Name: Demetrius Spencer
Profession: CEO Ball Up, LLC and CEO ONE Media, LLC
Age: 39
I have put my passion to purpose by: Never giving up on myself. Turning something from passion to purpose and, in my case from passion to business, is a challenging and time-consuming thing. There are many occasions when throwing in the towel might have been the easiest thing to do, but ultimately I had to continuously remind myself that no one was going to fight for what I wanted and what I felt I deserved as hard as I was. That commitment to my goal has led to my success and has seen my passion turn to purpose.
Many would describe Demetrius Spencer, the CEO & founder of Ball Up; the world’s largest streetball lifestyle brand, as a serial entrepreneur. Ball Up might be the most highly-visible name under Spencer’s umbrella, but he is also heavily involved with numerous television and film projects through his own media company, ONE Media Worldwide. A crafty entrepreneur, Spencer established himself as one of the top young executives in the music industry, as he served as the executive vice president of A&R at Universal/Motown. Although he developed his marketing skills in the music industry, he was able to successfully transfer the knowledge gained through facilitating numerousand production partnerships with global media companies into the entrepreneurial ventures we see today. In only its fifth year, Spencer has the Ball Up brand poised for global prominence, as it features top NBA talent serving as guest coaches in each market as well as a reality show: Ball Up: Search for the Next, one of the top-rated shows on Fox Sports.
Always a shrewd business man, Spencer attributes much of his business growth and success to two of the people closest to him. “My two kids teach me new levels of purpose, patience, admiration and joy every day,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man
. “In these new teachings they also inspire me to always want to be a better dad, a better friend, a better partner, and a better boss. There is something in their innocence that reminds me of how people should always aim to treat one another, and I carry that with me daily.”Continuously putting himself in the way of knowledge has allowed Spencer to find purpose within his passion and share this with the world. “I realized that entrepreneurship was my purpose when my job didn’t seem like a chore and every day felt like a new opportunity to share my business with other people,” says Spencer.
Given his wide range of experience in the music, sports and fashion industries, Spencer has learned a couple of tidbits along the way that he still finds useful today. “As you develop your passion, or what you do in your leisure time into a profitable business venture, never take ‘no’ for an answer,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man. “I truly mean this. Do not except ‘no.’ Be creative with your failures and find new ways to make them successes.”
Creatively turning every no into yes has lead Spencer into TV and film as the executive producer of the sitcom, One Love, a feature film with TD Jakes, and sports programming for Fox. Owning a global sports lifestyle brand, and also large intellectual properties on the media side, gives Spencer much to be proud about. But when asked about his accomplishments it become less about him and more about the doors he is able to open for talented individuals to walk through. “The ability to build a company comprised of family and friends has been such a great personal achievement for me,” says Spencer. “Being able to work among them and provide an opportunity for them to support themselves is huge for me.”
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As business grows and Spencer continues to lead, the Ball Up company is currently underway to establish ancillary businesses in several international territories. This type of scale takes a leader who’s vision sees far beyond the North American borders. “Leaders have the ability to think outside the box and present fresh spins on the normal,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man. “Couple this with a leader’s natural ability to be over-confident and you create one of the dangerous qualities of leadership; innovation. Innovation, whether in decision making, product making or brand building, helps individuals to break through the static and be different.”
Breaking through the static has placed Spencer in a unique position as he reaches to attain new levels of success. “As I align my purpose with business objectives, the most challenging thing for me has always been to figure out the right rate of business growth,” says Spencer. “When you dream big and have your sights set on what seems like the impossible, it can be really difficult to harness the urge to move quickly. It has been a learning process to manage my dreams and aspirations for the right pace of growth, but essential to create a sound business.”
Learning is a part of leadership, and the ability to lead is what makes Spencer unique. “Since I was a child I have always been a leader and have always been confident in my opinion. This has carried me so far in my career.” Being the first to speak up and provide direction has always helped him to stand apart from the crowd. “There is a risk to leadership, however, in those tough decisions [you] have the potential to fail,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man
. “So when making big decisions you carry the weight of knowing that if the decisions fail you, you have let down all those you lead. So many peoples livelihoods are affected by my decision making and that is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. But even with that risk I have never been afraid to make final decisions, and I think that is one of the true traits of leadership.”Building a profitable media company and a leading lifestyle brand does not excuse Spencer from the challenges of being recognized and championed as a industry leader in the mainstream. “Men of color have extra battles to overcome in being championed in the mainstream,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man. “It is a huge part of what drives me to always be diligent about taking every meeting and doing all of my own follow-up. Opportunities exist, but they are sometimes fewer and far in between for men of color, so we have to value them. We have to learn to be as demanding as our peers for the championing to be more common.”
The majority of Spencer’s peers are are non African American and this has allowed him to disturb his working community a bit. “Disturbance is a great ice-breaker for every channel of business, and breaking the ice has led to breaking through,” says Spencer. “Anytime you can throw yourself into a conversation and be the odd man out, you provide a great opportunity for change. These types of opportunities are my favorite types because they are the most challenging. The more you can disturb the conversation, the greater change you will impart upon the inevitable conventionality within our community.”
Within the community is where Spencer is strong at work. On the outside looking in many see Ball Up as just a fun and entertaining game of basketball competition. But on the inside there is much more taking place in the form of partnerships, job creation and community outreach. “My impact within the community is the provision of jobs and opportunity for the many cities that our programs are activated in, both international and domestically,” Spencer tells BE Modern Man. “For Ball Up my goal is to fully establish a worldwide sports lifestyle brand built off of live events, media, and product that continue to have a positive impact in every community we enter.”
A creative thinker, Spencer realizes that new and exciting ideas are coming from our youth. “In the future of my media business I hope to present the ideas of our youth to the world. Modern technology and social media has given them a voice they did not have before and we are beginning to see huge ideas from the younger generation.”
With a clear vision in sight, Spencer’s goal is for Ball Up to evolve from the first professional streetball league into a leading lifestyle brand, which is in the process of launching a full apparel and footwear line in 2016. “Sometimes all it takes for someone else to follow their dreams, or turn their passion to purpose, is to be inspired by someone else who took the leap,” says Spencer. “These BE Modern Man profiles help to remind people that you have to start somewhere and sometimes the payoff for your dedication can be huge.”
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