Travis Townsend Jr.

The magic that's unlocked by reading and experiencing books is unparalleled. This past week a great client pinged me about reading and doing Q&A for his new children's book the, Unfunny Bunny, so I jumped at the chance to support two great clients and people. Their talent is matched by their hearts for giving back and being grounded in their roots. Partnering with Kenan regaled the audience of parents and kids to encourage them to persevere and stick to their goals.

The added bonus was being able to take Trinity. The way her eyes and the eyes of the other children in attendance lit up during the reading probably added 5 years to my life! The cherry on the top was catching up with one of my fellow original Urban League leaders from the trenches back in the day, and introducing her to Trinity. You serve the community with people and they are family decades later.

How to say no to pe******ia

Say No to Pe******ia How do you snap out of supporting pedophiles?

As Co-founder of and Leader of its Transactional Practice Division, I have the significant privilege and responsibility (emphasis on responsibility) to drive the success of the firm. I must account for the needs of our ever growing team, their families, the community we operate in, all while ensuring our legal practice is elite in results achieved and client experience, and remains in business beyond these last 16 years, among other things.

That's why I take advantage of every opportunity to learn from other leaders from all backgrounds, not just the legal industry. This week I had the opportunity to hear from not one, but two accomplished leaders in Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands and Former Governor Deal of Georgia. Paul shared some invaluable points about establishing and maintaining a successful company culture while Governor Deal reminded his audience of Georgia leaders to set aside tribal party behavior for honor, decency and doing the right thing for the people we serve.

I know I must never stop developing as a leader so I appreciate being able to learn from those who sit or have sat in the most intense positions.

Looking to transform your law practice into a thriving business? Join me at 'TakeCharge' on Sept. 18-19, 2025! I will be featured as a presenter on 'Managing Growth and Abundance' and building a law firm practice into a BUSINESS instead of just a place where you simply have more than one job that grinds your heart and soul away. Learn systems, operations, scalability, client service, talent acquisition and more.
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Location: State Bar of Georgia.

The Olympics, I love the Olympics. Few events bring out core human nature like the Olympics. Human tendencies exemplified during the Olympics:

1. People with less than 1/100th the capability of others comfortably critiquing experts and all-time greats on their performance. Happens every day. People critique professionals on their work despite not having any studies or experience in the applicable space.

2. People complaining about outcomes they don't like mostly because of their ignorance of the rules and/or full facts and circumstances.

3. The injection of interpersonal drama into excellence and celebration, just because the absence of drama isn't sufficiently stimulating.

4. Big time people doing their biggest and best work on the biggest stage because some folks are just built like that.

5. Attractiveness correlating to positive association and support. Folks out here selling out their own country because the competitors from the other country are attractive.

6. Meetings with the unfairness of life. How crazy is it to prepare for 3.9 years, be favored to prove you are top 3 in the world, and not even get a chance to compete because of any number of wicked happenings during the 19 days of the Olympics out of your control. Keep that in mind the next time you think you lost out due to bad luck. Life is a lot of things, but fair ain't one of them.

7. Dedication pays off regardless. Especially in the face of item 6 above. Even for those who experience the devastating misfortune of not being able to compete or perform at their level best because of injury, sub-optimal rest and pre-comp preparation conditions, etc., they are still winners, and successful because they gave themselves the opportunity in the first place, they have stories of discipline, persistence, strength, courage and power that are greater than a medal. They can lean on those to get through things until their last breath on this here Earth.

Congratulations to all the Olympians competing in the 2024 Olympics. They are the world's greatest athletes, all of them.

This Drake v. Kendrick beef is chock-full of life lessons. You've heard them in one shape or form before, but sometimes we forget. These are just 7 that I'm reminded of.

1. Authenticity still has value. You can be adored because of your persona, the trappings around you, selling the story everyone wants to hear, but what you're really made of matters.

2. Conflict is unpredictable. Never underestimate how far your enemy will go, how strong you are, how weak they appear, and how straight the path to victory seems. The terrain on the ground is rarely as your scouting and intel informs you. Expect the worst and prepare for worse than that.

3. People will double down on their heroes even when it is clear they are losing, wrong, made a mistake, or what have you. Only the strongest can let our senses take in opinion changing data and act accordingly. No different with political candidates.

4. Protecting your peace at the expense of ridicule from folks who got no skin in the game is always a wise move.

5. Law 14 of the 48 Laws of Power is on point in all situations. Been a major 🗝 in battle since the beginning of ⏱.

6. People who don't understand will always demean intellectualism. So never dim your light because others can't stand the glare. However, if you are trying to be understood, it's your responsibility to communicate in a way the audience can hear you.

7. Be civil, peaceful, and tend to your business, BUT always be ready to fight in your defense in the event a fight thrusts itself upon you. Most peacekeepers keep the biggest weapons and shields handy.

Listened to the entire Amanda Seales interview on Club Shay Shay and I have a handful of observations:

1. It is clear that she's an incredibly intelligent person. Her education and knowledge base, as well as her logical reasoning, and her ability to articulate her perspective, her innate instincts and thinking are next level.

2. Spending 3 hours espousing a lifetime of unfair experiences within so many extraordinarily amazing individual life opportunities is very curious IMO. I mean, the woman has been on a kid show, radio host, self-designed degrees, gone on tour as a member of Floetry, been on one of the top HBO shows of all time, etc., just to name a few.

3. Spending 3 hours espousing a lifetime of being misunderstood as a mean girl and tough to work with while being somewhat mean to your interviewer and tough to communicate with is a WILD.

4. I personally struggle when someone as smart as she is communicating about their interaction with the world and their perception of how they are received without any mention of growth they had to make along the way or acknowledgements of personal shortcomings they could improve on. It's just a little bit of a red flag 😅

5. She had some legitimate gripes with a lot of those folks. Her perspective on how a false reputation takes on a life of its own and can self-perpetuate is valid. It may or may not be applicable to her experience, but her articulation of how it occurs is clean and persuasive.

6. Her story about being chastised for the use of the "N-word" describing someone who does not choose to be described by that word was hyper insensitive and lacking empathy. Especially when she made all that fuss about "her experience" and the validation of things from where she sits. She should respect that man's position on the word and how he wants to be addressed.

7. I appreciate that she lead off with her recent diagnosis. Because it does provide context for some of the behaviors that might be off-putting. I think she deserves some grace, and that she should give some of the people she's accused of mistreating her some grace as well.

Here's a quick self-check on if you have unconscious racial bias. If you cringe at any homages or RIP statements regarding OJ Simpson in the near term but shrug off Donald Trump being found to have r***d a woman by a preponderance of the evidence, you might be suffering from unconscious bias.

How so you ask? Because your dislike for OJ is most likely based on a belief that he is a murderer despite him being acquitted. You are likely resting your position on the fact that he was found liable pursuant to a civil trial. Trump was found liable for r**e in a civil trial as well.

Happy Thursday!

In non-Grammy news, MSNBC ran a documentary about the race, culture and policy from the lens of Black men last night. While the timing of the airing was definitively not prime (that's a post for another day), I appreciate at least SOME medium considering the importance of the vote of Black men in the elections and why you might see some of the engagement (or lack thereof) that you get.

Search for the full show, re-airing or some other source and view it when you have a moment. Otherwise, please tone down any commentary about Black men, their participation and who they vote for when this 2024 election cycle goes down.

‘Black Men In America’: Trymaine Lee and Charles Coleman Jr. spotlight the strength of the Black vote In a brand new MSNBC documentary, Correspondent Trymaine Lee and civil rights attorney Charles Coleman Jr. explore the intersection of race, culture and politics through the eyes of Black men in America and what it means for 2024. “I think it's important for folks in this moment to really pay atte...

Good afternoon this October 20, 2021! I'm posting to share about money we are giving away at National Black MBA Association, Inc. - Atlanta Chapter Scholarship applications are open. If you know anyone in the Metro Atlanta footprint who is either in or headed toward higher education at a 4-year institution, in an MBA program or PhD program, share the details with them.

The application is digital, can be completed in 20-30 minutes and barely requires breaking a sweat. Deadline is November 5th. Don't wait until the last minute. Hard work get paid!

The NBMBAA Atlanta 2021 Scholarship Applications are Now Open! Applications due November 5th! - https://mailchi.mp/atlbmba/scholarships2021