Dr. Dennis Paul Kimbro was born in Jersey City. He is the son of Donald and Mary Kimbro. He went to Oklahoma University to obtain a B.A. in 1972 and a Ph.D. in Political Economy in 1984 at Northwestern University. Dr. Kimbro worked in sales and marketing from 1978 to 1987 for Smithkline Beckman Pharmaceutical Corporation. Between 1988 and 1991, he was a consultant for ABC Management Consultants, Inc. Since 1992, he has been a professor at Clark Atlanta University School of Business and Administration. He was also the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship of this institution from 1992 to 1996. This center was a subdivision of the university’s School of Business and Administration and it was established to encourage young African-Americans to start their own enterprises or small businesses. It also comprised a summer program for high school students and was funded by a million-dollar benefaction from the Dow Jones Company, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, and was the first of its kind at a historically Black college. Hence, throughout his career, Dr. Kimbro created courses and programs to show “minority”students how to start their own companies and how to make them prosper. His ideas are exposed in his 1991 ground-breaking book Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice which was part of our top 20 in spring 2012. Dr. Kimbro co-authored this book with the late Napoleon Hill. The book is based on the principles of wealth that Napoleon Hill exposed in his classical bestseller Think and Grow Rich. USA Today reporter Rhonda Richards claimed that it was a “bible” for the would-be Black capitalist. Dr. Kimbro’s books are fascinating because he features Black Americans who succeeded against all odds. He exposes the principles of their work ethic, their beliefs in spirituality, their creativity, their stoicism, etc. Thus, Dr. Kimbro interviewed novelist Alice Walker and opera singer Leontyne Price; he spoke to publishers Earl Graves and the late John H. Johnson. He featured entrepreneurs who are as diverse as the late cosmetics manufacturer Madame C. J. Walker and cookie-maker Wally Amos. Many discussed their ambitions and achievements with Dr. Kimbro. In addition, the author included his own observations and insights about capitalising on potential, positive thinking and developing success step by step.

It is important to emphasize that Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice became the first Black self-help book ever to be released by a prominent publishing house. The book sold over 250, 000 copies in the first two years and went through three printings. It was a best-seller among Black nonfiction titles in 1992 and 1993.

Dr. Dennis Kimbro showcases in his latest book, The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires, the characteristics of prominent Black Americans: Lisa Price, Antonio Reid, Daymond John, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Cathy Hughes, T.D. Jakes, Farrah Gray, Earl G. Graves, Bob Johnson, and others. Presently, 35,000 Black millionaires live in America and Dr. Kimbro interviewed some of the most prolific for his latest book, including Black billionaires who are strong on self-development and self-determination.

It is a breath of fresh air to discover several Blacks in non-traditional prestigious occupations. The public is not reading profiles about widely successful Blacks who are on the periphery of true power in multimillion- or billion-dollar industries in Corporate America, etc. The readers learn about the evolution and achievement of the personalities who made it grandly. Thus, Dr. Kimbro’s latest provides a uniqueness that can help people to get ahead in entrepreneurship by sharing the best practices of several Black moguls.

The author gives a GPS to financial prosperity in spite of hurdles. Furthermore, the book is well documented. For instance, readers will find a table with the demographic profile of businesses owned and operated by Black millionaires. In this way, the book gives us a thorough perspective of the Black millionaires and billionaires mindset, which constitutes a real page turner. The Wealth Choice became, by the end of last summer, the number 1 business book in Black America. A version of his books on DVD, like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne would be awesome because it would allow the public to hear the tycoons speak about the secret of their success. In addition, a version for children of Dr. Kimbro’s books would be very interesting to give them hope and broader options about what they could do later with their lives.

The Capital B is everywhere in Dr. Kimbro’s latest book to underline the pride of his Blackness. We espoused the same trend for a while on our webmag. In addition, since last year, Ebony, Jet and Essence magazines have done it too. We hope that this trend will be adopted worldwide.

Dr. Kimbro has the special talent to write several compelling books, an accomplishment not easy for many to multiply. His books should be translated into other languages such as French, Spanish, etc. Dr. Kimbro’s body of work was featured in a PBS television documentary. He was a guest on several talk shows and discussion panels. He is also a motivational speaker who emphasizes on leadership, excellence, and achievement. His speaking engagements included the CIA, Xerox, Price Waterhouse, Dun & Bradstreet, Apple Computers, Chrysler, General Motors, Walt Disney Corp., the DFW Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, Black Entreprise’s Entrepreneur’s Convention, etc. Dr. Kimbro is listed in Who's Who among African-Americans. He is also a recipient of the Dale Carnegie Achievement Award and the Award of Excellence of the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education, just to name a few. He has appeared on the Larry King Show, the Today Show, Sonya Live, and has been profiled in Success Magazine, Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, etc. In 1996, he was one of eight national judges for the prestigious Ernst & Young USA Today Entrepreneur of the Year held in Palm Springs, California. In 1992, he received the keys to the city of Savannah and Macon in Georgia. More recently, in 2005, the National Black MBA Association bestowed the 2005 H. Naylor Fitzhugh Award, recognizing him as one of the top professors in the nation.

Overall, Dr. Kimbro is a highly esteemed authority on leadership, wealth, and success. Moreover, he is among the most sought-after business speakers. Dr. Kimbro served as guest speaker for the launch event of the 2011 Wealth Creation Series of the DFW Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, etc. What is really interesting about Dr. Kimbro’s body of work is the fact that he focuses on positivity and solutions for the Black community. The entrepreneurial advice in his books is laden with wisdom. Dr. Kimbro is among the African-Americans who studied Black capitalism the most for decades.

The author interviewed high profiled Black people, such as the aforementioned, who were generous to share their knowledge to uplift the Black community and beyond. Readers can learn valuable information about how to break the glass ceiling, how the Black elite acquired their fortune and so on.

Dr. Kimbro is a certified Napoleon Hill Science of Success trainer and a leadership coach for the prestigious Napoleon Hill Foundation. He used to be Director of the Center of Entrepreneurship at Clark Atlanta University and he currently teaches there, at the School of Business Administration. On a personal level, Dr. Kimbro married Patricia McCauley in 1972. The couple lives in Atlanta and has three daughters: Kelli, Kim and MacKenzie, and three grandchildren.

It was fascinating to hear Dr. Kimbro answer our questions with such passion. I spoke to him hoping to illuminate for myself and for our readers the process which can take an individual to a higher economic level. This is the first Canadian interview for Dr. Kimbro.

PATRICIA TURNIER LL.M TALKS TO DR. KIMBRO Ph.D.:

P.T. For years, you researched on Black wealth and, more specifically, on Black entrepreneurship. When and how did this interest start?

Dr.K. I would say that it began with my doctoral dissertation at North West University. I studied wealth and poverty while I was in graduate school. When I finished, the best advice that I probably was given from my faculty committee was: when you write your dissertation, be mindful to make it your first book. This great piece of advice stayed with me for the rest of my curriculum. I didn’t want to focus solely on poverty or subjects related to what is called “Third World countries”. I really wanted to study wealth and people in positions of leaderships from an African-American perspective. Once I graduated, I interviewed these people around the country these people for my first book.

In this regard, I was fascinated by the subject of Black wealth. I was interested in finding the answers to two critical questions that I pondered over: why does an individual succeed where another fails? Why a person becomes rich whilst another may be impoverished? These aspects were the foundations of the interviews and surveys that I started to conduct in 1984.

For my books Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice and What Makes the Great Great, I looked at individuals from all walks of life who happened to be African-Americans. For my latest books The Wealth Choice, I focused on the standpoints of millionaires. These people are part of the Black elite with seven- and, in some cases, eight-figure incomes. For almost thirty years, it was important to me to study the individuals who succeeded.

P.T. It is fascinating that you started to study this theme decades ago. This proves that you believed in the American meritocracy.

Dr. K. Definitely! I strongly advocated in the principle that it is possible to make it in spite of the hurdles with a passionate and committed mind. I believe in self-reliance and in the possibility of succeeding with fortitude, persistence and determination with a positive mindset. I think these laws work. To me, capitalism is not a dirty word, but it means that everything is for sale. We don’t live in a divided society where the rich stand versus the poor, the White versus the Black, the conservative versus the liberal, the male versus the female; we are, instead, in a society divided between dreamers and non-dreamers. I am convinced that there are people who have trouble in life not because they wanted too much but because they settled for too little; see, there is no need to do this.

P.T. What fascinates you the most about Napoleon Hill? In addition, do you know why it was important for Hill to write a version of his best-seller, Think and Grow Rich aimed at the Black audience before his death?

Dr. K. Napoleon Hill was a highly respected American and became an adviser to two presidents: Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from 1933 to 1936 for the latter. After the beginning of the economic crisis in 1929, Roosevelt needed to seek financial advice from experts (including Hill who was an attorney among other occupations, with a knowledge in finance and investment), which led him to create the New Deal in 1933.

The Hill’s books are classics and still sell a lot. This is a testimony that people consider his principles as premises to have a successful life, one that is highly sought-after. Think and Grow Rich (1937) – one of the best-selling books of all times, especially in the personal-success literature – emphasized universal principles of success during his many years of research among some of America's most successful people, like Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt and Alexander Graham Bell. When I received Hill’s last manuscript from the Napoleon Hill Foundation on November 3rd 1986, it barely counted 100 pages. I was commissioned by W. Clement Stone, former president of Hill’s foundation, to update and complete Hill’s original manuscript for the Black audience. Before Hill passed away, he interviewed three individuals: one of them was James Brown, a CEO at the time of Crusader Life Insurance in Kansas City, Missouri; another was Ralph Bunche, the first Black who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 and who, in 1955, became the UN undersecretary for special political affairs . Hill chose these examples because he strongly believed that anybody could use the aforementioned laws and attributes to place themselves on the fast track of life. Hill was constantly bombarded with the question “to what extent his laws applied to Blacks”. For instance, I have an audiotape of him giving a seminar in the late Fifties in Chicago. During the Q& A moment, a woman asked him if his principles applied to everybody regardless of their race, for example. Hill replied that there is no such thing as race. He was a White gentleman born at the turn of the 19th century in the South who said he did not believe in race. He wanted to show that the American Dream included anybody and everybody within our land of opportunity. If he had lived at least one year longer, his Black version book of Think and Grow Rich would have appeared in 1970 and not 1991. I utilized Hill’s work as a base and widened the project’s scope to comprise detailed profiles of several successful Black Americans.

P.T. Late author Napoleon Hill wrote a Depression-Era classic, Think and Grow Rich which you have just talked about. At the time of his death in 1970, as mentioned, he was working on a version of his best-seller that addressed Black audiences. W. Clement Stone offered the incomplete manuscript to you and invited you to finish it. The offer came without financial compensation, and you were expected to fund the project yourself. You declared to Newsday that it was "seven years of hell and high water". Moreover, you described in your book Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice the sacrifices you had to make (for instance, you almost lost your house mortgage). What was the greatest motivation, or the driving force, that made you pursue this adventure, and what sustained your faith in the project, since you probably had to face many naysayers throughout the process?

Dr. K. I certainly made a lot of sacrifices to be where I am now. It is true that I almost lost the mortgage on my house and I was forced to sell both of my cars while writing the book. I had to liquidate my savings and take part-time jobs. My parents had to take care of my three daughters, at some point, in their home in New Jersey. I was undaunted and deaf to naysayers (some of them even told me that I was wasting my time writing the book and that I would never get it published). I did not internalize their negative remarks. My level of confidence was definitely high in spite of my obstacles and my faith in God sustained me. I left my job at Smithkline Beckman to pursue my new project related to the Black elite and I knew that I would succeed in it. My eagerness to learn as much as possible from Black moguls propelled my pursuit.

There are ten different forms of wealth. Money is just one form of richness and there are nine others. One of them is persistence which represents the level of belief you have in yourself. Surrendering was definitely not part of my agenda. I strongly think that what creates the difference between successful people and those who barely achieve some form of accomplishment is about tolerance. The acceptance of failure is different in the two groups. For instance, when one encounters their first obstacle, they quit and go back to their regular jobs or dead-end jobs. For the other group, failure is not an option and their level of tolerance for hurdles is higher. They have the mindset to achieve their goals and give life to their dreams. This is the mindset that I had from the start and I still carry it at this time. I think that quitters never win.

P.T. Aristotle said that courage is the most important virtue. Do you agree with this? If so, do you think that it is one of the most important qualities that successful people have? Please, feel free to share with us the other keys to success you observed in the individuals you studied for your books.

Dr. K. Well, we all have some degrees of courage. However to go back again about the more successful and wealthy, there is definitely a more amplified level of courage in them. People are often mistaken about the word “faith”. This word is a “verb” and refers to action. It is too easy to say that you are faithful; this statement is assessed through your actions. One of Napoleon Hill’s principles is: “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” So, you need to have timelines to execute your objectives.

It takes courage, confidence and all the physical attributes to chase your dreams. The opposite of that is fear and it means False Education Appearing Real. The real pulse is the mind’s eyes because the physical eyes might lie to you. For instance, if you and I are looking at the Atlantic Ocean you could say it seems that the sky and the water meet. We both know in reality that, in reality, it is not the case. If we stood on railroad tracks, you could say that it seems the train tracks are coming together, which never happen because otherwise the wagons would run off the tracks. These are two examples of physical eyes lying to you. So, when you get your dream and your vision, you must convince yourself that you will achieve it because you will believe you will get the opportunities to be where you want to. All these elements are part of love, faith and courage. I strongly believe that successful people have positive thoughts and words such as “I can”, pictures and images going into their minds, which help them accomplish their goals. Unsuccessful people think about lack, scarcity, and words such as “I cannot”. All you have to do as a human being is to change the data on the diskette.

One of the other keys I observe among the interviewees is novelty. The opposite of success is not failure, but conformity. In addition, all the interviewees were willing to go the extra mile to achieve their goals. Another common denominator helping the moguls to succeed is a strong work ethic.

I noticed that even if some interviewees grew up in the ghetto, none of them considered themselves inwardly poor. All of them value education, for those who did not get a college degree they always remained self-taught so, self-development is highly important to them. The totality of these successful people understood that getting knowledge is a life-long journey. None of them were comfortable with the status quo and they never sat on their laurels. They decided to be in the driver’s seat and be in control of their destinies.

Furthermore, several among them are resilient. They have the capacity to overcome hurdles. They are great leaders and communicators, which allows them to build strong networks and influence them positively. They are diligent and what they say aligns with what they do. In other words, there are no paradoxes between their words and actions. They also understood that their clientele will make them rich or poor depending upon how they serve them. Finally, they all assessed their strengths to find their area of excellence while capitalising on that. To succeed grandly you need to do what you are passionate about and gifted for.

P.T. You said to the media that gender, among other factors, does not necessarily determine who can become wealthier. You declared that you believe in the values of personal responsibility and initiative, including hard work, self-reliance, and determination. How do you explain to the skeptics that Liliane Bettencourt (the wealthiest woman in the world and one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal) is the only female billionaire on the 2013 top-ten list of Forbes?

Dr. K. There is a misunderstanding. In my last book, over a period of seven years I interacted with more than a thousand Black millionaires and 12% among them are females. This number is growing as long as more opportunities are available to them.

P.T. My question also concerns women all over the world.

Dr. K. Let’s look at the African countries. There is no group that is more entrepreneurial in the world among women like Nigerian females. For instance, the billionaire, from Nigeria Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, is ranked by Forbes as the richest Black woman in her nation and maybe in the world with an estimated net worth between $600 million and $7.3 billion. She is involved in the fashion, printing and oil businesses. Among other occupations, she is the Executive Chairwoman of Famfa Oil Limited.

I believe that the definition of entrepreneurs is the pursuit of opportunities without any regards to available resources. African women and others do not stop moving forward because of a lack of contacts, start-up capital and education. They are fearless (to reach their goals and objectives), and that is why the number is growing.

Overall, I think that gender is an artificial barrier and that wealth does not really depend on this likewise for social classes and so on. Everything is based on choices, the function of discipline, efforts, faith in a higher power and inner strength.

P.T. Some people think that “it takes money to make money”? What message do you have for them?

Dr. K. I do not believe that it takes money to make money. It takes: an idea, innovation, discipline, faith, creativity and courage to overcome hurdles. This is how you attract wealth, which is the result of substance. Having the faith is the format to wealth.

Again, it doesn’t take money to make money. It is probably the biggest myth out there. I believe there are two rules in this life: stay on the right side of God and see the light because when you see it, you will raise your standard of living. What are a dream and a vision? A dream is having the creator influencing you on your subconscious by asking yourself if you want more out of life.

P.T. It is mentioned many times that big wealth in a family often disappears in the third generation. You wrote about this phenomenon in your latest book, The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires. What factors contribute to this, and what can be done to prevent it?

Dr. K. I am going to use a metaphor. John H. Johnson, from Ebony, used to say to me: “you may be among the fourth fastest runners in the world, but if you are not skilled and you didn’t train, you won’t win the race or be able to go from one spot to the next”. This is what is going on with generational wealth. Maybe, the next generation does not have the fortitude and the vision, or the courage and the commitment, endowed with discipline that the parents had. There are 7 different laws of wealth and what is at the top is knowledge. Often, the following generations do not focus on that crucial aspect, and the heritage money is not self-earned, it isn’t the result of individual efforts (their ancestors learned the steps and skills to accumulate the money). When you did not make endeavors to earn your fortune, you won’t necessarily seize the value of it and you don’t know how to create wealth. If the descendants don’t have the entrepreneurial knowledge (which was not passed along from a generation to another), they can forget about the other six laws. Recently, at a book signing event, a young man approached me to say that he didn’t have the money to purchase my latest book. He is already violating the first law of wealth by limiting himself. Knowledge is accessible now more than ever.

P.T. He could get your book from a library. That would be a start.

Dr. K. Exactly! He is making the choice of not getting the information. I am not convinced that he understands that reading is as important as sleeping and eating. He didn’t grasp that knowledge is the number 1 form of wealth. Nobody can take what you learned away from you. Money comes and goes but not knowledge which is at the core of building richness. The millionaires that I interviewed read an average of three books per month not to mention newspapers, etc.

P.T. It has been known historically that Black Americans were blocked by being denied funds, supplies, in other words, easy access to commerce. How did the situation evolve, and how many Black banks support the community in America? Also, how can Black America organize an effective economic system?

Dr. K. People can choose to talk about the size of challenges but I make the choice to talk about the size of my God with whom the possibilities are limitless. I won’t deny that we face obstacles that other groups don’t have to but Blacks must acknowledge that we are the 16th wealthiest country on this planet. It is up to us to use effectively our resources. We have 1.2 trillion dollars each year on our pockets and this number is increasing every year! Just take Bill Gates from Microsoft, Warren Buffett from Berkshire Hathaway, Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook combine them, multiply them by ten and it will still not be 1.2 trillion dollars. So, again we need to utilize efficiently our resources and we should be able to close the wealth gap with a surplus. We need to stop to spend in other groups and invest in our own first. We have the responsibility to change the status quo and our mindset. We also need to practice group economics.

I am not certain about the exact number of Black banks we have out there but I heard of some Black-owned financial institutions such as OneUnited Bank, Covenant Bank and Carver Federal Savings Bank. We may not have many banks but we have about one million of Black businesses. Only 3% of African-Americans choose entrepreneurship as an option and this is part of the problem right there. I strongly believe if pessimists would be out of the way and if every Black child in schools would have a lap top in America, everything would change. Poverty would end overnight.

P.T. That’s deep!

Dr. K. Ideally, everything has to start at an early age. Technological accessibility and empowerment are required among Black youths. By having access to the Internet the consciousness of these children will raise and the world will be open to them with all its possibilities. Their dreams will flourish. The can’t language has to be out of the door.

P.T. I think that one of the worst words a human being can pronounce to a child who shares his/her dream are: “ you can’t” because he/she has his/her entire life to accomplish anything.

Dr. K. Exactly! There is nothing to be afraid of but fear itself, and we can be the fence that impedes our own success. Unfortunately, as a child you do not have the protective mechanism to avoid being influenced by naysayers.

P.T. Regarding your latest book, how did your great idea to interview successful Black millionaires and billionaires come to fruition?

Dr. K. It was just a natural extension of the work that I had previously completed. At the beginning, I was looking for wealth creators, but also for those who set themselves apart in diverse realms. My latest book is solely about wealth creators, more specifically, men and women who achieved their goals. Their stories definitely needed to be told.

P.T. Madame C.J. Walker became the first self-made millionaire woman (of all origins) in the U.S., and maybe, in the Americas. You wrote about her in your latest book. She highly valued entrepreneurship and she created a company which allowed more than one thousand of African-American women to work. She accomplished this about a century ago, at a time when the conditions for Blacks were much harsher: she paved the way. Maggie Lena Walker, the African-American businesswoman, was the first female bank president of any race to charter a bank in your nation. You start your latest book with this question, asked by the late mogul John H. Johnson, founder and chief executive of Ebony magazine: Why aren’t you rich? How do you explain that very few among us since Madame CJ Walker pursued her entrepreneurial path? In addition, how do you explain that entrepreneurship is not highly valued in Black culture, and why we do not keep our enterprises (such as Motown, Essence magazine, BET, etc.) in the Black community? 

Dr. K. These issues definitely need to be addressed. Exactly as it is mentioned, we do not profile our wealth creators like other groups do. I believe that you become what you see. We are the only ethnic group not placing our wealth creators on a pedestal. We don’t see our tycoons in action. I am sure that if I go to your hometown Montreal or you look at what’s on TV in Atlanta, where I live, we will see interviews or profiles on moguls like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerberg, but few people will be able to name five African-American billionaires. The problem starts there. We don’t profile, examine and study our moguls. We are not trying to emulate them like other groups do. This is one of the reasons I wrote the book. I wanted to give these individuals the opportunity to share their knowledge about creating wealth. These people came from diverse realms. Right now, the only business model we utilize is related to the entertainment field, but other business models work in different domains. We really need to broaden our horizons.

As I said earlier, the greatest resource in the world is a passionate and committed mind. With the Internet, we have 2 billion people online. This means we have 2 billion possibilities to share ideas and videos, or to tell people (customers, prospective sponsors, etc.) about our products and services. Others will use this niche to gossip.

P.T. [Laughs out loud]

D.K. Sharing ideas is the right way to succeed. Chad Hurley created YouTube with his credit cards. Reid Hoffman worked for Apple Computer and left to build LinkedIn. Elon Musk looked for what colleagues were doing and had the idea of creating PayPal. Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook to change the world by sharing information through his social networking service. Last year, Kodak went bankrupt even if they invented the digital camera. At the same time, 13 committed souls in California developed Instagram, which features a 6-billion-dollar capital. The founders of Google had to collaborate in 1996 with Scott Thompson, who was a computer programmer, wrote codes. They asked him to create codes for their upcoming company, Google. At the time, the founders could not pay him, but they offered him stock shares. Five years later, he sold the shares to Yahoo and got 412 million dollars. Innovations and visions can take you into unbelievable levels.

So, my books are about living life abundantly. Abundance does not mean going out and buying the latest fashion attire, or purchasing a luxury car. It is about seeing possibilities and opportunities by getting the right tools to be on the next level. Regarding the reasons why we do not keep our enterprises in the Black community, when Bob Johnson created BET, for instance, he was doing it mainly to increase the shareholder value. He took his company, which was worth $15 000, to make it the billion-dollar conglomerate that he sold to Viacom. This is the opportunity that he saw. This is the business model he was aiming for, everything had to do with increasing the value.

I would like to add that around my country, there were luxury holiday resorts created by the Black community before desegregation. We had Black-owned resorts near Detroit and New Jersey. We also had stores, hotels, etc. It would be important to get back to this. Black America needs to change its attitudes and mentalities about capitalism. I strongly believe in self-determination.

P.T. You said to the media that “when Martin Luther King was alive, there were 5 millionaires in Black America, today there are 3,500.” Moreover, as mentioned, the African-American community has over 1.2 trillion dollars purchasing power per year but only circa 3% of it stays annually in the Black community. The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires focuses on people who became rich individually. How do you think the Black community can put their resources together? As an expert who holds a Ph.D. in political economy, what are the necessary measures which can correct this situation?

Dr. K. The main measure is about raising consciousness. I am convinced that any problem can be solved if we have enough people who care.

P.T. This makes me think of a quotation by Oprah that I will paraphrase: “There are enough people on our planet to make things better”.

Dr. K. Absolutely! Right now, in the Black community doesn’t have enough people who care. Maybe it is because we didn’t reach the bottom. Until, we have raised consciousness, it won’t happen. With our 1.2 trillion dollars, we do not have a wealth gap. We need to invest in our companies and our community. As mentioned, we even have the capacity to make our money fructify which represents the GNP of the 9th country in the world. There is no reason for us to be in our current situation.

P.T. Many people think that Dr. King’s struggle was more about socio-political integration than economic empowerment. You wrote a little about this in your latest book. Could you elaborate on that?

Dr. K. When you go back to the fateful day of August 28th 1963, it was about equality not integration. There is a big difference. The integration of the dollar was the last step of Dr. MLK’s combat. He was definitely headed toward this direction. When people read about the Montgomery’s bus boycott and about the money they had raised, he was about to build a mortgage company to expand mortgages options for the African-Americans to have a better accessibility to home ownership through loans. He knew that economics meant politics. Dr. King at the end of his life advocated the importance of class as well as race. He was going to organise a march for his Poor People’s Campaign.

Dr. MLK wanted to raise consciousness. He died in Memphis while advocating the right for the public workers to have a union. In March 1968 (the month before his assassination), there was a strike in Memphis with 1,300 Black sanitation workers who were earning very low wages. The situation was difficult for some Whites also. In Memphis, several White craft workers earned a salary at union scale, but they didn’t have a contract. While White firefighters, teachers and police officers made bids to create unions, the city fired them and blacklisted them. There was a strong opposition from the city to see workers having any independence or getting an increase in their wages. So, the anti-union sentiment was really fierce. King supported labor rights and he was definitely an activist for economic equality. He wanted the Congress to fund for jobs, housing, healthcare and education, instead of focusing on wars.

P.T. In your country in 1969, Nixon created the MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency) for the Department of Commerce (via the Executive Order 11458) which promotes growth and competitiveness of the United States’ minority-owned businesses. Do you think that most Black entrepreneurs benefit from this agency (regarding access to capital, to contracts, etc.) or more opportunities are required ?

Dr. K. This is a really good question! Some parts of the market are closed and the windows of opportunities are smaller. This means that there is less competition out there and society as a whole is losing because the prices are higher. For instance, the reason why a car is expensive is because fewer cars are being manufactured here. When Henry Ford, over a century ago, started his industry, more than fifty models for automobiles were being fabricated across the country. Now, we have barely three. But it is important to be careful with this assessment. I don’t know if I am a big fan of programs or subsidies. I would rather see a more level playing field. I would not like to see many Black-owned enterprises being dependent on allowances to propel their businesses. This won’t benefit anybody. It is very interesting that you mentioned Nixon because he was the one who created affirmative action.

P.T. More and more people believed that, since the 90s, this reality: 1. Start with four years of college, 2. Add one white-collar job 3. Slowly stir in equal measures of loyalty and initiative. 4. Wait 40 years before retiring, which you exposed in your book, is not the case anymore. Can you elaborate on that?

Dr. K. It is not the case anymore when you look at the course that the economy is taking right now. Moreover, when you look at all the initiatives, innovations and creativities particularly from the Silicon Valley, the sky is the limit. These entrepreneurs went to college to get what they needed and, in some cases, it was just for one year. Steve Jobs went to college for one semester. Bill Gates went there for one year. The founders of Google didn’t finish their Ph.D. programs.

P.T. Same thing with Michael Dell, who dropped out.

Dr. K. Exactly! The bottom line is a formal education can get you a job but self-education will make you rich. Bill Gates and the others I just named are lifelong learners. Bill Gates started Microsoft as a student at Harvard, Michael Dell, whom you just mentioned, is an alumnus from University of Texas. Some of the founders of Google and Facebook were also students respectively at Stanford and Harvard. Yahoo was created by students.

I think the diplomas you get depend on you and on what you do with them. It is a personal responsibility to be a lifelong learner. Skills can be transferred. In other words, you can assess how to use your abilities in other fields if you are not happy with your actual job.

P.T. Circa 35% of African-Americans had no measurable assets in 2009, and 24% of these same households had only a motor vehicle. The weight of the continuing housing and credit crises disproportionately impacts Black America. The economic mobility of Black America dropped since 2006. You talk about this in The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires. What can the Black community learn from the Black elite to improve their finances?

Dr. K. Number one, pay yourself first. Try to save between 10 and 15% of your earnings. If you are not in a position to do this, try to pay the totality of your debts. Number 2, the quickest way to improve your economic mobility is homeownership. Less than 44% of Black America owns their homes. This paradigm needs to change. Homeowner allows to add net worth. These are two critical factors. 27% of Black America spends more daily than what they bring in. 30% of Black America has no saving plans. 35% of Black children are born and raised in poverty. More than 40% do not utilize a bank institution for their financial needs. One out of five Black homes lack either a checking or savings account; only one in four African Americans owns stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. According to a recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation report, more than half of Black households use alternative financial services, including payday lenders, check cashing companies, or pawnbrokers. Of the 1.4 million individuals who filed for bankruptcy in 2011, nearly 55% were African-Americans.

The critical issues that I just named have to change to improve the Black economy. Saving and investing are fundamental strategies, while it is crucial to keep track of weekly or monthly expenses. The Black financial elite practices this on a daily basis and this is how their nest eggs continue to increase. I included in my latest book a table about investment behavior calculated in percentages. It was part of a survey and questionnaire administered to our interviewees between 2005 and 2011. I believe that even when the odds seem stacked against us, it is still possible to thrive. Nearly nine out of ten among the Black elite amass their wealth over time. It did not happen overnight, but it is still possible to climb the economic ladder.

P.T. Did some of the people you interviewed for your book share with you how they shattered the glass ceiling in entrepreneurship?

Dr. K. [Silence] The common denominator that I observed among the interviewees is the fact that they thought outside the box. They utilized innovation and creativity. Another factor I noticed that none had an easy path and all of them learned how to overcome adversity. For instance, when I asked Tyler Perry how he succeeded from living in his car to building his big $145 million studio production in Atlanta, he responded that all this happened with the grace of God. Bob Johnson, wherever he was in the country, always flew back twice a month to the McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago, where he sat in the lobby trying to speak to people from the marketing department to pitch his cable network project. So, among many of them, persistence and determination were key elements. Moreover, they won’t make excuses for their mistakes. They learn from them, in order to be in another level.

P.T. Are the majority of Blacks (millionaires and billionaires) you interviewed in charge of their own enterprises?

Dr. K. Yes. David Stewart, the CEO and founder of World Wide Technologies, filmmaker Tyler Perry, Earl G. Graves the publisher of Black Enterprise magazine and so on, are all examples I can give.

P.T. Your latest book is based on a seven-year study, including focus groups, a formal 118-question survey, as well as face to face interviews with nearly 1,000 among the wealthiest in Black America. What were the main criteria to select these people for your study? Furthermore, what was the process for the research, including your survey data and focus group?

Dr. K. There was not a scientific methodology. The fact that the leaders were the best in their fields was the main criterion to select them. There are five Black billionaires in the U.S. I knew that I had to make bids to approach them for the book, including millionaires such as Cathy Hughes, Spike Lee and Dave Stewart. In terms of the other individuals who were profiled and surveyed, that was a non-statistical judgement call. They were trailblazers and high achievers in their realms. The survey was given randomly to Black millionaires regardless of their station, the place where they worked and lived. They completed the survey in total anonymity to remain objective. Some did not mind signing it. Others even stapled their business cards. There were two phases: the survey and the interview format to put the information together. About the focus groups, six were held around the country.

As a whole, my latest book is the result of an extensive study of one thousand of the 35,000 African American millionaires, multimillionaires, and billionaires in my country. I utilized personal interviews, statistics and existing studies on wealth accumulation that I gathered to expose the insights of these successful individuals. The result gave an admixture of an empirical research with a world application.

P.T. According to the Consumer Federation of America, one of their studies revealed that half of the Americans who took the time to develop a financial plan helped them to achieve a more stable economic condition. Did you observe that most of the millionaires and billionaires you interviewed for your latest book had a financial plan from the start?

Dr. K. Definitely! They live their lives with purposes and have a clear GPS of where they want to be. They established strategic blueprints with delineated deadlines, concrete means and measures with objectives. Prior to this, they made sure to have a thorough knowledge of their domains. They took the time to study their market with its idiosyncrasies and learn about their competitors, etc.

So, the entrepreneurs definitely had a business plan from the start with a clear financial vision! Success always leaves footprints. I strongly believe in this quote: “If you don't know where you're going, any destination will do.”

P.T. In your latest book, The Wealth Choice, you feature the seven laws of wealth and you talked a little bit about this earlier. Do you mind sharing the guidelines for each one?

Dr. K. Number 1 is knowledge. Prosperity begins with the mind, but ends in the purse. As mentioned, most of the millionaires that I interviewed, reads circa one book per week. If you do not read, you won’t grow. Lifelong learning and self-education are common characteristics among those who choose to be rich. The interviewees for my latest book learn as much as possible on financial literacy on a regular basis. For instance, L.A. Reid from LaFace Records took a management executive class at Harvard even if he was already highly successful in the music industry. He didn’t want to plateau. He always aimed for development and evolvement by upgrading his skills. Number 2 is about making a decision. Daily, we can make hundreds of choices, but we will retain hardly 1% of them. When we wake up in the morning, there are two decisions that we have to consider: staying in the status quo or taking the responsibility to change our current situation. The people I interviewed decided to take actions to modify their life outlooks and enrich their future. They were also willing to accept the outcomes of their choices.

Third is faith, meaning believe in yourself when no one else will. The greatest conversation you will have in your life is the one with yourself. Fourth, you need to find your unique gift, in other words, your area of excellence or the inherent divine mission that beats in your chest. Once you have identified this, you won’t have to worry about incomes because the market will look for your expertise. Number 5, how can I serve Him? It is the only reason that you are on the planet. People are on this earth to serve humanity. Service is the price you pay for the space you occupy. Anybody can serve and do more than what is expected of them. The sixth guideline is: Thou shall own thy own business. When you are the CEO of your company, you are the individual who signs your paycheck. So, you are in business for yourself and you must aim for excellence if you want to reach superior levels. The seventh rule is about making the money grow. Prosperity is important; it is not about what you spend but what you keep. Save at least 10% of your earnings and make wise investments.

P.T. Your latest book talked about Michele Hoskins who had the secret of her enslaved great-great-grandmother. This amazing story alone could be an awesome movie in itself. Without giving too much away, share with us how Hoskins’ ancestor influenced her in her entrepreneurial success?

Dr. K. Her great-great-grandmother left her with a dream and a vision. It was up to Michele Hoskins to follow it through. For more than two years, each Monday at 10:30AM, she called at Denny’s restaurant headquarters for a bid to secure a 3-million- dollar contract. Anybody can do this, but not everybody will have the determination and perseverance to follow that path. She made the choice to do this because she knew about the power of the dream and the power of this particular vision that she had. Her ancestor left her with this idea and, again, she made the decision of taking on that journey. Her philosophy makes me think of this quote by Napoleon Hill: "Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers do not quit."

P.T. When I read the fascinating story of Hoskins, I said to myself that it would be amazing if our ancestors left us the secrets to success like her great-great-grandmother did.

P.T. What message do you have for the people who think that the desire to accomplish a dream is not enough to succeed because there are different limitations in terms of resources, structures, etc.? In other words, there are people who do not give themselves permission to pursue their dream in entrepreneurship. What advice do you have for them?

Dr. K. This is part of the problem. As mentioned, there are two goals in life: to be positioned on the right hand of God and then, see the light. When you see the light, you raise your standard of living. It is important to get rid of the victim mentality or the victimisation consciousness. This mindset leads to other setbacks. The sun is always shining. In other words, opportunities are always available but, with a negative mindset, you might have blinders which will prevent you to notice favorable circumstances. The room is not dark if you open your eyes. I am not among those who pretend that life is rosy. My views are balanced. Often people who make it, find solutions when problems arise, instead of just giving up. They do not believe that hurdles are insurmountable. You must have the ability to face rejection with dignity and bounce back quickly.

I would like to add that building a relationship by doing follow-ups and so on is highly important in business. You have to be a go-getter and believe that you will achieve your objectives. It is also crucial to not be rigid and, sometimes, you need to be open to reassess your strengths. For instance, Berry Gordy’s (whom I have profiled in my latest book) wanted to be a wealthy professional boxer before he created Motown. With time, he realised that one of his potencies was to become a mogul in the music business. So, again, it is highly important to capitalise on what you are good at. There is a distinction to make between what you are passionate about and what you are gifted with.

Overall, to succeed in a higher level you need to be courageous to move out from your comfort zone and be willing to take calculated risks. I strongly believe in this quote by Napoleon Hill: "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe,
the mind can achieve."

P.T. Can you share with us the theme of the future book you would like to write?

Dr. K. The book I am working on concerns the success gene. I am in the early stages. I want to know if there is some DNA makeup which makes an individual succeeds. It would also be interesting to assess if there are some personality traits, such as resilience, which helps a person become an overachiever.

P.T. To conclude, what does the fact that there is a Dennis P. Kimbro Day in Detroit and Dayton represent for you?

Dr. K. That makes me feel really good [laughs]. It happened in September 1992, eight days apart, I was flattered. These recognitions help me maintain a positive mindset by meditating daily or reading something positive to nourish my spirit in a constructive way. I try as much as possible to live in the moment. My morning and evening prayers are important. I want to be as close as possible to God and be the person he wants me to become.

P.T. Big thanks for this interview! I know that it will inspire many of our readers and continue to give us other page turners! In addition, I strongly believe it is by sharing information elevation and progress are possible, so big thanks again for your precious contributions throughout the years.

The Wealth Choice:
Success Secrets of Black Millionaires
By Dr. Dennis Kimbro, Ph.D.
Palgrave Macmillan
Hardcover
304 pages

Dr. Kimbro’s official website: www.denniskimbro.com 

https://www.facebook.com/dennis.kimbro
Dr. Kimbro can also be followed on Twitter

Famous Dennis Kimbro’s quotes:

“The opposite of success is not failure, it is conformity”

“The wealthy are wealthy because they act poor; the poor are poor because they act wealthy.”

“Wealth begins in the mind, but ends in the purse”

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

Praise for Dr. Kimbro’s latest book:

“A thoughtful, encouraging guide to creating a life that welcomes wealth”
- Publishers Weekly

“Dennis Kimbro deftly pinpoints the factors that create wealth, and more importantly, those that allow an individual to retain it. His comprehensive research has culminated in an inspiring, timely, and insightful work.”
- Dr. Randal Pinkett 2004 Apprentice Winner and Chairman/CEO of BCT Partners who landed two billion-dollar contracts with the American government in health care

“Dr. Kimbro has crafted a radically fresh masterpiece that cogently articulates the instinct, spirit, and resolve of the Black Millionaire. This instructive and highly readable synthesis weaves together lucid gems of wisdom gleaned from a broad spectrum of experiences and sources, and should be required reading for anyone with even a faint desire to succeed. Every accomplished ‘doer’ utilizes the concepts in this book… but it took Dr. Kimbro to write them down for the rest of us. Pure genius!”
- Valerie Daniels-Carter, President and CEO of V&J Foods

“Very simply, The Wealth Choice is the only choice. After the long and storied history of civil rights, what we need most now is a new and relevant vision that shows how to make free enterprise and capitalism actually work for the poor. Dennis Kimbro is giving this generation and the next the password to future achievement in America, and beyond. I, for one, am with him.”
- John Hope Bryant, Founder of Operation Hope

Excerpt of The Wealth Choice:

“Yes, the rich are different. Generally speaking, Black millionaires think and act differently. They believe in the greatness of this country, and they want to help write the next chapter of American history in ways that benefit them as well as their fellow man. The Black financial elite want a seat at the table, not because they feel entitled but because they know they have something unique and valuable to offer. Dissatisfied with just getting ahead, these wealth creators not only want to corner the market but to change the game. So if millionaireship is what you desire, how will you achieve your goals? Own a business? Remember David Steward, Cathy Hughes, and Leah Brown—they did what you propose to do on a shoestring. Is writing your passion? Lean on the words of Terry McMillan when editors and publishers trashed her first submission. Oppressed by debt and struggling to make ends meet, she produced her greatest work—Waiting to Exhale. What about fashion? Reread the profile of Daymond John who, for six long years, slept on the floor of his Queens, New York, home until the world took notice of his youthful urban designs. Is it public speaking that drives you? I urge you to examine the life of Les Brown. Perhaps no one else has ever battled longer or more diligently to overcome obstacles that would dishearten most individuals. Brown had a weak voice and even weaker self-esteem. His initial attempts at public speaking were drowned out by hisses, jeers, and scoffs. Brown was so discouraged that he nearly relinquished his dream of pursuing a speaking career until he stumbled onto the following words of Berton Braley, the twentieth-century American poet. And he would’ve been content to remain on the sidelines of life had he not found the will to win.”

Dr. Kimbro’s books:

Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice with Napoleon Hill (1991)

Daily Motivations for African-American Success (1994)

What Makes the Great Great: Strategies for Extraordinary Achievement (1998)

What Keeps Me Standing: Letters from Black Grandmothers on Peace, Hope and Inspiration (2003)

The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires (2013)

The books of Dr. Kimbro are available on www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com, .ca or co.uk.