Under Promise and Really Over Deliver

Wildly successful entrepreneurs have a knack for giving their customers the very best that they could never have expected. In their world, the expected is for the rest of the crowd. They are here to give you what you don’t expect.

Let me illustrate this with a short example. When you order a hamburger at some local greasy spoon, you expect, well, a hamburger. When you order a pair of shoes at the local shoe store, you expect a pair of shoes. The shoes we’ll leave for another illustration but let’s deal with the hamburgers since I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. You get home, wolf down the hamburger, while wearing your standard pair of loafers and all is well. That is of course unless you have purchased your burger from the guy who over delivers on your order.

This is no ordinary burger. 

It is a hand-select Kobe beef burger. Not only do you get a burger but you get the prime cut of beef, taken from the choice selected cow. Not only did this cow look good but it was feed only the best ingredients, to produce the best beef taste. Your burger is the best of the best and that’s not even counting the toppings. I may not finish this article because I’m really, really getting hungry now.

The toppings are not just lettuce. This is arugula lettuce, taken from the greenest, most tastiest part of the plant. Sourced from the best farmers who only use native virgin harvesters (an over-statement but you get the idea). The mayo isn’t some store-bought off the shelf variety. No, it is produced much like a perfumer would create a perfect scent. An intricate balance between soft and sweet, pungent and acid. This is Chef “Voila” select highbrow gourmet velvet pesto… If it says pesto, you know it must be good.

Successful entrepreneurs NEVER under deliver. 

They always give you the best that there is. They have a knack for getting the best out of a product or service and in turn deliver it to their customers and friends. It is something in their DNA or it was ingrained in them. Now it is a part of who they are.

In a world of mediocre products, goods and services, it is the person who puts effort into delivering quality, that will be the one that will stand out in the crowd. It’s as if they are a light in a dark room. Their glow is so obvious, there is no mistaking them from their surroundings.

Keep this in mind, the next time you are working on a project. Are you really getting the best? Are you really putting forth your best effort? Is this the thing that you would be proud to put your name and reputation on? If so, then join the elite class of successful entrepreneurs that lead the field.

Sherman Ray

In The Beginning

In the Beginning...

Since this is our inaugural issue, I thought it would be appropriate to start with a short story about me and how Black Success Magazine came to be.

My name is Sherman Ray. I’ve founded a lot of organizations and activities in my 50+years of life. Anything from a small business networking group to bag to school drives, even a classical car show to promote the businesses in my strip mall, you name it, I’ve done it.

It was when a group that I never really envisioned grew to over 2000 members that I decided to find a vehicle that would serve that group. The LV Black Business Directory started as just another networking group but one that was exclusively for minority-based business men and women in Las Vegas. Well to make a long story short, the LVBBD is now 4 years old and has upwards of 2200 business owners promoting their various items for sale or services for hire.

We had tried to create events and opportunities for our business owners to mix and mingle but like most things timing was off, people were too busy or some other excuse found its way into the dialogue, until one weekend when I was listening to a tape or television show. It occurred to me that there might be an opportunity to start a website  that would service my peeps. That weekend the Black Success Magazine was birthed. 

We’re just at the beginning of this thing but already people are interested in what we have to offer. In the coming months we will be rolling out all kinds of products and materials for our friends and partners who look through our pages. I hope you will become a frequent reader and share our articles and stories with your friends.

Sherman Ray

Publisher, Black Success Magazine

Always Republicans

This last few weeks have been the most immersive politically since I've been active within the party. A series of calls from the White house, a couple of emails from the White house. I even was able to meet the SBA Administrator Linda McMahon. To round out the events I along with a small group of agitators were privy to insider information on the State of Affairs here in Nevada by the RNC.

Why do I bring this up. It isn't just to say that I'm closer to the sweet spot politically than ever before. It is to say that during all of those meetings, there was something common to all of them. I was the only person of color in all of those meetings.

Now being a black man, it's pretty easy to pick me out in a crowd. I'm usually the one with all of the people glancing my direction trying to figure out, "Is he Niger Innis, or is he someone important". Needless to say, I am neither. I'm just a run of the mill black conservative, just like my ancestors before me, trying to make a difference. That is the point of this article.

You see blacks have always been a part of the Republican Party. ALWAYS!!! From the day that we as a people gained our freedom with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the ensuing War between the States, blacks first developed a sense of national identity within the Republican Party.

The first black members of congress were black republicans. The first black state mayors, republican, the first black senators, GOP, The first black governor Republican. The rich heritage of the black association with the Republican Party cannot be denied. It has all but certainly been forgotten. The history books have been either wiped clean of these truths or in the course of time the legacy of great black leaders within the Grand Ole Party has all but been forgotten.

So the next time you see a person of color in a Republican rally or at a conservative event, don't be so shocked. Many of their families, friends and relationships have all been as much of a part of the Republican Party as the guy next to him.

On the Right Side of History

As many of you may know, I founded the Nevada Republican Black Caucus as a way to educate, encourage and ultimately bring more blacks back to their historical roots within the Republican Party. As you can imagine, this has been a daunting task.

Historically, blacks have been On the Right Side of History but in the past few decades we have gone off the reservation. I'd like to remind my brothers and sisters of color the reason why we have and should continue to be On the Right Side of History.

There are marked differences between the historical Democrat Party and the historical Republican Party. There can be no mistaking the two groups. It is like night and day. Dry and wet. Black and white. If anyone, coming from a different planet were to given a prospectus on the two parties it wouldn't take him or her long to distinguish their differences and how they came to be. Why blacks who have historically been a part of the Republican Party are now predominately entrenched in the Democrat Party is what we will briefly discuss here today.



On the Left Side of History

The Democrat Party can be characterized as being the following:
1800's-1960 absolutely racist- They fought in the civil war of 1861-1865 to keep slavery alive in the southern states.
They invented the KKK after the Civil War to keep blacks and non-blacks from voting Republican
They instituted Jim Crow Laws- to stop blacks from voting
They Created Poll taxes, Segregation, Lynchings and in one case closed down an entire school district to stop the intermingling of black and white children.
They fought against Voting Rights for Blacks
They fought against Citizenship Rights for Blacks
They fought against Freedom for Blacks.



Democrat President Woodrow Wilson had the first screening of the KKK film "A Birth of A Nation" in the White house


Democrats during the 1920 Democrat National Convention walked out in mass because blacks were allowed to speak.
Established Roe v Wade the historic Abortion Rights Case
Fought Against Civil Rights marchers (Bull Connor)
Fought against integration in schools (Gov. George Wallace)
Established a system of segregation throughout the South whose effects can still be felt to this day.
Fought for LGBTQ Rights
Defeated DOMA
Ushered in Obama who amassed more debt in 8 years that all other Presidents combined
Anti small Government
Anti limited government  Spending
Anti border control and responsible immigration policy
Anti Military
Pro Abortion (which is the #1 Killer of African Americans)
Pro Gay Marriage
Defeated efforts to give parents school choice in education funding.
Lead the charge for the biggest expansion of Government with the takeover of the US healthcare system. (ObamaCare)
Started riots to stop US citizens from excersizing their rights to Free speech
Systematically trying to disarm US citizens in view of our 2 Amendment Rights to bear arms.





On the Right Side of History

Republicans
Established the Underground Railroad
Establish the Abolitionist movement
In 1854 was established as the anti-slavery Party
Fought and died to end slavery during the Civil War.
The first blacks elected to political office shortly after the Civil War we all Republican
Signed the Emancipation Proclamation
Signed the 13 Amendment to the Constitution (Ending Slavery)
Signed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution (giving US Citizenship to freed Slaves)
Signed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution (gave voting Rights to freed slaves)
Signed the Voting Rights Acts of 1957
Passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1961
Helped to fund many of the Historically Black Colleges
Passed the Suffrage Act allowing women to vote

The short list of landmark legislation and battles won by the Republican Party outline a cause for freedom and liberty for all people. These accomplishments cannot be underestimated. They serve as the pillars of black empowerment and freedom. Without even one of them blacks would not be able to function in American society with the freedoms we now enjoy. These same freedoms were all opposed by Democrat lawmakers and liberals. If the Democrats had gotten their way, Blacks would still be picking cotton on some plantation and the America we have today would not exist.
Our struggle is to keep the great advances which were fought and died for so many years ago.



Although blacks have left the Party of Lincoln, for the Party of Slavery, this does not diminish the great role black and white republicans have had in shaping America. It is up to us to help return blacks to The Right Side of History.