The man whose name today has become synonymous with hip-hop and the tough urban streets was born on October 4, 1957 into a comfortable middle class family in Queens, New York. The middle son of three boys, Simmons’ father worked as a teacher for the local board of education while his mother worked in the city recreation department.

Simmons knew early on that the type of life his parents had lived was not for him. He was not a good student at school, which bored him, and he was interested in little more than making money to buy clothes. A far cry from the success he has achieved today, as a teenager Simmons joined an infamous local gang called Seven Immortals and became heavily involved with drugs. “The only people in the neighborhood who were entrepreneurs were Black Muslims and drug dealers,” recalls Simmons. His older brother Danny was arrested and jailed for drug use, but that didn’t stop Simmons from continuing down that path. Spending his days working at the Orange Julius store in Greenwich Village, Simmons spent his nights dealing fake cocaine. Legal and faring better profit margins than real cocaine, Simmons reasoned that the only people he would have to worry about were the ripped-off clients.

“Everything you need to know about success is inside of you, because I believe it is inside of all of us,” says Simmons. “That is, all human beings have potential for infinite success.”

From dealing drugs on the streets of New York to becoming one of the most creative, successful and well-respected entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Russell Simmons has learned what it takes to reach your goals:

These blacks here today see the poverty and ignorance that is keeping us at a certain place. They know where the forces are, and they will come together and force our government to respond to the poverty and ignorance that’s rampant in our country.You know, sometimes people never get to learn how successful they could have been because they give up too easily. If I’ve learned one thing in all my years in the business, it’s that often things don’t work out the way you want at first. But that doesn’t mean you should give up.

You’ve got to put your head down and do the work. There are no shortcuts. If you don’t break a hole through the brick wall, don’t just start digging a new hole. Keep going until you break through that wall. It’s all about the work. Nothing is going to fall into your lap. If something doesn’t work, then you know what not to do.

Everything you need to know about success is inside of you, because I believe it is inside of all of us. That is, all human beings have potential for infinite success.

Everybody has a great idea, but very few are successful without true focus. That’s the most basic thing: Stick with your vision. You have to stick with what you start. 

Evan Carmichael

Meet YoungEntrepreneur.com co-founder Adam Toren at this year's BlogWorld 2008!

Evan Carmichael
YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager

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