The Virgin Entrepreneur

I'm starting a business. I have no idea what I'm doing, And I'm Excited about it. From this point on, I plan on being completely naked. Transparent, if you will..

Oh, hi. My name is Moshua Loriel, I'm a Personality, poet, model, producer, certified hairstylist and bartender...in other words, Im unemployed. (Just kidding, thats my dads favorite joke to tell his friends.) I'm a multifaceted entertainer who ran away from the country life in South Carolina to pursue my dreams of.... doing whatever I was interested in that year. (ha!) I was a college student pursuing (I use that term very lightly) a business degree, with no idea of what I wanted a business degree for whilst in SC. Don't get me wrong, college was a very rewarding experience....but the actual school part of college...not so much. I was diagnosed ADHD in early high school and paying attention in school was borderline Chinese torture. Although, if you ask me, ADHD is not a 'disorder'..more of a SUPERPOWER that only allows you to focus on shit you actually care about. So upon actually going to college, I quickly realized that....I didn't care anything about being at college. At the time I was a traveling and competing slam poet and active hairstylist and creativity was my drive for EVERYTHING. After attempting to full years of struggling through trying to study and ending up drawing pictures and sleeping through lectures, I called my father frantic one day, whilst study for an algebra test or something. Side note, ya'll used in algebra in real life yet? Not so much? Me neither. That's neither here nor there... Anyways I called him and was pretty much like "F#@$ this pops, I'm having panic attacks try to focus" and him being the ever understanding father that he is.... he said , "It's Okay baby. I understand." That damn Saint.... So, I went about my life for the next couple of months still mingling with the collegiate associates while trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life cause..... I was officially, a COLLEGE DROPOUT. No, Kanye.

I have ALWAYS wanted to live in Atlanta. Like, as far back as I could remember. I would visit all the time for family and sometimes just to go to the mall. Yeah...two and a half hours just to go to the mall. I was utterly ridiculous. Plus Spartanburg, bless its heart, was proving to be more and more stagnant and boring for my restlessness. A cousin presented an opportunity for me to come and I quick my job that week.. was in Atlanta two weeks later. And I haven't looked back since. Considering I came here an unemployed drifter, I have had a good bit of a success here. I've never been afraid of being in this city alone and I worked hard to make a name in the poetry scenes first, then transitioned into modeling, then into hosting... Because ADHD..And I'm a f@#$in superhero. I joined to other production teams before I finally was able to achieve a major goal of having my very own show. But through all the success and connections that I was encountering, one major shortcoming of mine that was glaringly insufficient...was my UNDERSTANDING OF BUSINESS.

HERE'S SOME MAJOR SETBACKS TO NOT KNOWING OR UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS SIDES OF THINGS.

1. A fool and his money are soon separated (Another one of my dads favorite quotes.) If you don't know how to properly handle money, or even worse, don't know what you or your services are WORTH... Then your money is BOUND to me messsed up and you are at the mercy of Wolves. Wolves being business savvy slick talkers who feed and capitalize off your ignorance.

2.You are PERPETUALLY PARANOID. I can't tell you how paranoid I was knowing how inadequate I was at understanding business and feeling that everyone knew what was going on but me. All that freelance modeling and hosting is all fun and games until you see your first contract and it looks like Arabic. You feel you have to listen more intently and your intimidated and fearful of people who come off too knowledgeable about what you job is and should be because, I don't even know enough to argue with your ass or tell if your lying!! PARANOIA. ON. TEN.

3. HEAVILY RELYING ON OTHERS to help you understand and maneuver through the business is a little embarrassing. Now mind you, this is MY testimony. I'm not telling any of you how to feel, but I was embarassed that I wasn't more prepared to actually handle my own transactions and agreements. BUT...Let me tell you one thing I learned that greatly humbled me..IT'S OKAY TO ASK QUESTIONS! IT'S OKAY NOT TO KNOW HOW EVERYTHING WORKS!!! Some of us learn the easy way, some the hard..but you will learn if you desire too.

So, long story short, I've experienced a lot of mishandling of business and lack of integrity from dealing with people in entertainment but I am very okay with the lessons I've learned and the knowledge I've gained. My most recent venture, a successful TV podcast, allowed me 3 seasons, 30+ episodes, and 100's of invaluable connections, conversations and friendship with major entertainers, CEO's and creatives. But if I'm honest with myself, and with you all, I still feel sorely equipPed with business knowledge. WELL WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO COLLEGE??

Two words: HELL. NAH. College is for some people and some people it's not. I've always been a more kinesthetic learner, with a hands on learning approach. I've vowed to become independent, informed and in control of my money, my business, and my future.

So, with that being said..... I just got my official IEN for my business MoLo LLC, I'm planning to continually produce my own TV productions and....drum roll, please.....Im launching my own brand, beginning with T-shirts. I know right, t-shirts? How innovative.

I'M STARTING A BUSINESS. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING. AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT.....