I was never ignorant, as far as being experienced in classrooms and learning about different subjects and actually soaking it up, so I checked into college for a little bit. I took classes at a community college in West L.A. I took psychology, English, and philosophy.

As I got older, my pops tried to keep me involved with the culture by telling me the stories of the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, how he came to America, and about our family back home, because all that side of my family - my aunties, grandparents - is in Africa.

When you talk about black entrepreneurship, you're talking about addressing the foundation of what's going on with our people when we don't have any financial power. Our basic needs aren't being met in a lot of cases, so there's no way we're going to be able to tap into our potential until we address those bottom-level base needs.

Being self-made means never making an excuse as to why you can't take steps toward whatever your goal is.

I started playing football young, and my career was on the pitch.

With this sort of career, you need determination. You've got to sacrifice a lot of things: family, friends - not that I had any - but you sacrifice everything.

If there is one thing that all players have in common it is that winning, competitive gene; the ability to overcome obstacles and fight for what you want from your career.

Watching my dad go through all of the different career paths in the entertainment industry that he has, has absolutely influenced me.