Ask AT: What sparked the idea for Nine9?

Growing up I changed schools a lot, so I had a hard time fitting in. My mind constantly wandered. I would day dream in class about being a superhero, that's what kids did right?

As a result of moving around so much, I was never part of the so-called “cool kids” groups and to make things worse I was probably half the size of the other kids. I was a December baby and my mom thought it was a good idea to get me out of the house and into kindergarten a year early.

We all know who the nerdy kids were (some called us the losers). Well I was one of them and I was proud of it. I went to a small catholic school so there was only three of us in the grade. I wasn't classified as a nerdy kid because I was book smart like them, I wish. I was one of them because my mom taught me that we were all the same and no one is better than anyone else. I was one of them because they befriended the new kid. They didn't judge like the others did and because in their eyes I was cool, just like them.

We would get picked on for fun by other kids while on the playground. "Kids will be kids" is what their parents would tell ours when we would speak up about it. We would watch the other kids play their kick ball games and wish we would get a shot. But we never got picked. I played kickball and all the other sports with my cousins all the time. For a little guy I was pretty good too, but they would never know it by looking at me.

What these bullies didn't know was that the three of us developed super powers over the years. Well not really but we felt we had.

I come from a huge family and my family was tough. I had many older cousins and we used to wrestle and fight for fun all day, every day. My mom had seven brothers and sisters and my dad had eleven. Three of my dad's sisters had ten or more kids. Most of my over 100 cousins lived in the Detroit area within 10 miles of each other.

One day at lunch one of the bullies came up to us and told us to give up our lunch money. Bill and Ted started reaching in their pockets and I said “no.” He said he would see me outside. I finished up my lunch and grabbed the napkin dispenser and went outside. Needless to say, he stopped messing with us.

As I got older and into the real world, I got into business. As a business man I took a lot of the Superhero experiences from that very playground and applied them to Nine9 "The Un-Agency". Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, and most of the time, a bully doesn't even know that they are being a bully because as you know “kids will be kids.” In the entertainment industry things kind of worked the same way before Nine9 "The Super-Hero" came along.

Like the other kids on the playground dictated who got to play and who didn't, agencies and casting directors did the same thing before Nine9. As the CEO and Founder of the biggest modeling and acting company in the world, we make sure that everyone has a chance to be seen, heard, and watched. Nine9 gives everyone the opportunity to showcase their talents no matter how big or small, tall or short, cool or uncool (no one is uncool).

At Nine9 we believe that everyone deserves to be the cool kid, because to us everyone is already a cool kid. Bill, Ted, and I knew we were cool and could prove it if given the chance. By the way, Bill and Ted are both very successful today.

Don't give the bully in your life the power over you. Grab a napkin dispenser, figuratively of course, and stand up for yourself!

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