When To Take The Detour: Pushing Past The Fear To Share Your Message With Rikki Hughes

Have you ever been to a place where you’re clear on where you’re going? You’re heading down the path, you have the directions, you’re o clear, and then a detour shows up. Do you take the detour and take the risk or do you stay on the path? My guest is a woman who took the detour and never looked back. She is known as the woman behind the laughs and has been the force behind some of the biggest names in comedies and shows. In fact, she is the only African American woman in Emmy history to win in the category of Outstanding Variety Show. She’s won multiple Grammys. It is such an honor to bring you Rikki Hughes, a successful Producer, Showrunner and the Founder of Magic Lemonade Productions. I love that name. She’ll share in this interview why she came up with that name and how important it has been to surround herself with the right people so she knows when to make those detours. This interview is inspiring. Rikki is truly at the top of her game at that 1% and is pulling back the curtain and sharing with you how you can stand out in this crowded marketplace.

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Welcome to the show, Miss Rikki Hughes. I am excited to have you with us.

I’m excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

You’re so welcome. You’re known as the woman behind the laugh, which I love. You’ve worked with incredible performers like Dave Chappelle, you’ve produced incredible shows and specials, but that is a big diversion from where you started, which I think rumor has it was medical school. Can you give us a little bit of the backstory?

I went to the University of Washington and then I was on my way to medical school at UCLA. I was excited I’m going to be of service. I met these great producers that said, “I’ve got this show.” At that point in time, soundtracks are big. They said, “We need help with the soundtrack.” I started gathering up some of the people that I knew that were in hip hop and put them on the soundtrack. The soundtrack was for a movie called Jason’s Lyric. It was with Jada Pinkett Smith. It was her peak at that time. After working with the management, they said, “We’ve got these kids that have never been outside of Long Beach and we have a big tour. Are you willing to go?” I was like, “I’m in school.”

I had to have this important conversation with my parents. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go. They’ve already invested in my career at this point. It was great because my mom, who I thought was going to be the obstacle said, “You might not ever get anyone to pay you to travel the world again. You’re young, if you don’t like it, here’s a plane ticket. You could always come home.” I knew my dad would be game because he’s always like, “Go.” It was great. I left and I never came back when I got back to defer my enrollment for medical school. I realized that there were other people, even my mentor, they were graduating. Maybe they made $70,000 a year with $300,000 of school debt. I was a young person probably making $120,000 a year, which is great.

We create our own glass ceiling if we allow fear to stifle us. Click To Tweet

It wasn’t a big decision. You’re like, “I think I’ll stick over here.”

I love what I do.

You’ve created a successful business from it, which I will talk to you about, but I have a question for you, Rikki. I feel like a lot of women, whether they’re in school or maybe they’re going down a path right now and they feel like there’s this big opportunity for them. Is that something that you consistently do? In your life, when an opportunity comes up, are you like, “I’m going to go for it?” How do you make those decisions? Do you ever feel like it’s too late to make that pivot?

I think fear is usually our biggest obstacle and I make sure that if I feel any tinge of fear that I go for it no matter what, because this is important that I move past that otherwise, we can’t grow. We create our own glass ceiling if we allow fear to stifle us. I always say, “Make a plan and then always have a backup plan,” so that you can safely move around and try something new. Always be able to say, “Worst case scenario, I can do this. I’ll be fine.” That helps you make sound decisions and feel steady about your decision. In school, it feels like a trade for me. It’s probably one of the best ways, unless you’re going into business or skilled profession, for school to be targeted.

In the US, we are trillions of dollars in student loan debt. As you know, many young people who go to school never pursue that degree, they don’t use that degree, and yet a trade can be right. I think I went to three different colleges for four years and didn’t get a degree at the end, but the trade of now teaching people how to be on camera, what you do, it’s extremely useful. I feel like there is a whole lesson to be learned and a different type of schooling that you get when you pursue a trade. Tell me about, and I love saying this, Magic Lemonade. It’s a happy thing to say.

 

It is. Part of even coming up with the name for the company was it was important to have something that you say that everyone smiles when they say it. I realized we aren’t curing cancer here. We’re about having fun. The company is fun. It’s important for me to make sure that all of my staff, which I consider family, that they feel included, that we also realized that it doesn’t have to be stressful. We’re going to have stressful moments. It’s part of it, but it’s how we handle it. If we handle everyone with love and care, then we can get through it without so many bumps and bruises. Magic Lemonade was about no matter what the situation is, we can add a little bit of magic to it and we can always make lemonade out of anything. We take that approach so nothing feels insurmountable. We always know that all we have to do is bring who we are to it. I always have conversations with my team. “You guys are the magic.” My hashtag is #AlwaysBeTheMagic. “You guys are the magic, you are the ones that make this happen. I can’t do any of this by myself.”

Isn’t that the truth with any business that you have? You can only get so far, but you’re not going to get far without the right team.

I think you attract people. What you put out there, you attract. I’ve been blessed in a great position that I’ve had people that rock with me. They go to the mat for me and I’m like, “This is going to be a tough show, guys, but we got it.” They hang in there and I have to say, they pulled me through.

Rikki, it’s amazing to have that team around you. Let’s go back and I want to say this right. You’re the first African American woman in Emmy history to win in the category of Outstanding Variety Special. Congratulations. You have Grammys, you have Emmys. It’s amazing. How did that make you feel? Were you excited about it? Did you feel like, “Why am I the only one? We need more women rising to the top here,” especially with everything going on?

We were deep into starting the next show at the time that we heard about it. I was welled up with gratitude for being in that position, figuring out like, “What can I do with this now? How can this be helpful to other people?” I didn’t have anyone, any footsteps to step into not with the Emmy, but also with career-wise. There weren’t many women or especially women of color that do what I do. I wished I had a little bit of guidance or figured it out so I didn’t have to bump my head along the way. I said, “What I can do is I can be those footsteps for other people.” For me, it was important. It was like, “If I can use this as a calling card and get more people to understand that you can do it, then mission accomplished and challenge accepted.”

Let go of the fear of being rejected because it's about getting out there. Click To Tweet

Thank you for forging the way and being someone that people are inspired by. I think you are that. You’re in Ohio working with Dave Chappelle. You’ve produced some amazing shows. What is it like working with him? Give people a little bit of a glimpse. I don’t feel like a lot of people understand what it is that you do.

One, to start off, it’s amazing working with Dave. He’s someone who he feels like I feel. It’s a family, it’s a community. He trusted me with his creative from the moment he made this come back. I’ve done every single special that he’s done since then. It’s been amazing. Stan Lathan, who I’ve worked with for many years, is the one who brought me in and said, “If we have something special, Rikki, I know you can help me pull it across the finish line.” I will forever be indebted to him. I have these wonderful angels that have been in my life that continue to pull me along and pushed me up and prop me up when needed.

Dave and Stan are one of those people that has been inspiring to me and also the hand in the small of my back. That’s been great. Dave is amazing. I trust his creative all the time. I don’t always know where we’re going with. I love that he’s fearless. I love that he gets out there and he says what he feels and he never comes from a place of malice. It’s never coming from a place of hurt. He’s probably the greatest storyteller of our time. I feel excited. I always say, “It’s great to stand next to a W. For me, a W as a Win and for me standing next to Dave and Stan is a win.”

Rikki, that I wanted to go back to what you said. The hand in the small of your back. It’s funny because I can physically see that. It’s a beautiful image. What has that meant to you throughout your career? How would you encourage other people to be in the hand in the small of the back for others?

It came up and it’s a book that I’m in the publishing stages with. That’s the title of the book. That was working on Hillary Clinton’s come back right before she was going to decide to run. We’re figuring out a campaign to humanize her. I watched as we went through the rope line in Iowa and all of the press was standing there and they’re clamoring around and I saw Bill Clinton grab the small of her back and push her to the front of the line. It was important to me because she had always been the person that supported him. This is the first time that he almost had to remind her like, “This is your show.” I think we have many moments that are the hands that are in a small of our back.

 

Sometimes they aren’t pleasant. There’ve been things that have pushed me to the next level and I didn’t like it going through it. On the other side, I realized what support it was for me to nudge me sometimes gently, sometimes a little aggressively to the next place in my career, whether it’s the kids or marriage. It’s always been something. I’ve learned to acknowledge and have some praise for those “fires” as opposed to having a woe is me because everything that I’ve gone through has created the tapestry of who I am now.

It’s a beautiful image to think of. I think all of us have people that we can think back on that have been that hand for us. I think it’s important, especially as women business owners, that we continue to be that hand in the small on the back for other women and to continue to push women to excel and to achieve success. With everything going online, at Inspired Living, we specialize in teaching entrepreneurs, primarily women, how to show up, share their message, get over their fear of being seen and being judged. With everything being online, I feel like it’s never been more important to share your message and to be visible. What would you say to someone who in their heart feels like they have something important to share, but they’re fearful of putting themselves out there?

We’re probably at one of the greatest times. Even though we’re in a pandemic and we have a lot of things to overcome socially, one thing that I can say is that we have the unique opportunity for whatever you want to do to do it. There aren’t many gatekeepers anymore. If you want to be a producer, you get a camera, you shoot it, you put it online. You have the audience. The public is your test audience. If you decide you want to be a photographer, you can go outside, you can take a picture, you can post it. If you decide you want to start doing makeup tutorials, you can put on your makeup. You don’t have to ask for permission anymore. The fear of being rejected, we can let that go because it’s about getting out there. Even if you have one person that likes it.

At least it’s one person. It starts with one.

I think it’s important for us to know that all of us have a reason why we’re here. For every person, that’s not to be a sitting judge, it’s not to be a producer, it’s not to be a big music executive, it might not be a doctor. Maybe you bring joy to people’s lives through comedy or your songs that inspire people on the internet. You know what makes you happy. If it makes you happy, 9 times out of 10, it’s going to make someone else happy.

We buy into people's lives, especially in this time of quarantine. Click To Tweet

I think that when we’re doing that thing that we love and we’re putting it out there, you’re never going to please everyone. It takes that one person that starts the ripple effect. You help with the creative behind a lot of shows. When it comes to messaging, something that we work so much with our clients on, it can be so overwhelming. Someone wants their show, I say, no one has to audition anymore. You don’t need an agent. You don’t need a manager. You literally have to press record. It’s amazing. Yet, because of that, I think there’s a lot more fear. People throw video spaghetti on the wall. If someone is like, “I want my own show. I want to stand out. I want to build out my YouTube channel,” from a producer’s point of view, what would be some of the things that they should think about?

It’s about what’s going to cut through the clutter and its authenticity. Authenticity is the key because you can’t buy that. It’s also tangible. Let’s say I’m selling fingernail polish. That might be a thing. It’s not one kind. If there’s one kind, they would only be one brand. People are buying multiple brands, but what do you bring to it? Are you the person that’s like, “I change my nails every day? The color of the day is this.” You announce to people who are sitting at home, they can’t get out to get a manicure, pedicure, to do it themselves. There’s no reason why we can’t make an authentic voice and get it out there. Part of it is pushing through your fear. It’s like saying, “This is me, naked, unapologetic. This is who I am.” People buy into that. They’ll buy into the nail polish.

People buy into authenticity first, then they buy the product. It’s not so much about, “Buy my thing. Here’s my thing.” It’s the reason and the message and the person most likely behind that product or service, Rikki. Yes?

Touch them as often as you can.

Let’s talk about that for a minute because I think people feel like, “It’s noisy.” This is what my clients say. “Why should I be out there? I’m contributing to the noise. I’m going live once a month.” Let’s talk a little bit about that consistency too.

When you start to grow your audience and especially in the digital space, because I’ve worked with digital influencers as well, people want a reason why they’re still following you, why they’re still keeping up with you. Something that’s exciting is for them to say, “What is she doing now? Where are you on your journey?” People buy into your journey. It’s the reason why reality TV is big, whether people want it or not because we get caught up in moments, whether it’s on an MSNBC show and we’re following Shark Tank or were following some Housewives or in Washington, Alaska and an Alaska trip. We buy into people’s lives, especially in this time of quarantine. We are looking for new stories to follow.

People love to see those stories, feel those stories. My mom still watches The Bachelor and does she get into that storyline? I’m like, “Mom, it’s not real,” but that’s okay.

I think if we treat our businesses that way as well and start to think about how I can continue to update it. You don’t want to have the same messaging because that’s when it gets boring. Your life is not the same. Your life changes every day, your life changes every week. You’re not the person that you were the week before. If you can share that with other people and through your product, you’re in a great place and people will buy into it.

I always say, “People want to see you along the journey, not at the top of the mountain.” People don’t want to see, “I made it. I’m here.” They want to know what you’re doing to get there. They want to see your fall. They want to see you get back up.

We should share that. We should share how this process happens. It makes people excited to feel like they can do it too.

Yet, I have to say, many people are afraid to be vulnerable to show that they’re imperfect. Yet as a consumer, we buy into that more than looking at someone who’s perfect all the time.

It’s like the magazine and I think it’s Us Magazine that said, “Celebrities, they do it just like us.” We like that.

Rikki, what is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Sharon Osbourne once told me, “Whenever you step into a meeting, make sure you know exactly what you want out of the meeting no matter what the meeting is because the other person will get what they want if you’re not clear about what you want.” I always make sure that I do some due diligence. I know the room that I’m walking into. I know how I can benefit them. Also, how they can benefit me. For me to walk into a room and have a win-win philosophy, it’s always good.

It’s probably much more likely that you get the result that you came in there for. That’s good advice. Now I have to ask the other side. What has been the worst piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

My mom told me, “You should get a good job with benefits and work for the county.”

I don’t know who has not been told that at some point in time.

I was like, “Mom, no,” but I understand where she came from. It was like, “I want you to be safe and make $40,000 a year.” I was like, “No, I want to make $40,000 a month.” It wasn’t the greatest advice, but I love her dearly.

We love those mamas, those people who try to look out for us and keep us safe. Also, in return, can try to keep us small. Rikki, I want to know what does inspired living mean to you?

For me, it’s making sure that every day I have a purpose, that every day I find a purpose. Sometimes it’s I have meditated moments in the shower. That’s my time in the morning, standing gratitude, thankful for everything that I have. My health, my family, love, career, abundance. Not only is that to have gratitude, but also it brings more of that into my life. For me, that’s what inspires me every day because it’s like setting your goals every morning to be better. Whatever that is, I don’t try to define it. I allow it to say whatever’s going to make me a better person and what’s going to serve me, let’s go for it and step to it. I can use fear where I need it, but let it go when I don’t.

Rikki, thank you for that. Thank you for sharing such great insights. I’m beyond excited to have you with us at Brilliant. Brilliant is that event where, to me, it’s like Christmas. I’m excited about it. I can’t wait for it. It’s about helping other women build and scale 7 and 8-figure businesses. Can you give us maybe a tiny bit? I know we’re still deciding. There’s still a lot going on behind the scenes, but what can people expect when they come and listen to you at Brilliant this year?

Hopefully, I’ll inspire. I can tell you my story. I’m going to let you know the joys that I’ve had. I don’t like to focus on a lot of the trials and tribulations because, for me, I try to put those in the back mirror. The exciting time is I want to share my journey with you. I want to be inspired by you as well because I feel like reach one, teach one. As much as I’m used to sharing, I’m open to receiving as well. I’m excited about it.

If you’re reading, you’re going to be able to learn from a Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer. I’m excited to have you with us. If you would like to join us, we’d love to have you. It is taking place on September 13th through the 15th, you can go to TheBrilliantEvent.com. Rikki, any parting advice you want to give? If someone wants to connect with you, what’s the best way for them to do that.

You can reach out. I’m on social media. @MagicLemonade is for all my social media handles. My email is [email protected]. I answer all my own emails and I try to reply within 24 hours. That’s my goal too, because I like to be mindful of people’s time.

She even gave you her personal email. Don’t abuse it.

Something great I want to share with you. We got nominated for six more Emmys. I’m excited.

Congratulations. I can’t wait to learn more from you, Rikki. Thank you for joining us. Remember my friends, keep dreaming it, living it and being it. Until next time.

Important Links:

• Magic Lemonade Productions
• Rikki Hughes
• TheBrilliantEvent.com
• @MagicLemonade – Facebook
• [email protected]

About Rikki Hughes

Rikki Hughes is a multi-Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer and show runner of comedy specials, award shows, television series, and independent features. She is currently the Executive Producer at MAGIC LEMONADE PRODUCTIONS.

In 2018, Hughes was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Best Variety Special and won 3 Grammy’s for Best Comedy Album DAVE CHAPPELLE: THE AGE OF SPIN & DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS, EQUANIMITY, THE BIRD REVELATION and STICKS AND STONES. She has also won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special, Dave Chappelle Equanimity.

Hughes Executive Produced DEAR MAMA, a Mother’s Day special for VH1, THE ABFF AWARDS: A CELEBRATION OF HOLLYWOOD, ALL DEF COMEDY for HBO and was the show-runner and Executive Producer of HOOD ADJACENT for Comedy Central. Most recently Rikki and her Magic Lemonade team has taken over producing the Trumpet Awards 2020.

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