# Perseverance: "Keep Pedaling," Learn to navigate LIFE's ups and downs through resilience, and determination.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 29 Aug 2024, 26 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/4acbe141-9cf3-47c4-b47a-b1da01522971/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Karon Joseph Riley. Former NFL player, actor, producer, entrepreneur, and author of Keep Pedaling: Things I Learned on My Bike. The conversation explores perseverance, mentorship, career transitions, purpose, resilience, personal growth, and the importance of creating opportunities for others. Karon shares his journey from Detroit to the NFL, from professional sports to Hollywood, and from actor to author and producer. Throughout the interview, he emphasizes that success comes from continuously moving forward, even when life presents setbacks, disappointments, and uncertainty. Purpose of the Interview The interview was designed to: • Discuss Karon's new book Keep Pedaling. • Explore lessons learned from athletics, acting, and entrepreneurship. • Highlight the value of mentorship. • Inspire people who are navigating career transitions. • Encourage readers to persevere through adversity. • Demonstrate how purpose and discipline create long-term success. About Karon Joseph Riley Karon Joseph Riley is: • Former NFL player • University of Minnesota football standout • Actor • Producer • Entrepreneur • Author • Co-star of BET's The Black Hamptons Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Karon dreamed of becoming an actor from an early age, although sports eventually became his first professional path. Key Takeaways 1. Mentorship Matters One of the first topics discussed was mentorship. Karon explained that successful people have a responsibility to help others rise. He credited many individuals for helping shape his journey, including: • Family members • Coaches • Friends • Former colleagues • Mentors such as the late Tommy Ford According to Karon: If you've achieved success, it's your responsibility to help someone else achieve it too. Key Point Success should be shared through mentorship and service. 2. Nobody Succeeds Alone Karon repeatedly emphasized that he stands on the shoulders of others. He credits his success to: • Family support • Coaching • Guidance • Community Rather than seeing himself as self-made, he views himself as the result of many people investing in him. Key Point Community and support systems play major roles in personal success. 3. His Original Dream Was Acting Many people assume football was always Karon's primary goal. Surprisingly, it wasn't. His first dream was acting. The inspiration started as a young child while performing in a school play. He vividly remembered playing: Puss in Boots After delivering a line in the performance and hearing enthusiastic applause from his mother and family, he immediately knew he loved being on stage. Key Point Many people discover their purpose very early in life. 4. Athletics Became the Path Although acting was his first passion, athletics became his initial career. Karon excelled in sports, particularly football. His accomplishments included: • All-American recognition • University of Minnesota sack leader • NFL draft selection • Professional football career with the Chicago Bears He pointed out that his basketball skills translated naturally into football due to: • Quickness • Footwork • Athletic ability Key Point Skills developed in one area often transfer successfully into another. 5. Disappointment Can Become Motivation Despite an outstanding college career, Karon felt undervalued entering the NFL Draft. He believed his…

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I am Rashawn McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:10] Speaker 2: where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
[0:13] Speaker 2: stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I
[0:17] Speaker 2: interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and
[0:21] Speaker 2: ask them how they are running their companies and speak
[0:24] Speaker 2: with nonprofits who are making a difference in their local communities.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Now sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets
[0:30] Speaker 2: to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:35] Speaker 3: Welcome.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:40] Speaker 4: Wow.
[0:41] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. I'm your host, Rishon McDonald. As
[0:44] Speaker 1: every week, a new adventure, a new set of guests,
[0:46] Speaker 1: a new set of motivators, people who have ideas that
[0:50] Speaker 1: have worked in their life. And I asked them to
[0:53] Speaker 1: tell their story. So hopefully the keys to their success
[0:56] Speaker 1: or the keys to their perseverance will motivate you to
[0:59] Speaker 1: be successful. That's what money making conversations masterclass is all about.
[1:03] Speaker 1: I welcome anybody who wants to call in on the
[1:05] Speaker 1: show because of the fact that I enjoy talking to
[1:09] Speaker 1: individuals and hopefully inspire you to get up the next
[1:12] Speaker 1: day and say, I'm a change the world. But more importantly,
[1:15] Speaker 1: if you want to be a guest on my show,
[1:17] Speaker 1: a guest on my show, please go to money making
[1:20] Speaker 1: conversations dot com. That's moneymakingconversations.com. Push the be a guest button.
[1:28] Speaker 1: It's like be a guest. And when you submit your information,
[1:31] Speaker 1: then you can be a guest on my show. You
[1:33] Speaker 1: can be a guest on my show. And that's all.
[1:35] Speaker 1: That's how it works. I have all the guests that
[1:37] Speaker 1: are booked on this show. And I enjoy that process
[1:40] Speaker 1: because I know why you're being interviewed in this show.
[1:43] Speaker 1: And I know what you have to offer. And so
[1:45] Speaker 1: I live those different points of interest in those different
[1:47] Speaker 1: styles of grace that I tend to offer the people
[1:50] Speaker 1: who appear on my show on a regular basis. Now,
[1:53] Speaker 1: let's get this show moving along. My first guest is
[1:56] Speaker 1: now available on the show, and let's roll. And again,
[2:00] Speaker 1: my guest on the show today co-stars in the popular
[2:04] Speaker 1: The Black Hampton series on BET. His book navigates through
[2:08] Speaker 1: life's ups and downs, and he uncovers the importance of perseverance, resilience,
[2:13] Speaker 1: and determination. The book shares its insightful reflections entitled Keep Pedaling,
[2:18] Speaker 1: Things I Learned on My Bike. Please welcome to Money
[2:21] Speaker 1: Making Conversation Masterclass, Karan Joseph Riley. How you doing, Karan?
[2:26] Speaker 4: Peace and love, Rashawn. How you doing, gang?
[2:28] Speaker 1: Well, you know, I first of all, thank you for
[2:30] Speaker 1: coming on Money Making Conversations Masterclass. You know, this is
[2:33] Speaker 1: a young brother that I like to believe I mentor.
[2:36] Speaker 1: You know, he calls me for advice and I try
[2:38] Speaker 1: to lead him down that path as an older gentleman
[2:42] Speaker 1: because that's what mentorship. What role does mentorship play in
[2:45] Speaker 1: your life? Because I know I'm not the only one
[2:47] Speaker 1: that mentors you or offers advice when you request it.
[2:51] Speaker 4: I'll be honest with y'all. I haven't had a lot
[2:53] Speaker 4: of mentors in the entertainment world as much as I
[2:56] Speaker 4: would love to have had, right? My first one I
[2:59] Speaker 4: would have to say was late, great Tommy Ford. He
[3:01] Speaker 4: looked out for me early in my career, gave me
[3:03] Speaker 4: a lot of great views. I think mentorship is necessary, man.
[3:07] Speaker 4: I think it's part of the journey. I think if
[3:09] Speaker 4: you get any kind of, any monochrome of success, it's
[3:13] Speaker 4: your responsibility to mentor somebody and pay it back for it.
[3:16] Speaker 4: That's what this book is. It's a mentorship to the
[3:18] Speaker 4: young black girl or the young black boy that who
[3:21] Speaker 4: didn't grow up with a village like I had, like
[3:23] Speaker 4: a great coach, my dad, my brothers, my uncles, my friends.
[3:28] Speaker 4: I mean, I stand on so many shoulders, Rashawn, that
[3:32] Speaker 4: I can't take credit for any of this stuff, man.
[3:33] Speaker 4: I'm literally living out the dreams of myself, but I'm
[3:38] Speaker 4: also living out on the fuel that people put in
[3:41] Speaker 4: and instilled into me.
[3:43] Speaker 1: Great. That's detailed. And so I want to introduce you
[3:46] Speaker 1: to my audience. We're live every Tuesday on WCLK in Atlanta, Georgia.
[3:52] Speaker 1: And give me a little background about you before we
[3:55] Speaker 1: get into the book, Keep Pedaling, The Things I Learned
[3:58] Speaker 1: on My Bike, which I love the title, by the way.
[4:00] Speaker 1: Tell us a little background about you.
[4:02] Speaker 4: Well, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Wanted to be
[4:06] Speaker 4: an actor since I was in first grade, but sports
[4:08] Speaker 4: took over my life shortly thereafter. So I'm Took that
[4:12] Speaker 4: journey for as long as I could take it. And
[4:15] Speaker 4: after I retired from football, I jumped back into my
[4:18] Speaker 4: original dream and passion of becoming an actor. Fast forward
[4:22] Speaker 4: 17 years.
[4:23] Speaker 1: Excuse me there, Teron. Don't shortchange yourself. Professional football, okay.
[4:28] Speaker 4: Yeah, professional football in the NFL. In the.
[4:34] Speaker 3: NFL.
[4:36] Speaker 4: In the NFL. In the NFL. That was my best
[4:38] Speaker 4: part-time job I ever had, by the way.
[4:41] Speaker 1: You know, I could have said I retired from football
[4:43] Speaker 1: and didn't even come close to playing high school football.
[4:46] Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying? I would not let you
[4:48] Speaker 1: say that you were part of the biggest– Sports franchise
[4:53] Speaker 1: in the world today, most watched media forum on television.
[4:58] Speaker 1: And that's professional football because you an All-American in college.
[5:01] Speaker 1: And so because I reason I say that because I
[5:05] Speaker 1: always step back when we talk about branding on this show.
[5:08] Speaker 1: And sometimes we. When we start telling that story, we
[5:11] Speaker 1: shortchange ourselves because the uniqueness of you is because you
[5:16] Speaker 1: are a chameleon. You're a person who's been successful at
[5:19] Speaker 1: so many different levels in athletics, academics, acting. Each one
[5:27] Speaker 1: of those levels have a lot of turn back in it.
[5:31] Speaker 1: And that's where the conversation perseverance. And that's why I
[5:34] Speaker 1: brought up those perseverance, resilience, and determination levels. Because in
[5:39] Speaker 1: the things that you become successful in, Karam, a lot
[5:42] Speaker 1: of people tell you no. A lot of people doubt you.
[5:45] Speaker 1: A lot of people would question your dream. How have
[5:49] Speaker 1: you survived? Let's start with sports first.
[5:54] Speaker 4: I basically, my mother, man, my mother instilled an unwavering
[6:00] Speaker 4: love and belief system in my spirit and my soul, man. So,
[6:05] Speaker 4: like all those no's that you would get coming up
[6:08] Speaker 4: as an athlete with all those doubts. In athletics, it's
[6:10] Speaker 4: not so much the no's as it is in the
[6:13] Speaker 4: acting game because in athletics, there is a barometer that
[6:16] Speaker 4: you can see immediately if a kid has potential to
[6:20] Speaker 4: be good or something. So it wasn't so much the
[6:23] Speaker 4: no's in athletics. It was more, like you said, the naysayers,
[6:26] Speaker 4: the doubters. Mm-hmm. Coming out of college, I was the
[6:30] Speaker 4: all-time SAC leader in University of Minnesota history. Still to
[6:33] Speaker 4: this day, I'm the all-time SAC leader in the University
[6:35] Speaker 4: of Minnesota history 20-some years later. Even then, coming out,
[6:40] Speaker 4: getting drafted, their job is to find bad things about
[6:45] Speaker 4: your game, to not pay you what you're warranted to
[6:48] Speaker 4: be paid. I went through that whole journey of getting
[6:52] Speaker 4: to the NFL, getting drafted by the Chicago Bears in
[6:54] Speaker 4: the 2001 draft. in the fourth round. Now, if you
[6:58] Speaker 4: look over the course of the draft in the last
[7:02] Speaker 4: 20-some years, and you take my stats against any other
[7:05] Speaker 4: first-round defensive end, past Russian linebacker, out of college stats,
[7:10] Speaker 4: I still have some of the best stats over the
[7:12] Speaker 4: last 20 years that wasn't a first-round draft pick. So
[7:15] Speaker 4: that says I should have been a first-round draft pick.
[7:19] Speaker 4: But I dealt with that. Again, that was probably my
[7:21] Speaker 4: biggest hurdle coming into the NFL was of how to
[7:24] Speaker 4: deal with the adversity of, like, man, I done bust
[7:26] Speaker 4: my butt and did everything right, I thought, to really
[7:30] Speaker 4: secure myself and my family a very lucrative payday with
[7:34] Speaker 4: a first-round signing bonus, which would probably, you know, change
[7:37] Speaker 4: my trajectory as a person at that point. But it
[7:41] Speaker 4: didn't go that way. You know, I got a decent
[7:44] Speaker 4: signing bonus. It was like $ 350, 000. You know, that's nothing to,
[7:47] Speaker 4: you know, sniff at it in 2001, but... Again, I
[7:51] Speaker 4: was totally undervalued based on my production. And I believe,
[7:57] Speaker 4: and you and I have talked about this, I believe
[7:59] Speaker 4: it was because of my sickle cell status as having
[8:02] Speaker 4: the trait as an athlete. I think that hurt me
[8:04] Speaker 4: a little bit as well. And also being more of
[8:06] Speaker 4: an outspoken athlete who didn't just fall in line with
[8:09] Speaker 4: the status quo as an athlete. I've never been that guy.
[8:12] Speaker 4: I've always been a free thinker and a leader of thoughts.
[8:17] Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[8:20] Speaker 3: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[8:30] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashawn McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[8:36] Speaker 3: continues online at MoneyMakingConversations.com and follow Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[8:42] Speaker 3: on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
[8:45] Speaker 1: Well, you know, I love the fact that, you know,
[8:49] Speaker 1: you are honest about the whole journey. But as an
[8:52] Speaker 1: athlete and a lot of people don't know when to stop,
[8:56] Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people work in jobs right
[8:57] Speaker 1: now that they should walk away from and really evaluate
[9:00] Speaker 1: the next steps in their life. And so in athletics
[9:03] Speaker 1: and when you are successful, you've been doing something so
[9:06] Speaker 1: long and sometimes it becomes easy and it becomes a pattern.
[9:10] Speaker 1: How did you know it was time to change your
[9:13] Speaker 1: career path?
[9:16] Speaker 4: The NFL kind of lets you know. You get cut.
[9:20] Speaker 4: It's that one of those things where I can kind
[9:23] Speaker 4: of dictate when or where I'm going to hang up
[9:27] Speaker 4: my cleats. It was one of those things. I was
[9:28] Speaker 4: in Washington with the Redskins and had a great preseason,
[9:32] Speaker 4: but it wasn't great enough. Obviously, they had to sign
[9:35] Speaker 4: another guy in my position. At the same time, they
[9:38] Speaker 4: signed me as a free agent, and they actually paid
[9:40] Speaker 4: him a lot more money to come in and play, so... Again,
[9:44] Speaker 4: it always comes down to economics at the end of
[9:46] Speaker 4: the day. They had invested more money in his plan
[9:50] Speaker 4: than in the best of mine, so they let me go.
[9:52] Speaker 4: At that point, it was more of a relief for
[9:54] Speaker 4: me because I wasn't the kind of athlete, like you said,
[9:57] Speaker 4: I wasn't the guy who was going to keep... flying
[10:00] Speaker 4: to different cities and trying, you know, trying out for
[10:03] Speaker 4: teams and, you know, living out of a suitcase for
[10:05] Speaker 4: the next two or three years, like a lot of
[10:07] Speaker 4: my peers did when they were trying to hold on
[10:09] Speaker 4: to the dream, because I'll share this with you, the
[10:12] Speaker 4: NFL was never my dream. The NFL was was like
[10:17] Speaker 4: a mistress in a way or a backup plan to
[10:20] Speaker 4: the main plan. My main plan was to go to
[10:23] Speaker 4: the NBA. After I didn't grow to be 6'6, 6'7,
[10:27] Speaker 4: like I thought I would, I just made an executive
[10:31] Speaker 4: decision at the age of 17. They were like, because
[10:35] Speaker 4: I was still getting recruited for basketball. I was all
[10:37] Speaker 4: state in basketball. So I was getting recruited for basketball,
[10:40] Speaker 4: but my dad was like, man, You know, I saw
[10:43] Speaker 4: Kevin Garnett play in the same summer I was deciding
[10:46] Speaker 4: what scholarship I was going to take, and I realized
[10:48] Speaker 4: that the future of the NBA was not looking anything
[10:50] Speaker 4: like me. So I made an executive decision and said,
[10:54] Speaker 4: you know what, I'm pretty good at this football. I
[10:57] Speaker 4: do believe that I can make it to the NFL
[11:00] Speaker 4: in football because, again, the numbers, 53-man roster versus 12-man roster.
[11:04] Speaker 4: My skill set transferred from being a great basketball player
[11:08] Speaker 4: translated to being a great pass rusher in football because
[11:11] Speaker 4: of my speed, my quickness, and my footwork that I
[11:14] Speaker 4: was blessed with from basketball. My story kind of created
[11:18] Speaker 4: itself as it was going. One loss ended up proving
[11:22] Speaker 4: to become a win. And, uh, when I walked away
[11:24] Speaker 4: from the game, it was like, I'm walking to my
[11:26] Speaker 4: next plan, man, which is my original plan was to
[11:28] Speaker 4: be an actor.
[11:29] Speaker 1: Wow.
[11:29] Speaker 4: And I went straight, went straight to LA and started, uh, uh,
[11:33] Speaker 4: pursuing acting right away, man. I literally went back to Atlanta,
[11:35] Speaker 4: packed my bag and got on a plane and went
[11:37] Speaker 4: to LA. Wow.
[11:38] Speaker 1: Now, did I keep peddling? That's the book we are
[11:40] Speaker 1: brought to on the show to discuss things I've learned
[11:42] Speaker 1: on my bike. When did this whole concept of, um,
[11:46] Speaker 1: this book come about? Was it something, is it something that,
[11:49] Speaker 1: like I said, we all know our first experience on
[11:51] Speaker 1: a bike when I can remember my dad pushed me
[11:53] Speaker 1: and I was wobbling with the training wheels. And I
[11:56] Speaker 1: remember when the training wheels come off. So I can
[11:58] Speaker 1: remember my experience in my life on a bike, especially
[12:02] Speaker 1: in my early years. You know, when I got older,
[12:04] Speaker 1: I get on the bike and can't figure out why
[12:07] Speaker 1: I'm on it. But I know I bought a bike,
[12:09] Speaker 1: said I was going to ride it and never rode
[12:11] Speaker 1: it for the years I've owned it. But I do
[12:13] Speaker 1: remember my experience on a bike. So why was it
[12:16] Speaker 1: important to name your book, Keep Pedaling, Things I Learned
[12:19] Speaker 1: on My Bike?
[12:22] Speaker 4: Well, the book started 10 years ago, and it started
[12:25] Speaker 4: off to become like a man-law book. Just young men
[12:28] Speaker 4: in general. It was a time about 10 years ago
[12:30] Speaker 4: when I was starting to notice a pandemic going on
[12:33] Speaker 4: amongst our brothers. The pants sagging below the butt and
[12:37] Speaker 4: not having the ability to shake a man's hand and
[12:40] Speaker 4: look him in the eye. You know, simple things that
[12:42] Speaker 4: I saw that our culture was going down, right? I said,
[12:46] Speaker 4: I need to write a book on man laws. And eventually,
[12:48] Speaker 4: as I started working on that, I started realizing that
[12:52] Speaker 4: I don't really have all the laws. I'm just one man.
[12:57] Speaker 4: And in the midst of that 10 years, I had
[13:00] Speaker 4: created my key paladin mantra on one of my bike
[13:04] Speaker 4: rides to Alabama. I do a bike ride to Alabama
[13:07] Speaker 4: every year on my birthday. So as I'm riding to Alabama, I'm.
[13:09] Speaker 1: Riding back to Alabama. Hold on, hold on right there.
[13:12] Speaker 1: Where do you start? You start from Atlanta and bike
[13:14] Speaker 1: ride to Alabama?
[13:16] Speaker 4: Yeah, I start in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, and I ride
[13:19] Speaker 4: the Silver Comet Trail all the way to Alabama. It's
[13:21] Speaker 4: about 98 miles one way, so it ends up being
[13:23] Speaker 4: about a 200-mile two-day trip. I stay overnight in a
[13:28] Speaker 4: hotel in Jackson, Alabama, get up the next day and
[13:30] Speaker 4: come back. So the next day coming back is where
[13:33] Speaker 4: I tell people I get all of my spiritual and
[13:36] Speaker 4: universal downloads because I believe that as an athlete... some
[13:41] Speaker 4: of my spiritual gifts will come through my body. So
[13:45] Speaker 4: me getting to my body to that physical point where
[13:48] Speaker 4: I'm completely exhausted and I got to rely on my
[13:51] Speaker 4: spirit and my willpower to keep going, that's when I
[13:54] Speaker 4: start getting the blessings. So all of a sudden I
[13:56] Speaker 4: got this thought and this voice kept saying to me,
[13:59] Speaker 4: just keep pedaling. No matter how long it takes, keep pedaling,
[14:02] Speaker 4: keep pedaling. It just kept saying that, right? And I
[14:05] Speaker 4: started saying, man, I've been doing this my whole life.
[14:07] Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
[14:08] Speaker 4: This Keep Pedaling thing, it's not just really all about
[14:12] Speaker 4: being on this bike. This ride from Alabama, it's like
[14:17] Speaker 4: a life journey for me. So I came home, and
[14:21] Speaker 4: I designed the logo, and I told Terry, my wife,
[14:24] Speaker 4: I said, look, I had a vision, and this is
[14:27] Speaker 4: going to be my new manifesto of my life. I've
[14:32] Speaker 4: named it, and it's going to be what precedes me.
[14:36] Speaker 4: So I came over to Keep Pelling, and then after that, man,
[14:38] Speaker 4: I just kept building on that. And again, something came up,
[14:43] Speaker 4: and I needed to do a speaking event. And they
[14:44] Speaker 4: were like, you want to come to the speaking event?
[14:46] Speaker 4: What am I going to talk about? So I said,
[14:48] Speaker 4: I broke down Keep Pelling into an acronym. And then
[14:51] Speaker 4: I broke down each letter, what it meant to me,
[14:54] Speaker 4: and how I've developed each letter along the way, and
[14:57] Speaker 4: how they all pay homage to the next letter. And
[15:00] Speaker 4: it builds on something. And once you master each letter
[15:04] Speaker 4: of key peddling as an individual, I guarantee you, you're
[15:07] Speaker 4: going to be a lot better off than where you
[15:09] Speaker 4: found yourself before you picked up key peddling in a book.
[15:12] Speaker 1: Wow. Karan, before we go to break, tell everybody how
[15:15] Speaker 1: they can buy the book.
[15:18] Speaker 4: Www.karanjosarali.com. And anywhere all books are sold, that means Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Amazon.
[15:25] Speaker 4: anywhere else. But I always say this first and foremost,
[15:29] Speaker 4: if you want my signed autograph copy, you brought your
[15:32] Speaker 4: order through Quran, just rally.com everywhere else. You'll just get
[15:35] Speaker 4: the book and you'll have the book and it's no
[15:38] Speaker 4: love loss, but you won't get to have my energy
[15:40] Speaker 4: infused with the book. As I will send you a
[15:42] Speaker 4: positive note and my autograph with it.
[15:45] Speaker 1: His book, keep peddling is more than a self-help book
[15:48] Speaker 1: is a roadmap for navigating life's twists and turns with
[15:51] Speaker 1: grace and courage. You know, I want to I got
[15:54] Speaker 1: to go back to what you're starring on right now
[15:56] Speaker 1: because I watch it all the time. The Black Hamptons,
[15:59] Speaker 1: you know, you say you say seven years old, you
[16:03] Speaker 1: wanted to act. I would honestly tell you seven years old.
[16:06] Speaker 1: My daddy probably was spanking me because I was tearing
[16:08] Speaker 1: up the room. How does one I just want to
[16:11] Speaker 1: see that. I always I always marvel when I hear
[16:14] Speaker 1: people tell me they understand that vision, understand that. This
[16:19] Speaker 1: is what I want to be at such a young age.
[16:21] Speaker 1: Talk about that, because I think that drives who you
[16:23] Speaker 1: are today. And I think people have children who see it, too,
[16:27] Speaker 1: but they might dismiss their kids dreams.
[16:31] Speaker 4: Yeah, man. Again, I give credit to my mother for
[16:33] Speaker 4: always allowing me to have that freedom to speak my
[16:35] Speaker 4: mind and encourage me to speak my mind and prophesy
[16:40] Speaker 4: my visions. So in the first grade, so actually it
[16:43] Speaker 4: was younger than seven, man. It was actually, I think,
[16:46] Speaker 4: six when I really came to, I got the vision
[16:48] Speaker 4: to be an actor. I was playing Puss in Boots
[16:51] Speaker 4: in a stage play in elementary school. And, you know,
[16:55] Speaker 4: you don't have a lot of lines at that age.
[16:56] Speaker 4: So I think I delivered my line. And the line was,
[17:01] Speaker 4: not I, said the cat. And my mother, my grandmother said, Everybody,
[17:05] Speaker 4: like my mom, you know, the women in my family,
[17:08] Speaker 4: they were at the play. And my mom and them,
[17:10] Speaker 4: they screamed so loud and cheered so loud, Rashawn. In
[17:14] Speaker 4: that very moment, I was like, yeah, I'm going to
[17:15] Speaker 4: do this forever. And shortly after that, man, she had
[17:20] Speaker 4: me performing everywhere she could, man. We'd be at the mall.
[17:23] Speaker 4: She'd be like, do the Billie Jean. I would do
[17:24] Speaker 4: the Michael Jackson, Billie Jean dance. So I was a
[17:28] Speaker 4: natural ham in a way, I guess. I didn't. I
[17:31] Speaker 4: never shied away from a camera or an audience or
[17:35] Speaker 4: anything like that. So when I played sports, it was
[17:38] Speaker 4: no different to me, man. I always usually had my
[17:40] Speaker 4: best games in the biggest games. And people were like, man,
[17:43] Speaker 4: you always come to play when it's really a big game.
[17:46] Speaker 4: I said, yo, the stage is the biggest and the
[17:47] Speaker 4: lights are the brightest. It's time for me to show up, baby.
[17:50] Speaker 1: You know, I'm just laughing. Not I, said the cat.
[17:54] Speaker 4: Not I, said the cat. That was my line, baby.
[17:59] Speaker 4: I love it, man. So I say to encourage your
[18:03] Speaker 4: kids and everything. And, again, you know, a lot of
[18:05] Speaker 4: kids have the visions of what they want to do
[18:07] Speaker 4: and what they want to be for themselves. And a
[18:10] Speaker 4: lot of kids don't. And it's okay either way. But
[18:13] Speaker 4: if you do, I'll tell any parent that's listening that,
[18:15] Speaker 4: that has young kids, if they vocalize what they want
[18:19] Speaker 4: to do early on, please, please, please listen because I
[18:23] Speaker 4: believe as a child we are as close to our
[18:25] Speaker 4: purpose of remembering our purpose than we ever was.
[18:28] Speaker 2: Right.
[18:28] Speaker 4: You know, as we get older and we get, you know,
[18:31] Speaker 4: blindsided by the world's blind spots, it's easy to forget
[18:34] Speaker 4: what we came here to do. And I think, you know,
[18:38] Speaker 4: kids are still in touch.
[18:39] Speaker 1: You know, one of the greatest gifts I've always known
[18:41] Speaker 1: about you, even when you didn't know me, it was
[18:43] Speaker 1: always One thing about me, people always say, Rashawn, you
[18:47] Speaker 1: seem to have your hands, you know, people that don't even,
[18:51] Speaker 1: they've never met you, but you seem to impact people
[18:54] Speaker 1: you've never met. And you understand the value of relationships.
[18:59] Speaker 1: You understand how to connect the dots. And that led
[19:03] Speaker 1: to your role on the Black Hamptons. Can you tell
[19:05] Speaker 1: everybody about that?
[19:07] Speaker 4: Absolutely, man. Relationships, networking is your net worth in this world.
[19:12] Speaker 4: If you You can have 10 million degrees, you can
[19:15] Speaker 4: have 10 million, you can have read 10 million books,
[19:18] Speaker 4: but if you don't have any connections to anybody that
[19:21] Speaker 4: can help expand your web or your net around the world,
[19:25] Speaker 4: it's all wasted knowledge. So how I got my gig
[19:30] Speaker 4: on the Black Hamptons was a relationship, a simple relationship
[19:33] Speaker 4: that started with a dinner and a conversation with a
[19:37] Speaker 4: really dope brother by the name of Trey Haley. He
[19:40] Speaker 4: is the director of all the Black Hamptons, one of
[19:43] Speaker 4: the co-creators and producers of Tridescent Films. And he and
[19:48] Speaker 4: I just had a really good night, like you and
[19:49] Speaker 4: I would sit down. down and we'd have dinner, we'd talk,
[19:51] Speaker 4: and it was just that. And fast forward like a
[19:53] Speaker 4: year and a half, two years later, I get a
[19:55] Speaker 4: phone call, and it's Trey. Hey, Karan, I got this part,
[19:58] Speaker 4: and I think it's perfect for you. And he broke
[20:01] Speaker 4: it down to me, and he said, man, I would
[20:03] Speaker 4: love to offer this to you if you want to
[20:04] Speaker 4: get down with us. Long story short, bro, it walked
[20:08] Speaker 4: onto something, and it was an amazing experience with Nicky
[20:12] Speaker 4: Indy and Carl Weber and those guys. And I've been
[20:16] Speaker 4: very blessed and fortunate along the way to have had
[20:20] Speaker 4: a lot of success based on just the sheer ability
[20:24] Speaker 4: to be able to connect with people. And thank God
[20:27] Speaker 4: I had the talent to back it up and the
[20:30] Speaker 4: staying power to stay once I get the opportunity. But
[20:33] Speaker 4: like you said, man, your network is your net worth.
[20:36] Speaker 1: You know, when I think about it, I'm talking to
[20:38] Speaker 1: Karan Joseph Riley. He's the author of the book, Keep Pedaling,
[20:42] Speaker 1: Things I've Learned on My Bike. You are a bike rider.
[20:46] Speaker 3: Absolutely.
[20:47] Speaker 1: And, you know, you talk about it, Richard, I ride
[20:49] Speaker 1: a bike. And early in my life, I did long-distance running. And,
[20:54] Speaker 1: you know, if you run for a while, you get
[20:56] Speaker 1: that pain. You have to be able to run through
[20:58] Speaker 1: that pain. I'm sure you've gotten it on your bike,
[21:00] Speaker 1: especially on those long trips. It's a pain. And once
[21:02] Speaker 1: you get through that pain, it's kind of like a
[21:05] Speaker 1: sense of– Yeah. And you start thinking differently. It's like
[21:11] Speaker 1: a certain drug, a body drug gets into you and
[21:14] Speaker 1: relaxes you and you go, where did that pain go? And,
[21:19] Speaker 1: you know, the thing about, because I've read your book
[21:21] Speaker 1: and you know that, I felt your book was very
[21:23] Speaker 1: relaxing to me. And tell everybody the importance of the book.
[21:29] Speaker 1: You know, like you said, it's a transformative book. It's
[21:32] Speaker 1: more than a self-help book, but it also is a
[21:34] Speaker 1: book A tell-all. And when I say tell-all, not from
[21:38] Speaker 1: a standpoint of personal, but tell-all about what you can
[21:41] Speaker 1: do and what you can become. It's transformative, correct?
[21:45] Speaker 4: Absolutely. And I took it from a very, very basic
[21:49] Speaker 4: fundamental of if I'm sitting down with a young brother
[21:53] Speaker 4: that looks like me or a young sister that looks
[21:55] Speaker 4: like me and they're like, Karan, I love the fact
[21:58] Speaker 4: that you made it to the NFL. I love the
[22:00] Speaker 4: fact that you're an actor. How did you do all
[22:03] Speaker 4: of those things together? And how are you still aiming
[22:06] Speaker 4: for higher and higher plateaus? And I would say everything
[22:11] Speaker 4: that's in this book, I would tell him that, you know,
[22:13] Speaker 4: if I could tell him in one conversation, I would,
[22:15] Speaker 4: it would take a little while, but I could tell
[22:17] Speaker 4: him and I'll say, look, man, I have a set
[22:19] Speaker 4: of rules and a set of, um, um, morals that
[22:22] Speaker 4: I stand on and those keep me safe from the
[22:26] Speaker 4: human side of me, which is the doubt, which is
[22:29] Speaker 4: the fear, which is, um, the insecurity, which is which
[22:33] Speaker 4: is all the things that we all deal with, right?
[22:36] Speaker 4: And I tell people all the time, create a system
[22:39] Speaker 4: for yourself. And that system will protect you when the
[22:41] Speaker 4: human side of you tries to rear his little head.
[22:45] Speaker 4: Because I believe in walking in God's power because God's
[22:48] Speaker 4: power is within me. And God's power tells me that
[22:52] Speaker 4: I am a creator of my life and I am
[22:53] Speaker 4: a creator of all creation. So therefore, whatever I see, Rashawn,
[22:58] Speaker 4: I can make it happen. But without that set of
[23:00] Speaker 4: rules and this... this manifesto that I call keep pedaling
[23:04] Speaker 4: the things I learned on my bike, I would not
[23:08] Speaker 4: be able to make those things manifest.
[23:10] Speaker 1: We talked about your past athletic life. We talked about
[23:14] Speaker 1: you being an actor. We're also discussing on the show
[23:17] Speaker 1: keep pedaling things I've learned on my bike. But as
[23:19] Speaker 1: we close out the show, your production company, talk about
[23:22] Speaker 1: that a second. Now you're trying to change lives from
[23:24] Speaker 1: a creative standpoint. Talk about that as we close out
[23:27] Speaker 1: the show.
[23:28] Speaker 4: Yeah, man. I created the production company Dedicated Prophecy with
[23:31] Speaker 4: my partners, Lim Collins and Marcus Monroe. During the pandemic,
[23:34] Speaker 4: we were sitting around and we said, man, the world
[23:36] Speaker 4: is afraid and scared of its shadow. It's time for
[23:38] Speaker 4: us to make a move. We formed a company. We
[23:42] Speaker 4: did four productions in that time, real quick, fast, in
[23:44] Speaker 4: a hurry, just to put our feet in the ground.
[23:46] Speaker 4: And there's nothing more fulfilling than being able to, A,
[23:50] Speaker 4: produce my own work, show what I can do as
[23:53] Speaker 4: an actor on my own, in my own terms, and
[23:56] Speaker 4: control my own narrative. But the biggest gift I find
[23:59] Speaker 4: with producing and doing that is being able to give
[24:01] Speaker 4: another actor that's right behind me or another opportunity for
[24:06] Speaker 4: them to shine, for them to have freedom, for them
[24:08] Speaker 4: to do their thing. And then one day along their journey,
[24:11] Speaker 4: they might look up 20, 30 years from now and
[24:13] Speaker 4: be like, man, Karan gave me an opportunity when nobody
[24:16] Speaker 4: else gave me an opportunity or he gave me an
[24:17] Speaker 4: opportunity when I needed an opportunity because I was doubting myself.
[24:21] Speaker 4: And I believe that's my ministry. That's my purpose is
[24:24] Speaker 4: to spread the positive energy and show my people the
[24:27] Speaker 4: way through collective building and resources.
[24:32] Speaker 1: Love it. Love it. We're speaking to Karan. His book,
[24:35] Speaker 1: he uncovers the importance of perseverance, resilience, and determination. Tell
[24:40] Speaker 1: us again how we can buy that book, Karan.
[24:43] Speaker 4: Www.karanjosephriley.com. That's my website. You can go on. It's about
[24:50] Speaker 4: three clicks and you'll have the book. And also I
[24:52] Speaker 4: will autograph that book, sign it, send you a positive note, affirmation,
[24:57] Speaker 4: and you will have a piece of my energy forever
[24:59] Speaker 4: and ever. And also, if you just don't feel like
[25:01] Speaker 4: going through the website, you can go through Amazon or any,
[25:04] Speaker 4: any other place that books are sold.
[25:07] Speaker 1: Thank you, Karan, for taking the time to tell your story, man.
[25:09] Speaker 1: It's very motivating and, And I appreciate any time I
[25:12] Speaker 1: talk to you because you do inspire me, man. You
[25:15] Speaker 1: do make me think about other ways that I can
[25:17] Speaker 1: look at how I get up in the morning and
[25:19] Speaker 1: value my hours in the day because I know you
[25:22] Speaker 1: out there pedaling, brother.
[25:25] Speaker 4: I am, man. I am, brother. I thank you for
[25:26] Speaker 4: your mentorship, and I thank you for your friendship, and
[25:28] Speaker 4: I thank you for your brotherhood. You just keep pedaling
[25:31] Speaker 4: because we got a lot of wins to make together, brother.
[25:35] Speaker 1: I know that's right. You stay strong. That's Karan Joseph Riley.
[25:38] Speaker 1: His book, Keep Pedaling. You know, things I learned on
[25:41] Speaker 1: my bike. We'll be right back with more Money Making
[25:43] Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass. Don't go nowhere. We got more guests coming.
[25:46] Speaker 1: Lisa Hankins. This has been another edition of Money Making
[25:51] Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass hosted by me, Rashawn McDonald. Thank you to
[25:56] Speaker 1: our guests on the show today. And thank you, our
[25:58] Speaker 1: listening audience. Now, if you want to listen to any
[26:01] Speaker 1: episode or want to be a guest on the show,
[26:03] Speaker 1: visit MoneyMakingConversations.com. Our social media handle is Money Making Conversations.
[26:09] Speaker 1: Join us next week, and remember to always lead with
[26:11] Speaker 1: your gifts. Keep winning.

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