What Dolemite and Steve Jobs Have in Common?

I recently watched the Netflix movie Dolemite is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy. While it’s an enjoyable film, with solid writing, acting and amazing wardrobes, I was particularly taken by the entrepreneurial journey of the biopic’s subject, Rudy Ray Moore. His passion, commitment and vision were inspiring to me as an entrepreneur and Murphy captured his essence brilliantly. Moore’s story of making Dolemite, the movie, reminded me of Steve Jobs and other bold entrepreneurs’ obsessive commitment to achieving a vision. His journey making the movie wasn’t linear, and I found it inspiring for that reason. In this article, I outline six successful traits Rudy Ray Moore embodied as he evolved from a struggling artist and record store clerk to cult movie hero and The Godfather of Rap. Perhaps his journey will inspire yours.

Vision:

Early in Moore’s career, he was obsessed with entertaining in front of crowds. His early career included a stint as a preacher and nightclub dancer. He expanded his music act to comedy during his time in the Army. He struggled to break through on the music front, which required him to augment his performance income as a clerk at a music store. As he looked for ways to become truly remarkable, he developed an urban hero character, Dolemite, and cut his first comedy album, Below the Belt in 1959. Although he had success with his comedy albums, the tours were grueling, and the adult language and subject matter of his performances limited his audience. One day in the 70s, he had a realization that the silver screen was the ultimate way to reach the largest audience possible. Unfortunately, Moore lacked the knowledge or resources to make the movie himself. Despite the odds, he never gave up on his vision.

Resilience:

Moore spent the first half of his career being second-guessed by agents and producers. No producer believed his movie could or should be made, so he funded it himself. He had to make significant sacrifices, lean on friends and family for support and get creative with funding, filming with a limited budget and experienced crew. Once the movie was completed, he leaned the negative reviews and enjoyed a strong opening weekend and soon after, cult status, which paved the way to 19 more movies and inspired future rappers with his speaking style and cadence. Bottom line, he never let doubters hold him back.

Leverage Strengths:

In 2007, I joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a volunteer-driven non-profit for business owners looking to learn and grow. One of the first lessons I learned, was to leverage my strengths when evolving the business. Entrepreneurs tend to get distracted by shiny objects and should never get too far out of areas of expertise, which was a powerful lesson. Moore knew this intuitively. He was smart and intentional about his journey to make his dream come true. As he evaluated his personal assets, he pulled from his deep night club and entertainment experience when building his network and following. He discovered a creative partner, Miss Reed, when touring in the South. He saw something in her she didn’t see in herself and gave her the opportunity of a lifetime. They successfully collaborated for many years as a result. Essentially, he successfully leveraged his strengths exceptionally well.

Creativity:

Moore exhibited creativity in a variety of ways. For starters, he continued to evolve his “act” based on feedback and experience. In the movie, he discovered a storytelling sub-culture in the transient community (led by Rico) and paid them to tell their stories. He took notes and developed a persona from them, Dolemite. To fund his movie, he signed over the rights to his music and comedy album royalties. He negotiated to keep the homeless from an abandoned hotel (using it as his headquarters and location for the film) and utilized UCLA film school students behind the camera. He also boldly approached an up-and-coming star to direct the movie. Sometimes, we get blinded by money and convenience, and it’s the raw hustle and creativity behind it that creates the most original and authentic products.

Build a Loyal Team:

As mentioned previously, Moore had a knack for seeing the best in people, like Miss Reed. He was also loyal to his friends and they, in turn, were loyal to him. Even when he was out of funds, he came up with solutions, inspiring his film crew and talent to reach a little bit deeper. When his back was against the wall and he needed more money to purchase additional film to complete his movie, he went back to his record label for a loan. He paid the loan back soon after the movie’s release. He took such good care of his people, they stuck with him through many of his follow-up movies and endeavors. Leadership can’t be taught, it’s intuitive and Moore had a sufficient dose that he navigated difficult times and kept is core team together.

Understand Your Audience: Moore believed in the concept behind Dolemite, a persona many African American males wanted to be and African American women wanted to be with. The sales of his albums and movie ticket sales proved him correct (to a meaningful level at least). When Moore heard about scathing critic reviews of the movie, he had to remind his crew that it was a good thing. His target audience would be even more curious or otherwise motivated to see the movie based on the initial critical reaction. He was counter-culture at the time, and Dimension Films saw the potential and benefitted tremendously from picking up the movie for distribution. He helped open up a new market and was at the found floor of the Blaxsploitation movement, but since he was African American and wrote, scored and even directed

You don’t have to put your entire life savings at risk to launch a business or follow your dreams but sharing Moore’s traits may increase your odds of navigating your journey and achieving your goals.