Mark: Alright Michelle, before we dive in, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear 'a business book by rapper Rick Ross'? Michelle: Honestly? I'm picturing a 200-page guide on how to pick the right diamond-encrusted watch to wear while firing someone. Am I close? Mark: Hilariously wrong, which is exactly why we need to talk about this. Today we are diving deep into The Perfect Day to Boss Up: A Hustler’s Guide to Building Your Empire by Rick Ross, with Neil Martinez-Belkin. Michelle: A New York Times Bestseller, which is impressive. But what's really fascinating is Ross himself. This is a guy who famously worked as a corrections officer before becoming a rap mogul—a fact he initially denied. That journey from a structured, rule-based job to building a creative empire on his own terms is the real story here. Mark: Exactly. And it gets to the heart of his first big idea: what it truly means to be a boss. It’s not about the jewelry or the jets. It’s a mindset. Michelle: Okay, but "mindset" can be a pretty fluffy word. Every self-help book talks about mindset. What makes Ross's take any different? Mark: It's the raw authenticity. He argues that being a boss is about taking absolute control of your life, and it starts with how you carry yourself, even when you have nothing.

Mark: He tells this incredible story from early in his career. He was broke, living in a DJ's basement, and his mom was secretly making his car payments so it wouldn't get repossessed. He’d drive out of town for meetings and sleep in his truck to save money on a hotel. Michelle: That does not sound very 'boss-like'. That sounds like struggling. Mark: Right, but here's the twist. Years later, people he met during that time were shocked to hear he was broke. They said he always carried himself with this unshakable confidence, this 'boss' energy. He wasn't wearing fancy clothes he couldn't afford; he was projecting a vision he was relentlessly working towards. Michelle: Hold on, how is that not just 'faking it 'til you make it'? Where's the line between that self-belief he's talking about and being, as he puts it, a 'fraudulent con artist'? Mark: That is the perfect question, and he draws a very sharp line. He tells this other story about a photo studio in L.A. that built a set to look exactly like the inside of a private jet. Aspiring influencers pay a fee to go take pictures there to post on Instagram. Michelle: Oh, that is painfully modern. So they can look like they're flying private without ever leaving the ground. Mark: Exactly. And Ross says that is being a con artist. You're spending your energy on the appearance of success, not the work of success. For him, the difference was that even while sleeping in his truck, he was putting in the work—networking, writing, building relationships. The confidence wasn't a lie; it was a preview of a future he was actively building. The 'boss' was the work ethic, not the props. Michelle: I see. So the energy has to be backed by actual hustle. It's not about pretending you have a jet; it's about having the mindset of someone who is on their way to earning one. Mark: Precisely. He saw the same thing in a young Drake. When Lil Wayne first brought Drake to Miami, nobody knew who he was. He was this unconventional kid from Canada who rapped and sang. But Ross said he walked into the room with this quiet, powerful confidence. He wasn't loud or flashy, but he had an aura that said, "I know I'm great, and you'll figure it out soon." Ross put him on the "Aston Martin Music" track, and the rest is history. Michelle: That makes sense. The confidence is a symptom of the self-belief, not the source of it. You're not trying to fool others; you're just so convinced yourself that it radiates outward. Mark: And he has a killer line that sums it all up: "Success is the outcome of what you do when no one’s paying attention to you." That’s the core of the boss mindset. It's not the Instagram post; it's the lonely hours of work that make the post possible one day. Michelle: Okay, so you have the mindset. You believe in yourself, you're putting in the work when no one's watching. But a mindset without a plan is just a daydream. How does he say you actually build the empire?

Mark: This is where the book gets incredibly practical and, honestly, a bit counter-cultural. His philosophy is "Empires are built brick by brick." He's adamant that you have to master one thing before you can branch out. Michelle: The anti-side-hustle gospel. I like it. It feels like everyone today is told to be a YouTuber and a podcaster and a crypto investor and a freelance designer all at once. Mark: He calls that being a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none." His advice is to go deep, not wide. And the most powerful illustration of this is a story that literally takes place in his own home. He bought this massive 235-acre estate in Georgia. Michelle: The one from the movie Coming 2 America, right? Mark: The very same. But what most people don't know is who owned it before him: the four-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield. Michelle: Wow. So what happened? Mark: Holyfield was a legend, earned hundreds of millions. But his income was almost entirely from boxing. When his career declined, he couldn't afford the upkeep on this massive estate. He owed hundreds of thousands to a landscaping company alone. The bank eventually foreclosed, and Ross bought it for a fraction of what Holyfield put into it. Michelle: That's a brutal cautionary tale. Relying on one stream of income, no matter how massive, is a huge risk. Mark: It's the ultimate example of what not to do. Ross, on the other hand, lives by diversification. His income isn't just from music. It's from his stake in Wingstop franchises, Rap Snacks potato chips, Luc Belaire rosé, book royalties, film studio rentals on the estate itself... the list goes on. He turned the very asset that sank Holyfield into another income stream. Michelle: It's like he's saying don't just build a tall tower; build a wide, solid pyramid. One brick at a time. Mark: Exactly. And the bricks aren't always glamorous. During the pandemic, with all his shows canceled, he got obsessed with cutting the grass on his 235-acre property. He bought this enormous, air-conditioned John Deere tractor. Michelle: A tractor. Not a Lamborghini. That's a different kind of flex. Mark: He said his motto is, "If it ain’t a long-term play, then it’s just small talk." The tractor was an asset. It saved him the massive landscaping bills that plagued Holyfield, and while riding it for hours a day, he explored his own land and came up with new business ideas. He found an old barn Holyfield had built and decided to turn it into a film production studio. Michelle: It's like the 10,000-hour rule, but for mowing a lawn. The repetitive, unglamorous work is what gives you the space to think and strategize. Mark: That's the whole point. He says he spent a decade working in the shadows, failing with record deals, just honing his craft before his first big hit, "Hustlin'." The success wasn't an accident; it was the result of laying thousands of unseen bricks. Michelle: That patience is the hardest part. It's easy to get the mindset, but much harder to do the boring work for ten years. And what happens when you fail during that time? What happens when you lay a brick wrong? Mark: And that long-term thinking, that patience, leads to his most mature and, honestly, most surprising advice: how to handle failure.

Mark: He has a whole chapter on what he calls "mastering the art of the L" — taking a loss. He argues that the inability to gracefully accept a loss is often more embarrassing and damaging than the loss itself. Michelle: I can think of a few public figures who could use that chapter. Mark: He actually uses Donald Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results as a prime example. He quotes a journalist who described Trump as an "obese turtle on his back, flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over." The flailing is what people remember, not just the loss. Michelle: That's a painfully vivid image. So how does Ross apply this to himself? It's easy to point fingers at others. Mark: That's what makes the book so credible. He points the finger right back at himself. He talks about his 2014 album, Hood Billionaire. His label needed a release, so he rushed it. The album got terrible reviews and had the lowest first-week sales of his career. It was a huge public 'L'. But he owned it. He admitted he rushed the process and learned a valuable lesson: move correctly, not just fast. Michelle: It's pretty rare for someone with his 'unbeatable boss' image to talk so openly about his own L's. It makes the advice feel more earned. Mark: It shows his evolution. He talks about earlier in his career, when the news about him being a correctional officer broke. His first instinct was to deny and lash out. Later, when he lost a huge endorsement deal with Reebok over some controversial lyrics, his response was completely different. He paused, reflected, and took responsibility. He realized his words had put the company in an impossible position. He didn't attack them; he apologized. He learned to manage his emotions. Michelle: That's real growth. That's moving from a reactive hustler to a strategic CEO. You realize that burning a bridge might feel good for a second, but it costs you a fortune in the long run. Mark: And that ability to learn from failure is what allows him to shift his focus to the final stage of being a boss: legacy. He says, "For years I just wanted to change my life. Now I want to change the world." He's investing in things like Jetdoc, a telehealth company aimed at making healthcare more accessible in underserved communities. Michelle: Wow. From selling records to selling affordable healthcare. That's a serious pivot. Mark: It's the full circle of the boss philosophy. He uses this beautiful metaphor. After hiring experts to fix the fishing ponds on his estate, they told him the ponds looked fine on the surface but were too shallow underneath. To make them thrive, they had to be drained and dug deeper. He realized it was a metaphor for his own life. No matter how successful you look, you can always dig deeper.

Michelle: So when you boil it all down, what is the 'perfect day to boss up' really about? Mark: It's not about one perfect day. It's the daily decision to take ownership, to build patiently, and to see every setback not as a failure, but as another 'brick' of experience. The real "boss move" isn't buying the mansion; it's learning from the guy who lost it and then turning that same property into a profitable asset. It’s about transforming every circumstance, good or bad, into an opportunity. Michelle: It’s a continuous process, not a destination. The work is never really done. Mark: Never. And he has this one quote that I think just nails the entire philosophy. He says, "Success is the outcome of what you do when no one’s paying attention to you." Michelle: I love that. It brings it all back to the beginning. The quiet work, the unseen bricks. Mark: It really does. And it leaves us with a great question to reflect on: What's one 'brick' you can lay today, when no one is watching? Michelle: That’s a powerful thought. We'd love to hear what our listeners think. Let us know on our social channels what that one 'brick' is for you. We love seeing how these ideas resonate. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.