making Conversations Master Class. I'm
your host, Rashawn McDonald. As every week a new adventure,
(00:46):
new set of guess, a new set of motivators, people
who have ideas that have worked in their life, and
I asked them to tell their stories so hopefully the
keys to their success or the keys to their perseverance
will motivate you to be successful. That's for Money Making
Conversations Masterclasses all about. I welcome anybody who wants to
call in on the show because the fact that I
(01:07):
enjoy talking to individuals and hopefully inspire you to get
up the next day and say I'm gonna change the world.
But more importantly, if you want to be a guest
on my show, a guest on my show, please go
to Moneymakingconversations dot com. That's Moneymakingconversations dot com. Push the
be a Guest button. It's like be a guest, and
(01:29):
when you submit your information, then you can be a
guest on my show. You can be a guest on
my show. And that's all. That's how it works. I
have all the guests that are booked on this show,
and I enjoy that process because I know why you're
being interviewed on this show, and I know what you
have to offer, and so I live those different points
of interests, in those different styles of grace that I
tend to offer the people who appear on my show
(01:51):
on a regular basis. Now, let's get the show moving on.
My first guest is now available on the show, and
let's rote and again my guests on the show today.
Co stars in the popular The Blackhampton series on BT.
His book navigates through life's ups and downs, and he
uncovers the importance of perseverance, resilience, and determination. The book
(02:14):
shares and insightful reflections and titled keep Peddling Things I
Learned on my bike. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation
master Class. Karan, Joseph Riley. How you doing, Koran?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Thanks of love, Sean. How you doing, James?
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well? You know I I first of all thank you
for coming on Money Making Conversation master Class. You know,
this is a young brother that I'd like to believe
I mentor. You know, he calls me for advice and
I try to lead him down that path as an
older gentleman, because that's what mentorship. What role does mestership
mentorship plan in your life? Because I know I'm not
the only one that mentors your office advice when you
(02:49):
request it.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I'll be honest with Shot. I haven't had a lot
of mentors in the entertainment world, as much as I
would love to have had. Right My first one, I
would have to say was great timing forward. He looked
out for me earlier in my career, gave me a
lot of great jews. I think mentorship is necessary, man,
I think it's part of the journey. I think if
you get any kind of any monochrome of success, it's
(03:13):
your responsibility to mentor somebody and pay it back for it.
That's what this book is. It's a mentorship to the
young black girl or the young black boy who didn't
grow up with a village like I had, like a
great coaching coaches, my dad, my brothers, my uncles, my friends.
I mean, I stand on so many shoulders, Rashaan, that
I can't take credit for any of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'm literally I'm literally living out the dreams of myself.
But I'm also living out on the field that people
put that people put in instilled into me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Great' that's detailed, and so I want to introduce you
to my audience who are alive every Tuesday o w
c OK in Atlanta, Georgia, and give a little background
about you before we get into the book. Keep peddling
the things I learned on my bike, which I loved
the title. By the way, tell us a little background
about you.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Wanted to be
an actor since I was in the first grade, but
sports took over my life shortly there after that. So
I took that journey for as long as I could
take it. And after I retired from football, I jumped
back into my original dream and passion of becoming an actor.
Fast forward seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Excuse me there, short change yourself. Professional football.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Okay, professional football in the NFL, in the NFL, NFLL.
That was my best part time job I ever had.
By the way, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Could have said I retired from football and did they
even become close to playing high school football's saying I
would not let you say that. You're part of the
biggest sports franchise in the world today, most watched media
forum on television, and that's professional football. You in all America,
in college and so because the reason I say that
(05:04):
because I always step back when we talk about branding
on this show, and sometimes when we start telling that story,
we short change ourselves. Because the uniqueness of you is
because you are a chameleon. You're a person who's been
successful at so many different levels and athletics, academics, you know, acting,
(05:26):
you know, each one of those levels have a lot
of turn back in it. And that's where the conversation perseverance,
and that's why I brought up those perseverance, resilience, and
determination because in the things that you've become successful in, Karan,
a lot of people tell you no a lot of
people doubt you, A lot of people would question your dream.
(05:49):
How have you survived? Let's start with sports first.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I basically my mother, man. My mother instilled a unwavering
love and belief system in my in my spirit and
my soul. Man. So like all those nose that you
would get coming up as an athlete with all the doubts,
and athletics is not so much the nose as it
is in the acting game, because in athletics there is
(06:15):
a barometer that you can see immediately if a kid
has potential to be good or something. So it wasn't
so much nose in athletics. It was more like you said,
the naysayers, the dollters. You know, coming out of college,
you know, I was the all time sack leader in
the University of Minnesota history. Still to this day, I'm
the all time sack leader in the University of Minnesota's
(06:36):
history twenty some years later. Even then, coming out getting drafted,
every every everybody their their job is to find knocks,
bad things about your game, to not pay you what
you're warranted to be paid. So, you know, I went
through that whole journey of getting to the NFL, getting
drafted by the Chicago Bears in two thousand and one
draft in the fourth round. Now, if you look over
(06:59):
the course of the draft in the last twenty some
years and you take my stats against any other first
round defensive end past rushing linebacker for out of college stats,
I still have some of the best stats over the
last twenty years. That wasn't a first round draft pick,
So that says I should have been a first round
draft pick. But I dealt with that again that that
(07:20):
was probably my biggest hurdle coming into the NFL of
how to deal with adversity of like, man, I done bust,
my button, did everything right. I thought to really secure
myself and my family very lucrative payday with a first
round signing bonus, which would probably you know, change my
trajectory as a person at that point. But it didn't
(07:41):
go that way. You know, I got a decent sign
the bone. This was like three hundred and fifty thousand.
You know, that's nothing to you know, sniff at it
in two thousand and one. But again I was totally
undervalued based on my production. And I believe, and you
and I have talked about this, I believe it was
because of my sickle sale status as having to trade
(08:02):
as an athlete. I think that hurt me a little
bit as well, and also being more of an outspoken
athlete who didn't just fall in line with the status
quo as an athlete. I've never been that. I've always
been a free thinker and a leader, a leader of thought.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Please don't go anywhere, We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(08:41):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Wow, you know, I love the fact that you know
you're honest about the whole journey. But as an athlete,
and a lot of people don't know when to stop.
You know a lot of people working jobs right now
that they should walk away from and really evaluate the
next steps in their life. And so in athletics, and
when you are successful, you've been doing something so long
(09:07):
and sometimes it becomes easy and it becomes a pattern.
How did you know it was turned time to change
your career path?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
But the NFL kind of lets, you know, you get
cut where I can kind of dictate when and where
I'm gonna you know, hang up my cleats. It was
one of those things. I was in Washington with the
Redskins and had a great preseason, but it wasn't great enough.
Obviously they had to signed another guy in my position
(09:37):
that at the same time they signed me as a
free agent, and they actually paid him a lot more
money to come in and play. So again, so it
always comes down to economics at the end of the day. Uh,
they had invested more money in his in his plan
and then invest in mind. So they let me go,
and at that point it was more relief for me
because I wasn't the kind of athlete like you said.
(09:57):
I wasn't a guy who was gonna keep from lying
at different cities and trying at my you know, trying
out for teams and you know, living out of a
suitcase for the next two or three years like a
lot of a lot of my peers did when they
were trying to hold onto the dream. Because I'll share
this with you, the NFL was never my dream. NFL
was was was my was like a mistress or in
(10:18):
a way or or a backup playing to the to
the main plan. My main plan was to go to
the NBA. And after I didn't grow to be six
six sixty seven like I thought I was, I made.
I just made an executive decision at the age of seventeen.
You know, they were like, you know, because I was
still was getting recruited for basketball. I was, I was
All State in basketball, so I was getting recruited for basketball.
(10:40):
But my dad was like, man, you know, I saw
Kevin Garnett play in the same summer I was deciding
what scholarship I was gonna take, and I realized that
the future of the NBA was not looking anything like me.
So I made. I made an executive decision and said,
you know what, I'm pretty good this football. I do
believe that I can make it to the NFL football
because again the numbers fifty three man roster versus twelve
(11:03):
man roster. My skill set transferring from being a great
basketball player translated to being a great pass rusher in
football because my speed, my quickness, and my footwork that
I was blessed with from basketball. So it was it
kind of made my story kind of created itself as
it was going one loss ended up proving to become
a win. And when I walked away from the game,
(11:25):
it was like I'm walking to my next play man,
which is my original plan was to be an actor.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I went straight went straight to La and started
pursuing acting right away. Man. I literally went back to Atlanta,
packed my bag and got on a plane with La.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Wow. Now I keep peddling. That's the book. Were brought
you on the show to discuss things I've learned on
my bike. When did this whole concept of this book
come about? Was it something that? Is it something that?
Like I said, we all know our first experience on
the bike when I can remember my dad pushed me
and I was wabbling with the training wheels and I
remember when the training wheels come off. So I can
(11:58):
remember my experience in my life on a bike, especially
in my early years. You know, when I got older,
I give on the bike and I can't figure out
why I'm on it, but I know I had I
bought the bike, said I was gonna ride and never
wrote it for the years I've owned it. But I
do remember my experience on the bike. So why was
it important to name your book? Keep peddling things I
(12:19):
learned on my bike.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, the book started ten years ago and it started
off to become like a man law book, just young
men in general. It was a time about ten years
ago and I was starting to notice the pandemic going
on amongst our brothers. The pants sagging below the bud
and not having the ability to shake a man's hand
and look him in the eye, you know, simple things
(12:42):
that I saw that our culture was going down right,
But I need to write a book on man laws.
And eventually, as I started working on that, I started
realizing that I don't really have all the laws. I'm
just one man. And in the midst of that ten
years I started I created my key telling and my
key pelling in matra Own one of my bike rides
(13:04):
to Alabama, I do. I do a bike ride to
Alabama every year on my birthday. So as I'm riding Alabama.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Where do you start? You draw from Atlanta and bike
ride to Alabama.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah. I started Sandy Springs, Atlanta, and I arrived the
comments Silver Commissary all the way to Alabama and it's
about ninety eight miles one way, so it ends up
being about a two hundred mile two day trip. I
stay over night in the hotel in Jackson, Alabama, get
up the next day, and come back. So the day
coming back, the next day, coming back is what I
tell people. I get all of my spiritual and universal
(13:37):
downloads because I believe that as an athlete, some of
my spiritual gifts will come through my body. So me
getting to my body, to that physical point where I'm
completely exhausted and I gotta rely on my spirit and
my willpower to keep going, that's when I start getting
the blessings. So all of a sudden, I got this.
(13:57):
I got this thought, and this voice kept saying to me,
just keep no matter how long it takes, keep healing,
keep healing. It just kept saying it right, And I said, saying, man,
I've been doing this my whole life. Keep pealing thing,
ain't It's not just really all about being on this bike.
This is a This ride from Alabama is it's like
a It's my life. It's like a life journey for me.
(14:20):
So I came home and I designed the logo and
I told Terry and my wife, I said, look, I
had a vision, and this is gonna be the new,
my new, my new, my new manifesto of my life.
I've named it and and it's gonna be what precedes me.
If I came up with to key Healing and then
after that, man it, you know, I just kept building
on that, and again something came up and I needed
(14:43):
to do a speaking event, and they were like, we
want to come through the speaking event. What am I
gonna talk about? So I said, I broke down keep
Helling into an acronym, and then I broke down each letter,
what it meant to me, and how I've developed each
letter along the way, and how they all pay homage
to the next lets and it builds on something. And
once you master each letter of keep Peddling as an individual,
(15:06):
I guarantee you you're going to be a lot better
often where you found yourself before you've picked up Keep Peddling.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
In the book, Wow Kuran. Before we go to break,
tell everybody how they can buy the book.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Www. Karan Joseholey dot com and anywhere all books are sold.
That means Barnes and Noble, Amazon, anywhere else. But I
always say this first and foremost. If you want my
signed autograph copy, you're ordered through Karan Joseraley dot com
everywhere else. You'll just get the book, and you'll have
the book and it's no love lost. But you won't
(15:39):
get to have my energy infused with the book, as
I will send you a positive note in my autograph
with it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
His book Keep Peddling is more than a self help book,
be ause a roadmap for navigating life's twists and turns
with grace and courage. You know I wanted I got
to go back to what you're staring on right now
because I watch it all the time. The Blackhamptons. Know
you said you said seven years old you wanted to act.
I would honestly tell you seven years old, my daddy
(16:07):
probably was thanking me because I was tearing up the room.
How does one I just want to see that. I
always I always marveled when I hear people tell me
they understand that vision, understand that this is what I
want to be at such a young age. Talk about that,
because I think that drives who you are today. And
I think people have children who see it too, but
(16:27):
they might dismiss their kids dreams.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Uh yeah, man. Again, I give credit to my mother
to always allow me to have that freedom to speak
my mind and encourage me to speak my mind and
and propicide my visions. So in the first grade, so
actually it was all younger than seven. Man, it was
actually I think six when I really came to the
I got the vision to be an actor. I was
playing Pussing Boots in a stay in a stage, playing
(16:53):
in element in school. And you know, you don't have
a lot of lines at that age, so I think
I delivered my line in the line was not I said,
the cat and my mother, my grandmother, everybody, like you know,
the women in my family were at they were at
the play, and my mom and them, they screamed so loud,
and cheers so loud, and sean in that very moment,
(17:14):
I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna do this forever. And
and shortly after that, Man, she had me performing everywhere
she could. Man, we be at the mall, She'd like,
do the Billy Jean. I would do the Michael Jackson
Billy Jeans dance. So I was a natural, A natural
ham in a way, I guess I didn't. I never
never shied away from a camera or an audience or
(17:35):
anything like that. So so I played sports. It was
no different than me. Man. I always usually had my
best games in the biggest game, and people were like, man,
you always come to play when it's really a big game.
I said, Yo, the stage the biggest and the bright
the lights of the brightest. Is time for me to
show up.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Baby, I'm just laughing, not I the cat, said the cat.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
That was my line. Baby. So I say, I say
to encourage the kids and everything. And again, you know,
a lot of kids have the visions of what they
want to do and what they want to be for themselves.
But and then and a lot of kids don't. And
it's okay either way. But if you do. I'll tell
any parent that's listening that has young kids, if they
(18:17):
if they vocalize what they want to do early on,
please please please listen. Because when I believe as a child,
we are as close to our purpose of remembering our
purpose than we ever was. You know, as we get
older and we get you know, blindsided by the world's
blind spots, it's easy to forget what we came here
to do. And uh, I think you know, kids are
(18:38):
still in touch.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know, one of the greatest gifts I've always known
about you, even when you didn't know me. There's always
always you know one thing about me. People always say
we're shiny. You seem to have your hands. You know,
people that don't even even they've never met you, But
you seem to impact people you've never met. And and
you understand the value of relationships. You understand and understand
(19:01):
how to connect the dots, and that led to your
role on The Black Black Hamptons. Can you tell everybody
about that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Absolutely, man, Relationships. Networking is your network in this world.
If you you can have ten million degrees, you can
have ten millions uh be read ten million books. But
if you don't have any connections to anybody that can
help expand your web or your net around the world,
then it's all wasted knowledge. So to get how I
(19:29):
got my gig on The Black Hamptons was a relationship.
It's a simple relationship that started with a dinner and
a conversation with a really dope brother by the name
of Trey Haley. He is the director of All the
Black Hamptons, one of the co creators and producers of
Tridathin Films. And he and I just had a really
good night. Like you and I would sit down and
(19:50):
we have dinner, we'd talk and it was just that.
And fast forward like a year and a half, two
years later, I get a phone call on this trade. Hey, Karen,
I got this, I got this part, and I think
it's perfect to you. And you know, he broke it
down to me and he said, man, I would love
to offer this to you if you want to get
down with us. And long story short, bro it walked
onto something and it was. It was an amazing experience
(20:11):
with Nikki, Indy Indie and Carl Weber and those guys.
And Uh, I've been very blessed and fortunate along the
way to to have had a lot of success based
on just the sheer ability to be able to connect
with people. And thank god I had the talent to
back it up and and and the and the and
the stay and power to stay once I get the opportunity.
(20:33):
But like I said, man, the network, your network is
your net worth.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
You know, when when I think about it, I'm talking
to Karan Joseph Ridley. He's the author of the book
Keep Paddling Things I Learned on my bike. Uh, you
are a bike rider and uh and uh, you know
you talk about ride a bike and I earlier in
my life I did, Uh, long distance running. And you know,
if you run for a while, you didn't get that pain.
(20:57):
You have to be able to run through that pain.
I'm sure you get it. You've gotten it on your
especially in those long trips. It's a pain. And once
you get through that pain, it's kind of like a
sense of uh for you. Yeah, and you and you,
and you start thinking differently. It's like a certain drug
body drug gets into you and relaxes you. And you go,
Where's where did that pain go? And and you know
(21:19):
the thing about because I've read your book, and you
know that I felt your book was very relaxing to me.
And tell everybody the importance of the book, you know,
like you said, it's a transformative book. It's more than
a self help book. But it also is a book
a tell all. And when I say tell all, not
from a standpoint of personal but to tell all about
(21:41):
what you can do and what you can become. It's transformative, correct.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Absolutely, And I've took it from a very very basic
fundamental of if I'm sitting down with a young brother
that looks like me or a young sister that looks
like me, and they're like Koran, I love the fact
that you mentioned and it fail. I love fact that
you're an actor. I love how did you do all
of those things? And how are you still aiming for
(22:07):
higher and higher plateaus? And I would say everything that's
in this book, I would tell him that, you know,
if I could tell them in one conversation, I would.
It would take a little while, but I could tell them,
and I say, look, man, I have a set of
rules and a set of morals that I stand on,
and those keep me safe from the human side of me,
(22:27):
which is the doubt, which is the fear, which is
the insecurity, which is which is all the things that
we all deal with. Right And I tell people all
the time, create a system for yourself, and that system
will protect you when the human side, if you tries
the rear is a little head. Because I believe in
walking in God's power, because God's power is within me,
(22:50):
and God's power tells me that I am I am
a creator of my life, and I am a creator
of all creation. So therefore whatever I see Raseean, I
can make it happen. But without that set of rules
in this this manifesto that I call keep heeling the
things I learned on my bike I would not be
able to make those things manifest.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay. We talked about your past athletic life, we talked
about you being an actor. We're also discussing on the
show keep Heeling things I've learned on my bike. But
as we close out the show your production company, talk
about that. Seconds now, he's trying to change lives from
a creative standpoint, talk about that as we close out
the show.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, man, I created a production company Dedicated Prophecy with
my partners Lim Collins and Marcus Monroe. During the pandemic,
we were sitting around and we said, man, the world is
afraid and scared of his shadow. It's time for us
to make a move. We formed a company. We did
four productions in that time, real quick fast in her
just to put our feet in the ground. And there's
nothing more fulfilling than being able to a produce my
(23:51):
own work show what I can do as an actor
on my own, in my own terms and control my
own narratives. But the biggest gift I find would produce
in doing that is being able to give another actor
that's right behind me or another another opportunity for them
to shine, for them to have freedom, for them to
do their thing, and then for one day along their journey,
(24:11):
they might look up twenty thirty years from now. I'm
the man. Karan gave me an opportunity, but nobody else
gave me an opportunity. Or he gave me an opportunity
when I needed an opportunity because I was doulling myself.
And I believe that's my ministry, that's my purpose, is
to spread spread the positive energy and show my people
the way through collective building and resources.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Love it, love it. We're speaking to Karan. His book.
He encouraged the importance of perseverance, resilience and determination. Tell
us again how we can buy that book.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Kuran www dot Koran Josephreilly dot com. That's my website.
You can go on. It's about three clicks and you'll
have the book. And also I will autograph that book,
sign it, send you a positive noe to affirmation and
you will have a piece of my energy forever and ever.
And also if you just don't feel like going through
(25:02):
the website, you can go through Amazon or any other
place that books are sold.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you, Karen for taking the time to tell your story. Man.
It's very motivating and I appreciate any time I talk
to you because you do inspire me. Man, You do
make me think about other ways that I can look
at how I get up in the morning, in value
my hours in the day. Because I know you out
there peddling.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Brother, I am man, I am brother. I thank you
for your mentorship, and I thank you for your friendship,
and I thank you for your brotherhood. You just keep
peddling because because we got a lot of a lot
of wins to make together.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Brother, I know that's right. You stay strong. That's Karan
Joseph Riley his book. Keep peddling. You know things I
learned on my bike. We righte back with more money
Making Conversation Masterclass. Don't go nowhere. We got more guests
coming Lisa Hankins. This has been another edition of Money
Making Conversation Masterclass posted by me Rashn McDonald. Thank you
(25:55):
to our guests on the show today and thank you.
I'll listen to audience now. If you want to listen
to any episode I want to be a guest on
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