Transcript of What Happens When You Stop Playing Small with Dr. Martin Lemelle Jr.

I am so excited to bring on Dr. Martin LaMelle Jr. If you are the family member, the parents of an HBCU student, and you are thinking about impact and wondering how you're going to make impact in your lives and in society, this episode is for you. We go deep in this episode about his core values, obviously about his because. Ladies and gentlemen, I present my good friend, the visionary Dr. Martin. For now. You're listening to Mic Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mic Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mic takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning. Helping you discover your because and becoming Unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get Unplugged.

I am humbled by that introduction and feeling the joy of what it means to serve at an HBCU. So thank you, Mick, for the conversation.

Man, I'm the honored one. You're someone... I've been following your path, your trajectory for a long time, man. And not only are you breaking barriers, you're doing it with impact. And to me, that says more about who you are as a human being than anything. I mean, it's one thing to accept the responsibility. It's another thing to take that responsibility and then turn it into impact. And that's truly what you do, man. So I'm honored to be here with you, honored to spend time with you, man. So just had to let you know that I like giving flowers when they're due, bro.

I received them wholeheartedly. Thank you.

You got it. And I always ask my guests this first question, what's your because? That thing that's deeper than your why, right? I'm sure your why, your children, your spouse, your family. But when I say, but why, Why. That sentence usually starts with, well, because X, Y, and Z. And I care about that because. So if I were to say, Dr. Martin Lamell Jr, man, today, what's your because?

It's because we are committed mission to create generational impact and change for sustainable communities. When Dr. King, unfortunately, passed, his next fight was around economic justice. So I am in a position now to pick up that mantle, part of the HBCU tradition, to ensure that when a student who's Pell grant eligible enters Grandmouth State University from a family whose average income is less than $60,000, that When that student graduates, they are market ready for a global impact for a starting salary above 60,000. And so what does that do? That creates generational long term impact and wealth creation, communities of change, and HBCUs are agents for that work. And so that is my because each and every day.

That's why you are who you are, man. Thank you. That is exactly why you are who you are. And for those that don't know, let's talk a little bit about your story, your journey, the lineage that you have at Grambling State University, too, man. So talk about that trajectory of your career a little bit.

I was fortunate to grow up Grambling, so I had the opportunity to be reared in community. My parents were on the faculty and administrators here at the university. Third generation, Gramblingite. So I saw in this small zip code, 71245, more doctoral education individuals per capita than most places in the world. And so Black excellence, the idea of glocal, so I can connect at a local community but have a worldwide view, was implanted probably since I was in kindergarten. And so to now have that full circle experience and create the next chapter for Gramlin, for me, is humbling, and it's a call. It's a service. It's an opportunity to ensure that impact outlives what we do today and that it has a sustainable impact for generations to come.

Man, that is deep. That is deep. When did you realize your calling of today? When did you know that this was going to be in the cards for Dr. Martin Lamell Jr?

So that was early exposure from having the opportunity to be student government president here at Grandland State University. It was probably the start of understanding a career pathway in higher education. I was at the table with legislative authority. I was conversations about student tuition and fees and how we wanted to ensure that college was still going to be affordable. Having those early experiences really opened my mind. I took a corporate path post my undergraduate degree in accounting at Grandland State University and really had a lot of success, was able to travel the globe and deliver high impact. But post my MBA from George Washington, I reached that inflection, Mick, where the calling had to higher. The returns and the results for me had to go beyond the quarterly statement and investors. It had to connect to everyday conversations that families in our country were having about college choice and access. I'm thankful that I get to do this work. It is an honor to be able to connect with the students of this generation, and particularly to lead my alma mater.

That's awesome, brother. I want to unpack something that you you talked about in your journey, you talked about being involved in student government. I want to talk right now to those that are in college, maybe you're getting ready to determine where you're going to college, and parents of college students. Talk about why getting involved in student government matters and is so important. Here's the real truth about AI. Ai didn't change my businesses because it's cool. It changed my businesses because it removed friction. My teams move fast. Podcast production, media deals, leadership development. We have systems everywhere. And for a long time, speed meant chaos. Then We leaned into Zappier. Zappier is how we stopped talking about AI and started deploying it. We use Zappier to connect the tools that we already use every single day. Leads get enriched automatically. Workflows trigger without reminders. Systems Systems talk without meetings. And here's what matters. You don't need to be technical. You don't need IT. You don't need complexity. Zappier is built for real teams doing real work who want real results. No hype, no buzzwords, just time back and momentum forward. Join the 3. 4 million companies already automating with Zappier and transform how you work with Zappier and AI.

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That's Z-A-P-I-E-R. Com/m-i-c-k. I can't tell you how many internships and interviews and preparatory conversations I've had throughout my career for full-time roles, etc. But there's several. And in each one of those conversations, yes, people want to understand that you have technical acumen and that you are prepared with the right prerequisite skills. If you're in computer science, can you code? If you're in accounting, do you understand the chart of accounts and how to ensure that you're modeling appropriately? But each conversation I've ever had for any job or opportunity is always focused in on leadership. The storyline of how I was able to lead a group of my peers, what it meant for me to find spaces for collaboration, how I was able to be an advocate for the student body, those This type of what we like to call differentiators, allowed me to get into the next level conversations to say, yes, everyone that's in this pool of candidates today, they all know the technical discipline. But who can communicate communicate, who can inspire change, who can lead teams, who can motivate others, who can coach. And so student government, Greek life, opportunities for professional associations and organizations, those are really the differentiators for the student experience.

So any current college student or those thinking about it, volunteer, get involved, stay connected, and find your leadership blueprint.

Man, I'm telling you, I get asked a lot what made a difference for me in my career path. And I always tell people, I was never afraid to one network. I was never afraid to... I don't want to say go into rooms that maybe I shouldn't have been, but I was never afraid to ask how I got into a room. Let's just put it that way. And that all started with communication skills. How do you present yourselves? How do you ask really good questions? I know that that's something through your journey that you've been passionate about And I think for... I'm going to sound old, Dr. Martin, but I think for this generation, that social skills has been, I don't want to say diminished, but it hasn't It hasn't been as important as it was to you and I when we were growing up, because we didn't have phones like are available now. We didn't have the technology. I'm not saying that those things are bad. I don't want people to misunderstand the conversation we're about to have. I'm not saying it's bad. I think it's good. But I also think it has decreased an element of, hey, I'm going to sit across the table from Dr. Martin and look in his eyes and have a real conversation.

How are you, sparking that type of awareness at Grandmarch State University? Because I know you are.

We are. And it's about meeting our students where they are and elevating them to the place of where we know they can go. You take something like the Instagram space of doing a get ready with me video. Students of today love to be able to shoot content and talk about what they're eating, what outfit they're wearing. We We take things like that that are already in their ethos and their day to day experience, and we say, Okay, now give me the backstory around that experience. Can you also write a narrative that compliments this particular visual esthetic that you provided. If you had to give a compelling argument on that elevator pitch time in 15 to 20 seconds, tell me why what you've created is best in class versus anyone else. And so we try to find spaces where they're already actively engaged and embed that into what we're calling integrative education. And so the history class also needs to have a focus on artificial intelligence. The English class also needs to have some context around analytics. And so gone are the days of this single disciplinary focus. We have to be both and. The race of today is not man or woman versus technology.

It's got to be man, woman, other individuals with technology. And so how do we leverage that as an accelerator for growth and experience? Because we want our students, all of our students, to be best in class.

I love that. And I love the fact that you're integrating AI with an and and a part of. And I think a lot of businesses, especially those that I work with, there They're trying to embrace AI, but they still try to keep it separate. And I'm like, you're missing the boat. I get so many business leaders, and I hope you're listening and watching right now, that come to me and say, Mick, how do I get my staff to use AI, but not write the email with AI or not to use the emojis because that signals that it was written by AI. And I'm like, you need to care about the message. The receiver doesn't care. They shouldn't care if AI wrote the email or not, because whoever the human was behind it should have put their input into what they wanted AI to help them assist. I think today people are communicating better because of AI. I think we are getting faster because of AI, not being replaced by AI, but using it correctly helps get thoughts out of our minds better. It can help us project plan better. It can help us understand, to your point, history better, because maybe I don't understand the way that it was written.

I I need something to break it down for me so that I understand it. So one, I want to applaud you for integrating AI, but I'd love to get your take on that, too, of how businesses and individuals shouldn't look at it as a separate thing.

I 100% agree with you. We are really at this space where knowledge work has to be the forefront of the conversation. So leveraging technology for efficiency, whether that's in the administrative functions that we do at the university or if that's preparing students to leverage the tools appropriately, you can imagine that on a college campus, you receive a lot of feedback in a loop. Whether that's the student email, some conversation on social media. How do you intelligently start to capture and analyze that data? Well, we're embedding AI into our algorithms and communication mediums to start to heat map particular themes of interest. We found that students are really interested in a space of more Caribbean-inspired dining because of the traffic we were able to monitor, yes, through surveys, but also through this organic crawling of our social spaces and emails. And so what does that do? That allows us to now embed that into the programming. And for the student, enhance the experience for our dining partners, Sodexo Magic, capture that marketing moment and start to really elevate long term satisfaction. And so we want promoters of our brand. We want consistent engagement. And we believe that leveraging AI is a part of that strategy.

I love that. I love that so much. I mean, I could talk AI with you all day, but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to more pick your brain, man. I appreciate you. You've helped lead major institutional changes, right? Whether it was your previous companies, whether it's been at what you're doing at Grambling State now, what's been a few of your pillars? What are some of your core values? Because I believe change doesn't start until you have really dialed in who you are and the things that you believe in. You can't provoke change if you don't have a center. So what are some of your core values?

So I lead with my heart. I posted a quote yesterday about Toni Morrish speaking about then love ain't love at all. And so when you think about love being a concept of a bench, and she speaks a lot about that in her writing, that there's always going to be a place to rest. And so you will often find me saying in meetings, whether it's with student groups, with faculty, or staff, or alarms, one, we're going to honor that this is a safe space. So if I'm going to be in covenant relationship with you to inspire change or have difficult conversation, you have to understand, one, that I care and that there's trust. Trust is built and earned through these very small acts, these very intentional spaces of care. Then it's really about, for me, having a mutual level of accountability. I've got three or four emails in my inbox right now from students who want recommendation letters. To do that, my requirement is that you have to send me your resume and you have to give me a story arc of how you'd like the letter to be read. The student who takes that first step, then I'm going to honor the next step and say, I want to meet the deadline.

I want to ensure that the letter positively reflects the experience that you and I have had together. And so those small things really carry the work that I do each and every day because you will face difficult decisions. There will be moments of uncertainty. And when you have that tank full of good faith and will and love and trust, those elements will help you navigate any challenge that's coming. I believe today that the pivot is a part of the process. And so when things go in a different direction, they know my safe word across campus, it's time to pivot. So what are we going to do? How are we going to respond? What do we need to do next to get to the next step? Because if we spend too much time in the doldrums and the this didn't go right, we're going to miss the next exit. So we want to make sure that we keep moving forward.

Brother, we have so much in common. That is something that my team's... At first, it used to bug my teams because they're like, Mick, you pivot and you change. I'm like, because we have to. It's not that we're giving up on something. It's just the game changed. So we have to change, too. Or we're going to be the people that everybody talks about. You could talk about they shoot a bunch of threes in basketball, and it's not the same game. It's not. But what are you going to do about it? If they're putting up 30, 40, 50 threes a game, you're going to have to do that as well, too. And so from a business leader standpoint, from a student leader standpoint, let's talk about how important it is to to not just to pivot, but why are you making the pivots and why it's so important to be ahead as opposed to making things adjust on you? Because you're not going to like that. You're not going to like when people make the adjustment based on you. I promise you. So Dr. Martin, I love for you to talk to us about why that's so important to have that mindset of pivoting or always staying ahead.

So for me, and I've had the great fortune to work with phenomenal leaders throughout my career. One of them is my mentor, my fraternity to brother, the former President of Grambling, the 10th President, Dr. Rick Gala, who now leaves the University of Louisiana System. And he mirrored to me something that I now do see an honor in myself is that I have an ability to anticipate the need. And so being in a space of very proactive management is a core skill and one that I've been able to home throughout my career, where if I think through, here's the universe and here are the things that are possible, what do we need to do to anticipate the next steps? And so that helps us mitigate risk. It helps us think through where the pivot may come in the future, and ultimately gives us better outcomes. And so we're focused on end goals, but there's always going to be more than one pathway to get to the end goal. And so being very focused on destination, but being open to route allows us to get to the destination with the right level of success.

Bro, I could listen to you all day. I really could. I know I don't have that much time with your busy schedule. You also brought up something else I thought was important to decision making. I don't want to say it's a lost art. I have this saying that you don't rise to the occasion, you rise to your level of preparation. And to me, preparation helps me make decisions. It's rare that I'm going to make a decision solely based on my gut feel, but I use it. I use it because of how prepared I am. I use it because I've studied data or, Hey, I've got enough awareness of the situation that I can make a decision and live with the decision that I make. I love for you to talk to leaders and students about the art of decision making a little bit.

I appreciate that framing. And again, this conversation for me is therapeutic in a way, too, because you get to be in dialog with someone who understands and gets the space that you're in. I leverage data as an informant for decision making so that we are always grounded in context. For me, context is so paramount. Nuance is so important, particularly in higher education and institutions of the academy, where perspectives of faculty and voice and choice are very important. Having diverse perspectives and opinions and academic freedom is very important, ensuring that students are accountable but also independent. We have a very delicate balance to continue to strike within our environment Having data allows us to do that in a more informed, in a more contextual and nuanced way. We started to re-architect the way we think about decision-making. And so gone are the days of long planning cycles, death by committee and subcommittee, and task force. But how do we get quick huddle alignment around things I know we need to take action on? Some prerequisites that help us get to the decision quicker include pre-approvals around budget. So understanding, here's the budgetary framework upon which you are empowered to make decisions.

Alignment with what we've already established as our North Star. And so if you can run this new concept or thought through that rubric, and it meets the elements aligned with the four pillars of our upcoming strategic framework, then you've got a green light. Then the third piece is really, because we are a state institution, understanding the regulatory environment. If it's in compliance, if it's aligned with the statues that we have to operate within, then you are empowered to execute. Sometimes that means that you will fail fast and then go forward. And that's okay, because here's the sandbox and here's what we created for you to be able to do that. Having that empowers teams, it allows us to get to the results that we need, hopefully in a more sustainable and long term operational plan.

Love it. Before I let you go, I want to go back to something you talked about earlier, and I'm purposely holding this towards the end. You talked about in your zip code, there are more doctors, there are more higher educated people per capita than anywhere else in the United States. And I want to speak here about the power and impact of HBCUs, but in particular, Grambling State University, of creating leaders that make global impact and how these leaders historically have changed lives. I don't think people give us enough credit for that. Let's talk about Grambling State in particular. Grambling State University in particular. Some of the amazing leaders that have come through those doors, that have put on those colors, that have gone on to be leaders of people and leaders of companies and leaders of this nation. Let's give some flowers to some of these prestigious- Absolutely. Grand Lake State University alumni.

Absolutely. No, I believe, as you do, too, right? And flowers for the living and honoring the great contribution of the Grandmaids who have been a part of the hallmark of our existence. So we were founded in 1901 by Charles B. Adams on the commission of Booker T. Washington from Tuskegee to create this environment of education here in North Louisiana. We will celebrate 125 years of excellence in 2026. As we think about that, we have had torch bears throughout history of allowed Grambling to continue to thrive and be at the top of accountability and productivity. We are honoring this November at our kick-sball, Denise Young-Smith, Grambling Night, former Chief HR Officer for Worldwide Apple, who started her career right here at Grambling State University, was a member of the Orquesta Dance Company and led a revolutionary time in the history of Apple. We recently just named our College of Business in honor of Thomas Morehead, first African-American to own a Rolls-Royce dealership and several other luxury brands. The College of Business is now named the Thomas & Joyce Morehead College of Business and Entrepreneurship here at Grandland State University. I was recently in conversation with New York Times former columnist and revolutionary journalist Charles Blow, and his book, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which was adapted for an opera at the Met.

And so Grambling Nights continue to in every field of human endeavor. To Doug Williams, who we'll have a future conversation with, first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Grambling Night. And so when you think about those legends, those champions for excellence at Grambling State University, we're now cultivating the next generation of leaders, and I can't wait to see what they will do.

Man, I am, again, so honored to break bread with you virtually, to spend this time with you, man.

Gluten free.

There you go. And I can't wait to do this again. Absolutely. I thoroughly... You say it was therapeutic for you, man. It's been therapeutic for me. Just the validation, the brain that you have, the way that you move, the inspiration that you're providing, and more importantly, the impact that you're making, man. I love it. Totally love it. Thank you.

My honor. It's been a pleasure.

Absolutely. So, yeah, man, if there's anything I can do for you, for the university, anything, anyone, man, definitely let me know. I will. You're a supporter of you. You're a supporter of the university and the institution. I know a lot of my listeners and viewers are proud Grambling State University alumni, so I want to make sure I'm giving all of them their time and their flowers, too, man. But just truly appreciate who you are, brother.

Thank you, Mick.

You got it. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplug. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen. Share it with someone who needs that spark, and leave a review so more people can find there because. I'm Rudy Rush, and until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay Unplugged.

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