Tuned Into Business:

When Donny talks, it’s time to listen up. And when he gives the sort of endorsement he did recently, you really wouldn’t want to miss it. But just in case you did, Donny turned the reins over to the very talented and capable Carla Harris for his signature “Millionaire Secrets” segment. She may not be a household name to you, but she is a powerhouse. The show didn’t have my total attention until he shouted out, “You wouldn’t get a meeting with Carla Harris in a hundred years.” Harris is a managing director in global capital markets at Morgan Stanley.

Here are Harris’ tips from The Big Idea, along with some of the incredible things the Harvard grad has done.

1. Bring your authentic self to work. Make sure you leverage what makes you, you. Your competitive advantage is who you really are.
2. Be a risk taker. The person who is going to be rewarded in any environment is the person who is willing to think out of the box. Failure brings you a gift, and that gift is experience.
3. Live in your power. Understand your strengths and your weaknesses.
4. Perception is the co-pilot to reality. How people perceive you will directly impact how they deal with you. Think of three adjectives that are consistent with who you really are.
5. Be the author of your own agenda. It’s your life, and it’s your career. Do not manage your career based on someone else’s path.

Prior to her current position at Morgan Stanly, Harris was a senior member of the equity syndicate desk and was in charge of initial public offerings for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, the General Motors sub-IPO of Delphi Automotive and the $3.2 billion common stock transaction for Immunex Corp.

Honors

• Fortune magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America”;

• Black Enterprise magazine’s “Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street”;

• Essence magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World”;

• Ebony’s list of “15 Corporate Women at The Top”;

• Network Journal’s 2005 list of “25 Most Outstanding Women in Business”;

• “Woman of the Year 2004″ from the Harvard University Black Men’s Forum.

She rocks, and my biggest regret is that what I’ve written doesn’t capture her enthusiasm. I felt like I wanted to go for a run after listening to her.

Tonight on the Big Idea, Dani Johnson shared her secrets of success. What’s interesting is that Johnson was homeless at the tender age of 21 and, while living out of her car, she turned her life around. By the time she was 23 she was a millionaire.

Johnson’s Millionaire Secrets:
1. Prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.
2. Weigh your ego with your bank account.
3. Prosper where you’re planted.
4. The marketplace pays for value.
5. Create results.

Johnson has written a wonderful book, Spirit Driven Success: Learn Time Tested Biblical Secrets To Create Wealth While Serving Others. While in her early 20s, she made her first millions in MLM. Today, she is founder of Call to Freedom International, a coaching and seminar training company that she and her husband Hans operate. I had the pleasure of meeting Dani, Hans and her family shortly after I profiled her for my book, Weekend Entrepreneur: 101 Great Ways to Earn Extra Cash.

If you want to be more and do more, or you are stuck and need a reality check and a roadmap to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, Dani Johnson is one of the finest trainers on the planet.

Wall Street Warriors’ season premiere is Thursday, January 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. This 10-part documentary series profiles six driven financial investors, fiercely battling to generate as much money as possible while worldwide markets vacillate.

The series also kicks off a new programming block every Thursday entitled MOJO Money Night, which includes two new series about maverick entrepreneurs and investors: Bobby G: Adventure Capitalist (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) and Start-Up Junkies (10 p.m. ET/PT).

The entirely new cast for the second season of Wall Street Warriors is composed of six ambitious players who deal in billions:
Larry: Buying and selling commodity futures on orange juice crops that haven’t even been harvested, working in the midst of the frenzied trading floor.
Brett: Co-founder and owner of a private equity firm focused on investing in and growing small and medium-size businesses. He also established a charity group that focuses on cancer and education, issues personally important to him.
Jessica: A cotton commodities broker who feels that being a woman on the floor works to her advantage and expresses her need to be mentally tough to succeed.
Jim & Lance: A pair of high-energy stock brokers who oversee a team of competitive young brokers building portfolios for high net-worth investors.
Laetitia: Just starting out (viewers join her at her graduation and first job interview) and trying to find her way into an entry-level desk trader position.

The Wall Street Warriors are followed throughout the trading day, beginning with the opening bell. Whether buying and selling on the exchange floor, networking the night away or working intensely to meet their monthly targets, these “players” are driven to win.

Wall Street Warriors was created by Scott J. Gill and Sean Skelton for Radius Productions Inc. Executive producer for iN DEMAND is Emilio Nunez. Siobhan Graham is supervising producer.

About MOJO HD (www.mojohd.com)
MOJO HD was created exclusively for the discerning upscale male, with attitude, wit and style.It is among the most widely distributed HD networks on cable. The company has been a pioneer in high-definition TV since 2003. Original shows are about wide-ranging men’s interests, including high tech, finance, comedy-reality, adventurous travel, music, cuisine and spirits.

Years ago when Marilu Henner was the host of her own daytime talk show, I was one of her producers. I was looking forward to watching her on the latest installment of Donald Trump’s Apprentice franchise, but I’ve had the flu and missed its debut last Thursday. A few days later I stumbled across a rerun of the show just in time to see the catfight in the boardroom starring Carol Alt, Omarosa and Tiffany Fallon.

Each team was selling hotdogs to raise money for charity. The guys sold $52,000, and the women struggled to bring in $17,000.
Gene Simmons is a smooth operator, so he did what he does best. He called his rich friends. Getting folks to drop thousands of dollars for a hotdog was no big deal for the guys.

The boardroom was pretty predictable. Trump voiced his regret about the failure of Tiffany, a former Playboy Playmate, to call Hugh Hefner for a large donation (duh?). And I think we all knew at that moment how the story was going to end. Tiffany was the first to hear Trump say, “You’re fired!”

Episode 2
Tonight the guys won for their cute Purina commercial. That’s two points for the guys and zero points for the women (sigh). How the women could sit there saying they thought the commercial they produced was better than the guys’ commercial, I’ll never know. Omarosa always has something up her sleeve. She tried to add a little spice to the tiresome boardroom by flirting with Lennox Lewis.

As the camera showed the women sitting around the boardroom table, the sadness on Nadia Comaneci’s face singled her out as tonight’s loser. What happened to this Olympic gold medalist? Clearly she was out of her league and appeared to have run out of steam.

Carol Alt kept tension high in the boardroom. Trump quickly let the model/actress know that she wasn’t getting fired.

Nely Gala’n, who seemed to be skating on thin ice, was overly confident. Nely thinks a lot of herself, and that’s fine. But she never said what she had to offer her team. My advice to Nely, a formerTelemundo executive, is don’t quit your day job.

Celebrity Contestants
Carol Alt - Model/actress
Jennie Finch - Olympic gold medalist, softball
Marilu Henner - Actress/author
Nadia Comaneci - Olympic gold medalist, gymnastics
Omarosa - Season one “The Apprentice” candidate
Tiffany Fallon - Playboy Playmate/Miss Georgia USA 2001
Nely Gala´n - Entrepreneur and former Telemundo executive
Piers Morgan - Editor/”America’s Got Talent” judge
Trace Adkins - Country music star
Gene Simmons - KISS front man /entrepreneur
Lennox Lewis - Heavyweight-boxing champion
Stephen Baldwin - Actor
Tito Ortiz - Ultimate fighting champion
Vincent Pastore – Actor

If you have the answer to my question, “Is anybody watching The Celebrity Apprentice?” let me know, because I have no idea. Or, maybe you want to weigh in on the show. Be my guest.

Who knew that writing a cookbook about how to disguise veggies in a meal could be a winning formula? I recently had the pleasure of seeing Missy Chase Lapine, on The Big Idea. Turns out she has such a passion for family and food that she quit her day job. The former publisher of Eating Well magazine says the book is about how she developed a “hiding technique” to get her daughters, both picky eaters to eat what she gave them. Missy was propelled into action after reading an inspiring quote on a card that said, “Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.â€? As Missy chimed in saying, “The response has been incredibleâ€? Donny enlisted her to talk about the details of her phenomenal success. Here’s are some of the things Missy mentioned: She’s sold 120,000 copies of her book, “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals,” since April 2007. The book has been on the New York Times Bestseller List. Missy just signed with a licensing firm. Frozen Entries are coming soon. She is filming a TV pilot. Missy received a 6-figure advance for a Sneaky Chef Men’s book to be released next year. All this from putting veggies in food! Her brownie recipe includes blueberries and spinach. No doubt her years spent testing these healthy recipes on her own children have paid off quite well.

Paula’s charisma is undeniably contagious. The butter-loving, finger-licking, joke-cracking mother of down home cooking spent some time with Donny Deutsch on the Big Idea. She had tons of fun, I could tell by how many times she kissed Donny on the cheek when they were dancing. Her most memorable comment to Donny was, “I’d rather die with a potato in my mouth than a piece of lettuce.� Facing the stress of relocating, not seeing eye to eye with her husband, and raising her two sons, Paula started her at-home catering business. With $200 and a dream she was committed to doing whatever it took to make her business succeed. And even though it wasn’t easy, she was willing to work 16 hours a day.

Paula Deen shared a couple of her personal secrets to building a food fortune:
~ You’ve got to be willing to work when all of your friends are playing
~ Be stubborn (even if people tell you that you can’t do it)
~ Take it to the next level – don’t rest on your laurels, make whatever you are doing better. Paula added that she is never completely satisfied, she knows things can be better

Guess what Paula Deen is up to now?
~ A new line of packaged foods will be in Wal-Mart the first week in November 2007
~ Harrah’s Casino is opening a 650 seat “Paula Deen Buffet.�

Paula Deen’s final thoughts to Donny when he asked how she became such a big success:
“Necessity�
“Want�
“I needed to grow as a person.�
“I needed it to grow my children.��
“I like to eat.�

If you want to know the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune, check out her new book “Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’.â€? And yes each chapter has incredible recopies like Chocolate-Dippy Doughnuts, and Courage Chili.

The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch is the most exciting and informative business show to hit the airwaves. It can be seen weeknights on CNBC.

Monday night (10/15/07) on The Big Idea two stories caught my eye. The first company pulled in 5 million in sales last year selling a forty-dollar bottle of Vodka called P.I.N.K. Their slogan… “World’s Perfect Party Spirit.� Created by David Mandell who initially ran the company out of his 2-bedroom NY apartment after quitting his job at the Federal Aviation Administration. What makes this Vodka different? Besides the beautiful award winning bottle’s design is that the Vodka is infused with both caffeine and the extract from the Brazilian guarana plant. So it’s more like a pumped up espresso than a martini. What’s amazing is how having no beverage-industry experience did not deter Mandell. He quickly filled in the blanks doing Google searches to locate a flavoring company that was willing to help him develop the formula. A major hurdle was to find a distiller willing to make a small quantity, 2,500 cases versus an order of 200,000 from Bacardi or Diageo.

The other story that won my heart is about two women who met when their daughters were first grade classmates. Long story short Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh started chatting about how they could earn some extra cash. After experimenting with a few business ideas they each took 25 bucks from their grocery money and pursued their passion for sterling silver jewelry.

They started designing jewelry creations and hosting what they called “A Fun Ladies’ Night out Playing Dress-up with Jewelry!�™ One party led to another, and, it wasn’t long before Silpada Designs was born. In 2006 retail sales surpassed 190 million dollars and this year retail sales are projected to be nearly $250 million, making it the fastest-growing sterling silver jewelry home show company in the U.S. with more than 3 million customers across the country… and counting.

My weekend favorite is Your Business, the affable host is JJ Ramberg. This show focuses on small business and airs Sunday mornings on MSNBC. Of course shows like Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart and The View showcase entrepreneurs from time to time so I will keep you posted on these shows and many others as well.

Welcome to Tuned Into Business: Entrepreneurs as seen on TV. Today is my first blog posting. The content is designed with YOU in mind. Especially if you have visions of being on TV and sharing your story with the world. As a TV producer and entrepreneur I feel uniquely qualified to delve into this juicy topic.

Nowadays there are lots of shows featuring successful entrepreneurs. Donald Trump made ‘reality TV history’ with “The Apprentice.� The show earned him incredible ratings. His clever product placement and fascinating cast of characters made him and them an overnight success. “You’re FIRED� became the mantra that people associate with the show. The now defunct show ran its course after the 6th season. As they say, “That’s show biz.�

Switching channels for a moment, queen of the billionaire girls club and media darling, Oprah Winfrey teamed up with QVC and the Next Big Idea was born. It featured entrepreneurs who competed with 6,000 others and appeared on her show, May 3, 2007. Along with celebrity judges and the audience a winner was chosen.

Undoubtedly these shows are great examples of what is possible when your dream comes true! It doesn’t matter if you are in search of inspiration, innovation or want to keep up with what’s going on, you’ve come to the right place.

Step 1 - Know what’s going on out there in TV land as it pertains to business and entrepreneurs.
Step 2 – Make being successful a habit. And come back to Tuned Into Business often to check out what’s new in the world of entrepreneurs on TV.

I will be reporting on many of the most exciting entrepreneurs on TV. If you are an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur in training you will get a birds-eye view of unique business ideas and how people have launched their million-dollar empires. How cool would it be to have a place where you could find out about the winning formula for million dollar businesses?

Let me know what shows you are watching and what you like about them. Also, if you have an interesting story please leave a comment below I’d love to know what you’re up to.

With gratitude and appreciation,
Michelle Anton