Byron Allen ‘s Journey From Being Raised By a Single Mother to Billionaire Status

our first guest has disrupted TV in a way that is game changing our first guest Eddie Murphy said this of our first game he called him one of my first Inspirations and The Hollywood Reporter says he's on path of global domination Byron Allen set out to start an entertainment company with his mother Carolyn and they've come a long way since Carolyn was a single mom who couldn't afford daycare today their business is worth billions of dollars owning The Weather Channel That's how I know what to wear every day and more than 50 other TV networks and stations across this country plus some of the biggest digital platforms on the internet tanfam he's an inspiration for me from the zoom to the room please welcome trailblazing change maker medium logo 100 hours all right [Applause] so I said from the zoom to the room full disclosure we've seen each other in person since everything shut down changed and rearranged but so many people saw great interviews and great content that you've created in their homes because we were all locked in and we were looking for information and that's what you've been dedicating yourself to absolutely the best entertainment out there well first of all first of all I just want to say congratulations on your three Emmy nominations thank you and the two you have sitting behind you so we're going to need a bigger credenza because we're going to feel that and fill that up first of all I just want to say you are doing an amazing job an amazing job what you do is really hard really hard you're a tremendous success they make it easy in the audience they make it easy you need to know that thank you you're going into season five there's only about 5 000 talk shows that didn't make it and look at you you are truly spectacular [Applause] [Laughter] so much I've been inspired by your career certainly also by the partnership of you and your mom Carolyn um she's here in the audience right here check her out check her out check her out um she was on CBS Sunday morning and she talked about remembering you play the role of executive as a kid you were six years old and young Byron at six was walking around the house being an executive yeah that looks like an executive outfit look at that fro right there all right I look good back there look at that yeah do you think you were born to you know I'm a business person I've always loved business I've always been fascinated by business you know my mother got pregnant with me when she was 16 years old and she had me 17 days after her 17th birthday April of 61 Detroit Michigan born without civil rights right so this tells you when you look at us today what an amazing country this is yeah it's true you know life is a blank canvas make it your Masterpiece it is not how you start it's how you decide to finish okay you hold that power and only you hold that power so when you look at that right when you look at how we started and you know Martin Luther King was murdered in 68 my mom and I went out to LA for a two-week vacation and we ended up staying and it was very humble humble beginnings sleeping on Floors sleeping on sofas she couldn't afford daycare for you uh no that that was afford daycare we we were thinking about cereal you know right you're thinking about cereals and early on I knew I didn't want to be a burden to my mom a single woman I didn't want to be a burden so immediately I said I have to figure out how to make money because I didn't want to watch my mom cry herself to sleep worried about money so I had to figure out how to make money and I started early I started day one I remember going to a supermarket and asking could I bag groceries and I was nice and the guy said how old are you and I said I'm 10 years old and he says you're not old enough to work here and and then I solved the guy bagged this kid he was probably 16 he was bagging groceries and he put the eggs on the bottom oh and I said I'm I said I'm not old enough to work here but I know not to put the eggs [Applause] my mama and my Grandmama taught me that I can't believe that food put the eggs on my bottle all right my eggs are broken I remember that all that was day one so I remember walking out of the store and because I just wanted to bring food home to my mom and uh I saw this lady coming into the store with a grocery basket and I said wow and I watched her and she put the grocery Basket in a cart in this machine and the Machine gave her a stamp and I said man what is that she goes well if you bring the the grocery card out of the parking lot and put in the machine it'll give you a stamping if you get 100 stamps you can get a dollar's worth of food wow wow and I said oh thank you man so I worked the parking lot oh and I just kept putting baskets in the machine and I come home with food and I say don't worry oh okay now you got me crying um I I was thinking about when I first saw you on TV I got to know you as an Entertainer the comedian this person every I felt like many times I turn on TV and every show had Byron Allen you're like and then there was words at Byron Allen has now not left his entertainment Roots but he's gone on to own stations he's got a bigger vision for what he can bring to the media landscape that's where you are now but guess what your mother Carolyn we know worked as a publicist and you were in NBC Studios you met Johnny Carson yes right and he invited you to perform comedy yeah sure right so well we found that tonight's show appearance and we have a clip so you might be the media Mogul now but the Fairfax High School football team and the Rival cheerleaders were there too I was 18. I was 18 years old okay so these were jokes from I don't know what are we talking about disclaimers here sir there's no disclaimers media Mogul now here's him then take a look I'm on the football team we played uh Beverly Hills High and next Beverly High students here no oh what a game right you should have seen their cheerleaders it's like give me a G give me a u give me a c give me a c Gucci Gucci [Applause] all right all right Cameron that was 44 years ago I'm funnier now I just want to know I'm way funnier that material did you practice that material well do you remember that you know what my mom used to give tours of NBC and I and I went and she couldn't afford child care so I go out there with her waiting for her to get out off work and I was watching in the wings over here just like in this studio and I'm watching Johnny Carson and then I go across the hall marching Bob Hope and red fox do Sanford and Son and Flip Wilson do the Flip Wilson show and Freddie Prinz Stewie's show and I thought what a wonderful way to go through life making people laugh I said this is what I'm going to do I am going to be a comedian I'm going to be in television I'm going to produce content this is it I found what I'm gonna do and I started performing stand-up comedy when I was a kid I was 14 years old your mom would take you right well I took the bus up to The Comedy Store oh yeah I was there sitting there and I'm waiting for my tryout nights I do my tryout I at The Comedy Store 14 around that I was 14 and first time I went on stage I it was four people and 200 chairs so and I said okay I gotta figure out how to make these chairs laugh and so so I go on stage and this guy comes up to me and he says who wrote those jokes after I got on stage I said I did he goes let me get your phone number I know somebody may be interested in working with you I said sure so I gave him my number and I get a call like a week or two later and I go can I speak he goes can I speak to Byron I go speaking he goes this is Jimmy J.J Walker oh my God [Applause] because my man Wayne Klein says you're funny and if my man Wayne Klein says you're funny then you must be funny do you want to come right with me and my boys you're 14. I'm 14 right and I go well let me ask my mom and then I hear him go yes and then this guy in the background says tell his mom not to worry we'll have cookies and milk for him and then Jimmy says Dave be nice Dave be nice right and so I am I said listen my mom's gonna let me come over so I go over I walk into the room and it's Jimmy J.J Walker sitting in his living room and it's Jay Leno who had just who was sleeping in his car David Letterman the David cookie the milk David Letterman in the picture with you right that's crazy who had just driven out from Indianapolis and a red pickup truck uh Marty Nadler who went on to write and produce Laverne and Shirley and happy days so Jay was uh I think took the photo uh and Jay and uh Jay Leno and David Letterman were getting 200 bucks a week this is 1975. I'm 14 years old I got 25 to write a joke I quit my paper route because I was getting half a penny of paper and that's Jimmy Walker hotter than the sun because he's the star of good times and that was it and there's and The Mastermind was a 14 year old kid behind all this and the thing that's the most amazing about this photo is that I was wearing plaid pants

Channel: Tamron Hall Show

Views: 50,685

Keywords: Tamron Hall, Tamron Hall Show, Tamron, daytime television, interviews, celebrity, celeb, celebrity interviews, tv, abc, Disney

Id: VJ53o8hkMxA

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 27 2023