Reading Reflection No.1

Reading Reflection

To Be Loved, Berry Gordy

What surprised you the most?

What surprised me the most was him getting drafted to the Korean War and getting a letter that was not about his music but about getting drafted. Another surprise was the money that the siblings put together, and the only way to use it was to convince all the family.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

How he questioned everything at such a young age. I also admired how he had two passions and when faced with a decision of music or boxing he choose music because boxing can easily be lost from a career ending injury, which is a very mature decision for being 20 years or younger. The song he created to be loved was really good. He gave opportunities to artists and helped out with writing.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

His drive is to get back at people. When fame comes he believes that he can get any girl, people would bite their words for not believing in him.

There was nothing I did not admire. Nothing stood out for me.  

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Losing the store because he only appealed to Jazz people. So he decided to listen to the customers and listened to the blues. He understood why people liked the blues because of its simplicity, however he was too late to implement it into his store and he lost it and became broke. He did not let that be the downfall of him, instead he fully invested himself into the business of music. When he saw the people at the factory talk about the amount of years they had left to “live” he realized he did not want to waste his years at the factory and chose to seriously pursue his dreams, to get off the treadmill. Marketing for Hitsville, he was alone so he hired an Italian which was mixing white and black people.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

He was able to always hustle for money. He was an entrepreneur. He went to all aspects of the music business to pursue his passion. Creating his own label and convincing his family for a loan.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

He had no character growth during the Korean War? He obviously experienced many changes. The sudden shift from waiting for a letter for a song, to getting drafted, then immediately two years later is confusing.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

               What was your relationship with Gwen after your divorce? You still had her around, why?

Did you know of the relationship of Marvin Gaye and his family when he was still around? Explain more on how you felt about his death?

How was Michael Jackson, a person you saw perform as a little boy, death impact you?

               

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

His opinion on hard work would be its easy to have a desire and go for it, but keeping that dream alive, once you attain it, is much harder work. In this case, his interest in music. It started as a passion that he strived for but as time went on it became work. I am not sure if I share that opinion, he has lived a whole lifetime and I have yet to experience that. Time will tell.