Daymond John: Why the Best Deals Are the Ones You Walk Away From
Mick Unplugged
In this deeply personal episode of Mick Unplugged, host Mick Hunt sits down with Daymond John, founder of FUBU and Shark Tank investor, to e
Key takeaways
- The most powerful business move isn't always saying yes—it's knowing when to walk away from a deal.
- True purpose is rooted in 'because I should,' not just personal gain or external validation.
Main topics
- The power of saying no in business
- Finding purpose beyond 'why'—the deeper 'because I should'
Notable quotes
'My because is because I should.'
'The more things you own, they own you.'
Conclusion
Daymond John's journey underscores that lasting success comes not from grand gestures but from
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to what I'm going to say is the most personal, the most guided episode of Mick Unplugged in the history of Mick Unplugged. In the history. In the history of Mick Unplugged. Growing up, most people wanted to be like Mike. I wanted to be like today's guest. The way he moved, the way he built, the way he made us realize that it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the man, the myth, the legend, my mentor. the people's shark mr damon john thank Speaker 2 (0:33) you man i appreciate it Speaker 1 (0:34) it's not uncomfortable an intro man because that's what you mean to me i Speaker 2 (0:39) appreciate Speaker 1 (0:39) it Speaker 2 (0:40) well literally that much to me too don't let me start Speaker 1 (0:42) intro and how great you are don't start lying we don't we don't we don't have time for lies but i mean truly when i was 16. was when I found out. Speaker 2 (0:52) How old are you Speaker 1 (0:52) now? 17. All right. 47. Speaker 2 (0:56) Okay. So I have Speaker 1 (0:57) nine years on you. Oh, there Speaker 2 (1:00) you go. Six? Speaker 1 (1:01) Yeah. Yeah. Nine years on you. Okay. I'm sitting and I see this magazine and I see you and you're not an actor. You're not an athlete. You're not an entertainer. And I realized at that moment that I could build businesses. At 16, I wanted to be an attorney and I thought that's what I was going to be in life was an attorney. Speaker 2 (1:20) Right. But when I Speaker 1 (1:22) saw you, I realized, okay, it's about owning and building business. It's about creating wealth. Speaker 1 (1:29) And then I got to meet you many years later and see all the great things that you're doing. And so my first question I asked all my guests, this is what's your because that thing that's deeper than your why? Like, I'm sure your why is your family, your employees, but there's a reason they're your why. And I don't think Speaker 2 (1:46) I've been ever asked Speaker 1 (1:46) because Speaker 2 (1:47) what's Speaker 1 (1:48) your Speaker 2 (1:48) because. So I guess my why, like you said, it would be family, but what. That's a good question. So I guess the because forces you to say, well, I'm doing this because. Right. Right. I've never heard that before. I appreciate that. You absolutely guessed that? Absolutely. My because is because I should. Speaker 1 (2:11) Now, Speaker 2 (2:12) that because question makes you go deeper, right? Yeah. I should because I've been given this opportunity by God. I should because I've overcome so much. I should because other people aren't doing it the right way or more people should be doing this. And what is that, right? Alertness of things, empowering other people. I should because I'm setting the terms for the way I want to live. Not because I Speaker 1 (2:40) want more money. Speaker 2 (2:43) Because the more things you own, they own you. Not because I want boats. I could buy a boat. I don't want a boat. It's irritating. I don't want seven homes. I can Airbnb. Speaker 2 (2:53) Right? I don't want a staff of 200, 500, 1,000 because somebody's going to be treated unfairly because of their gender, their color, their creed, their lack of education, right? Because somebody else is going to want to take their credit and they're going to push them down. And these people sometimes are not going to be able to feel like they are rewarded for what they've done personally or they didn't get there because they didn't do this. They're going to say it's the system. So, I mean, I think those are the things that those becauses are really powerful things. You know, I don't think I've ever been asked that before. Thank you. I Speaker 1 (3:25) love it, man. I love it. So you talked about you've overcome things and not to make it personal or even to talk about all those. But Speaker 2 (3:32) maybe it's Speaker 1 (3:33) personal. You Speaker 2 (3:33) want. I don't Speaker 1 (3:34) get. I don't care. No, but it's what I've always appreciated about you from afar before I really got to even know you was. Life is never easy. Right? Even as business owners, as business leaders, we start the year off with an amazing plan. But by the third week of January, that plan is usually going out the door. 100%. And that's what life is like for you. So what are a couple of the things that you've overcome? And then I'm going to talk about the Lexus story. The what story? The Lexus story. Speaker 2 (4:02) Overcome. Well, you know, what I have overcome. I want to make sure that I... I manage people's expectation. What I have overcome is nothing in comparison to those who may be living in the Middle East right now. Those who may be living here who grew up with abusive parents or not enough food on the table. So what I've overcome is child's play comparison. Speaker 1 (4:25) But I've overcome dodging the literal bullets and the figurative bullets in Speaker 2 (4:30) the community of not having the internet and these things and only... trying only seeing things like drug dealers around me and saying, well, that's that's success because the people in Queens. Speaker 2 (4:44) They got on the train in the morning. They went to the city to work. You didn't see them. There wasn't no social media showing them. They looked like just people in suits. Yeah. But they were doctors and lawyers. They were feeding their family. They went to the Ideal Toy Factory where it used to be around our Speaker 1 (4:59) house. They were blue-collar workers. You didn't see them. Speaker 2 (5:02) Right? So I dodged that concept of fast life, easy money. Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:10) I Speaker 1 (5:10) got the concept once I started making money, Speaker 2 (5:12) what is he supposed to do with it? Well, I'm supposed to buy houses, houses, cars, do drugs and, you know. Be like some of the people we see today on the news taking advantage of that power that they had because that Speaker 1 (5:25) power is addictive. It's a drug. Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:28) You know, I've overcome the not having an educate, a formal education, being dyslexic, walking in a room and people automatically doubting me or my perception that they already doubt me. It doesn't mean that they doubted me. Yeah. My perception. Oh, cause I'm this. Every person could walk in the room and say, I'm this. Wealthy people walk in the room and say, well, you think I got it easy. Speaker 2 (5:50) I Speaker 1 (5:52) think Speaker 2 (5:52) all the trials and tribulations like most of us have done, finding that healthy balance, knowing your why and being very honest with you about your why. Speaker 1 (6:03) I dig it. Cancer. There we go. You have on the Shark Jevity shirt. One of the things that you've got me doing is fasting. Look like you lost a couple pounds. More than a couple. I have been. I was surprised at how... Easy it is, but you told me, Mick, you're going to fail. I'm surprised at how fast Speaker 2 (6:25) you, no joking, no, like, you're supposed to go intermittent fasting, intermittent fasting, intermittent fasting. We were sitting one night, you were like this, all right, I'm done eating for, how Speaker 1 (6:35) long did you, that one night, you stopped eating for how long? 40 hours, because that's what you Speaker 2 (6:39) told me to do. I didn't tell you to do 40 hours. I Speaker 1 (6:42) said I was doing 40 hours. That's the same thing. You told me to do 40 hours. What would your mama say? Somebody jump off the bridge, you're going to jump off the bridge. What's wrong with you? You're supposed to slow into it. Yeah, but my mama didn't tell me to jump off the bridge, though. You told me 40 hours is what you did. And I said, all Speaker 2 (6:58) right, nobody do 40 hours right away because you're going to fail. You're going to get mad at yourself. You may not have the endurance. I mean, he's a very special individual. I'll get to him one day, maybe today. He's a very special guy. He built a little bit different, which is great. But he just went, yeah. Basically, what do you say? You can only do two things? Two things at a time. So every time I talk to him, if he's like, yeah, I'm fasting, he's like, thank you. He just walks off. And he comes back. He comes back fasted already. He's just off. But that's Speaker 1 (7:32) a great quality you have. Again, I focus on two things at a time. You said fast. So I did. And then you said, oh, by the way, here's some supplements you can take that'll help you do it. And then you gave me some blueprint, like just drink black coffee. I don't drink coffee, but I do, but now I do drink black coffee. Speaker 2 (7:51) Yeah, it helps Speaker 1 (7:52) you do it. All the little things. So that version of you. Yeah. And you go in. On the absolute opposite of you. Speaker 2 (8:00) I ease into things that in, all right, time is all perspective, right? But in fasting, you know, I usually take me about a year, six months to a Speaker 1 (8:12) year to ease into things. So fasting. Speaker 2 (8:15) We'll get to this beautiful piece behind us. Took me about two years, because it's a bigger concept art. Mm-hmm. Shark Jevity. Yep. That took me many years. I'm the kind of person that, you know, it's almost like when I go shopping, or not shopping, when I'm out and I see something I like, I don't buy it. I go home. If I can't stop thinking about it, maybe I'll buy it. Okay. And it has to go. I have to stop. I can't stop thinking about it for a while. Wow. You seem to be able to just turn it on. Now, once that point gets the turn, it turns on, I'm on. But I'm on only because I tried to rip that thing apart or think about it a hundred different. Do I still like this? So I really like this. What am I doing? And once I'm on, that's it. No failure. Speaker 1 (9:02) Straight. Okay. I appreciate that. And I think for me, it's because of what you meant to me in my life that when you tell me something, I just... You're going to end up in Guyana with Jim Jones. Something like that. If you tell me. Speaker 2 (9:22) Don't... Whatever you do, don't... Don't follow this advice. Speaker 1 (9:30) No, but but shark Jeopardy man, like it's one of the the things that for the last three months I've really been trying to dial into my wife won't let me do the the what is a Methylene blue mm Speaker 2 (9:44) -hmm Speaker 1 (9:45) because you told her it's gonna like stain everything so I was on board So you said that and now I can't do it. I want a problem with the wife man. Speaker 2 (9:52) That's that's that's the real boss, but Speaker 1 (9:54) What made you? Go in on your health and all the things that you've transformed not just for you But the fact that you're sharing it with the world Speaker 2 (10:07) I think that it took me a long time. So I had cancer and I always tell the story of, I started to think two things. Start winding it down. Don't, you know, do I really want to fight all this stuff? You know, I've got great kids, great wife, you know, let me just enjoy that time with them. And if it's five years, 10 years, you know, like most of us, man, I don't, you know, stick your head in the sand. I don't, you know, I'll try to fight it, but you know, there's nothing I can do. If everybody