Breaking the Mold: Wendy Williams' Mindset for Success in Business

You know, my friends were, like, real immature and stupid and wanting to party and hang out, and I'm on a path. I no longer care about people laughing at me or laughing with me. I'm just out there having the time of my life. Look, chase your career, but make sure to have fun. I'm brave. You're not. You need to get brave. I am not the monster boss. I—

You trust.

—take suggestion well. When I first got the talk show, I was naive enough to think that You know, oh my gosh, you know, we can get this celebrity and that celebrity and this celebrity and that celebrity.

She's an American media personality, actor, author, comedian, and daytime talk show host. She hosts a nationally syndicated TV show, The Wendy Williams Show. She's created an autobiography and several other books, as well as launched several products. She's Wendy Williams, and here's my take on her top 10 rules for success. Number 10 is my personal favorite, so I'm curious to find out which one you guys like the most.

I worked for Miss Hughes for about 8 months, and I got a weekend gig in New York. So I would do weekdays at WOL in Washington and drive up on Fridays after my shift, which would end at 7 o'clock, and I'd be on all weekend long over in Queens. That's where the radio station was located. And then I would drive back to D.C., and I would never even stop at my parents' house, never had time for friends because everybody was kind of not understanding my dream and kind of laughing at me or something, or trying to, you know, my friends were like real immature and stupid and wanting to party and hang out. And I'm on a path. And my parents were very, you know, "Oh, do you want something to eat? What is this crazy thing you're doing called radio?" I would sleep in my Subaru. They gave me a Subaru for college graduation. And I would sleep in my car at every rest stop between New York and Washington, D.C. to block out the noise of people Telling you you can't do it.

Right. I would literally be—

I'd have a blanket, an alarm clock, and a quilt. And I would take a birdbath in the bathroom. I'd be woken up by the man sweeping next to my Subaru looking at me, 'cause I'm like the crazy, you know, girl in the— And I had a baby shade without a baby. Pull the baby shade down, you know? And that was my life for about 2 months. I was going back and forth. Now, I think the secret to the success of The Wendy Show is it starts from within. You know, I've got terrific producers, terrific audience department, you know, people, shady cameramen, a terrific, you know, lineup of co-hosts in my studio audience. And of course, it starts with the host. I no longer care about people laughing at me or laughing with me. I'm just out there having the time of my life. And, you know, It doesn't matter whether a dress makes me look fat, if there's lipstick on my teeth, you know I rub. Yes. If my wig feels crooked, you know what, I will tweak it. You know, I, the secret to the show's success, I believe, is authenticity. And the authentic me is messy Wendy from Jersey.

But messy is good. But when you started out, I mean, Debmar-Mercury, they were the company that saw the vision. Yeah. Right? Because you had a couple misstarts. Yes. Right? Yes. There were other shows show opportunities that didn't work out. Tell me about that.

Well, you know, you get telephone calls from, you know, I, I mean, I've had walk-in meetings with Sony and, and Buena Vista Disney and, and people like that. And I've done a few pilots, but nobody really knew what to exactly do with me. And also, I was not confident enough to tell them what to do with me. Do you know what I'm saying? Right.

But now, if they wanted to fit you into a mold but then when you were given the freedom to be able to be who you truly are, that's when you exploded.

Well, I was ready to be fit into a mold too. Like, tell me what you want me to do. I just want to be on TV. I'm young Wendy from radio. By the time Debmar-Mercury came along in 2007, fall of 2007, I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted out of a TV opportunity. I didn't just want to be a host. I want to be an executive producer. And that means that I'm not just somebody that you're gonna fit into a hole. I'm gonna dictate where the hole goes and how it goes down. Now, I want suggestion from everybody, but be very clear. You know, I want to, you know— The way I manage is through maturity. Fortunately, Brian and young lady, this degree of success has come to me at a time in my life where, you know, there's no more excess of anything, and I no longer feel it necessary to leave my show and go have a girls' lunch or something like that. I feel as though it's necessary to leave to pick my boy up, take him to another place, go home and make dinner for my family. Your other happy place. Yeah. Your main happy place. I enjoy taking care of home, and I also enjoy a good night's sleep, and I enjoy I enjoy the peace in my head that was not there for so many years, as well it shouldn't be. You know, the time to have fun, especially if you're in your 20s— look, chase your career, but make sure to have fun. Yeah. Because when life gets serious and life gets real, there is no time to be out until 2:00 in the morning and missing the alarm clock and being irresponsible with your children and your partner. I have a terrific team to propel me, because I can't do this by myself, you know. And I will not— discredit myself. You know, I, I've done a lot of work to get here, and nothing's been handed to me. But to, to stay here, I've had to align myself with the right team.

What's the key to your success, do you think?

Stick-to-itiveness. You know, I, I, I ride it until it can't be ridden anymore. I have a terrific manager who's my husband, and I've had some really fortunate business relationships regarding broadcasting. You know, um, uh, Deadmar Mercury produces, you know, my talk show, and they have just been really wonderful. You know, as you know, we're going into our 7th season, and as you also know, a lot of great shows actually get canceled quick. And Brian says I'm about to enter college and I'm very passionate about reaching my goal of becoming a journalist, but I'm afraid to fail. I keep worrying about how I will achieve my goal and what if it doesn't happen. When you started out in your radio career and when you started developing, uh, started to develop your, uh, your show, were you afraid of failing? And if so, how'd you deal with it? Because you're afraid to fail, you're in your own way. You realize that, don't you? Um, everybody has a certain fear of failure, whether they admit it or not. Of course I was afraid to fail, um, in radio. Of course I was scared that this TV show wouldn't work out. Um, but I'm brave. You're not. You need to get brave. And don't tell people that you're scared. They'll use it against you. I mean, you told me, Brian, but don't tell anybody that you're scared and you're afraid to fail. People look at that as a sign of weakness. You know? Good luck as a journalist, because if you're going to be so scared, then there are plenty of other people who would love to be in your spot as a future journalist. Don't let them win, you know? Failure is a part of life. Are you kidding me? How do you balance so much? How do you balance having such a successful career and maintaining your social life, your family, all that? It's a different kind of enjoying yourself when you get older. As a young girl, before I got married, I owned property. I had cars. I lived a luxurious life in fabulous— like, I was a bachelorette. Yep. My dance card was full. I had boyfriends. I had a life. But a career is not going to keep you warm at night. And money is not the answer to happiness. You know, you create an equal balance of everything. At least that's what I— if you ask Wendy, that's what I say. And I only know that because that's what I live by. As a host, yes, either you have it or you don't. It's not something you can learn in a college classroom. It's not something that somebody can media train you. You know, either you have it or you don't. And people say I have it. But it's more than that. You know, I've got a terrific staff of people. They're, you know— almost 200 people who work at Wendy, um, when I count everybody who— from cleaning an office to a secretary to a cameraman to my producers, my executive producers. And they're wonderful. Everyone knows their job. And I am not the monster boss. I— You trust. —take suggestion well. If I thought— if there's something that is being suggested to me that they want me to do, and I say, "Ugh, I don't want to do that," I said, okay, well, all right, wait, come back, tell me why. When I first got the talk show, I was naive enough to think that, you know, oh my gosh, you know, we can get this celebrity and that celebrity and this celebrity and that celebrity, you know, just chuck the, you know, the show full of celebrity culture. And what ended up happening was because I was a new girl, you know, on television, you know, people come to New York and they're going to the usual places that they feel comfortable. They're going to Kelly and Michael or, you know, Jimmy Fallon and stuff. And so they weren't stopping at our show. So what we had to do is make a better show around celebrities, and, and we have. And Hot Topics— Hot Topics used to be 8 minutes, and now it's 20, 23 minutes before even the first commercial. And every Monday is an all Hot Topics show. And we, we had to make lemons into lemonade because we over the new show, and it turns out lemonade days are my favorite days.

Thank you so much for watching. I made this video because Arlene D asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of the top 10 rules had the biggest impact on you and why. Leave it in the comments and I'll join in the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.