Life & Work with Kevin Jackson of Gilbert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Jackson.

Hi Kevin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I lost my mother just before I turned 5. That loss would create a fearlessness in me that can’t be bought. I spent little time with my father, as he was in San Quentin prison during my adolescence. A “stick-up man” and otherwise con, my father never outgrew “the game.” Sadly, running “game” is all he knew. I knew that I wanted to be nothing like him, the irony being that I was exactly like him in many ways. Like my father, I learned from other family members that I was very bright and intellectual. Some describe me as brilliant, and I humbly agree! Many people described my father in the same way. Only he used his brilliance for nefarious reasons. I was determined to use my God-given talents differently. A wealthy family for whom my grandparents worked sent my brother and me to military school. That was a life-changing experience. Growing up on a 25,000-acre cattle ranch—owned by the family mentioned above—teaches you discipline and hard work. But military school reinforces those traits like no other. I graduated at the top of my high school class and got a scholarship to Southern Methodist University; I graduated with degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Math. I was well-prepared for the logic of all my professions. Understand that I changed careers nine times as an adult. So one might ask, “How do you go from science degrees to becoming a 3X Amazon best-selling author and award-winning filmmaker?”

I began my business by writing a blog. At that time, I was frustrated politically and vented via my written musings. Shortly after that, I started my radio show; at first weekly, then eventually daily. With all my idle time (joke), I began writing my first book–I finished in less than 6 months. The Big Black Lie became a best-seller, so the next frontier was TV. After a few years as a frequent guest, I was offered a paying spot on the network. I garnered a reputation as a political pundit assassin, so the network had trouble finding people to debate me. Eventually, I got on one of TV’s hottest political shows, and the host liked me and my work. I got fired from that job due to a tweet. I was asked to retract the tweet, and I could keep my job. But I went “Waylon Jennings” on the network and said, “Take this job and shove it.”

After leaving that opportunity, I started making films. I have always yearned to act, produce, and direct films. After all, if Hollywood can make films, I figured it couldn’t be that tough. I made my company’s first documentary, Bleeding Blue, in 2018. The film was successful, but I hit roadblocks along the way that caused me to build a film streaming site for excellent young filmmakers, and The Flick Fest was born. Now my company is a full-feature marketing and messaging organization that makes amazing products.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I mentioned an obstacle already; distributors didn’t want to help with my film. Theater owners blocklisted me. My solution was to take out the middleman; go straight to the consumer. More on that n a bit. The simple fact concludes that everybody has obstacles and challenges. The key is how we respond to life’s challenges, speed bumps, pitfalls, and roadblocks. People told me that being black is an obstacle. They lied that being black had nothing to do with success or failure; being willfully ignorant does, however; being intentionally lazy does as well. But being black is not a hindrance. Here’s another challenge. Once I barely made payroll for my employees. I agonized over how I would tell my employees that I couldn’t pay them that month. I thought I simply didn’t have enough money. When I went to the bank to withdraw the $300 I thought I had, I learned I had $10,300. I swear that money wasn’t there when I called “electronic banking” to check my balance. As if that weren’t bad enough, I almost lost my house at one point. Bad planning on my part? Maybe. Perhaps I didn’t anticipate when things would turn around. In that instance, one of my best friends loaned me the money to turn things around; and I did. Tough lessons. Challenges. But many people in charge of us have never felt my anguish around those circumstances. I’ve had failures too. But I consider them “expensive lessons.”

Nevertheless, today I am better for those “expensive lessons.” My companies run more fiscally responsible because of those hardships. Further, I learned how to pick the right people and do better delegating. Luckily, my background in logic and reason and dealing with difficulty early in life prepared me for the challenging moments. As Albert Einstein said, “Strive not to be a success, but to be of value.”

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I remember reading a book about creating residual forms of income. As I read the book, I thought, “How will you do most of these when they require an artistic flair?” In other words, I wasn’t a singer, a poet, an author, all areas where you can create residual income. I thought I was talentless in those regards and thus would own a franchise or real estate. Fast-forward a few decades, and I’m a three-time best-selling author, I have web properties that thousands of people visit daily, and I get asked to speak at least once a month, and that’s just for starters. All income-producing endeavors that I never dreamed would happen. I spent years in engineering and decades in management consulting, never realizing all the expertise I was gathering. As a management consultant to some of the world’s largest companies (at that time), I underestimated my growth. Today, I am a thought leader. When Roger Ailes hired me at Fox News, he said he considered me [pp], “One of the brightest minds in politics, and I welcome you to the Fox News family.” Justice Clarence Thomas declared to me [pp], “Kevin, you take some of the most complicated subjects and boil them to their essence better than anybody.” My years in management consulting taught me problem-solving. And now, some of the most influential people in the world come to me for my insights. I’m very proud to say that. I try to inspire that kind of leadership in my companies, particularly among my management teams.

What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
All industries shift. Some shifts are more easily seen than others. One thing is certain: People want what they want when they want, and they always want it.” As for me, my streaming service, The Flick Fest, is positioned for the monumental shift occurring in entertainment and that selfish shift in thinking of people. Hollywood is feeling this shift, as are other entertainment arenas. Hollywood and entertainment, in general, have been shifting for over a decade. When Napster began sharing music (torrent), those industries and many others changed forever. The days of overpaid politically-pontificating actors and SAG wages approach their end. People want entertainment, not indoctrination. You can see these shifts in the dramatic drop in award shows’ viewership. Next, cable revenues will drop due to “by-the-drink” services where you can build your programming from a menu. On a more general note, the shift in public attitude is what I think will have the most dramatic impact on companies. The “woke” generation will get a rude wake-up call when those who disregard “woke” focus on making better products and offering better services sans the constant virtue-signaling. We’ve lost sight of the objective of capitalism, for example, all for the sake of appearing magnanimous or philanthropic. Most people are these things without having to prove it. Companies should make the best products and give what they want to the needy without fanfare. Trust me; a correction will occur in the capital markets as they woke to get banished.

Pricing:

• Our streaming service, The Flick Fest showcases new talent. We show movies only a handful of people have even seen. Most of our films are festival winners and 80 percent of them are shorts. The service is much less expensive than Netflix. It costs $4.99 per month and is well-worth it, even if only to give the independent film makers a chance to get their a much wider audience. On the political front, I ask readers this question: what are you willing to pay for your freedom? During the lockdown, many people paid with their companies. And some became so distraught, they paid with their lives. We are better than this in America. I remember the words, “…pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let’s get America back on track to provide that opportunity for everyone. Opportunity; no guarantees.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://TheKevinJacksonNetwork.com
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/theblacksphere
• Twitter: http://Twitter.com/KJNetworkNow
• Other: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-kevin-jackson-show_1