Learning from Larry Elder

By Ed Hoffman

Sadly the Ferguson saga continues on, with the shooting of two police officers by a protestor – yes, a protestor. Not the speculative tale the media tried to sell us, that perhaps the shooter was a disgruntled business owner aiming his gun at protestors and mistakenly hitting the officers instead. So this week, I’d like to tell a story that’s actually true – the story of an accomplished African-American broadcaster, attorney and entrepreneur. I’m going to tell the story of Mr. Larry Elder, who many of you know as a conservative talk radio personality here in Southern California. It’s a story about overcoming generational obstacles, rather than using them as an excuse for failure. More importantly, it’s a story about seizing opportunities.

Larry’s story starts with that of his father, Randolph Elder. “My father was a child of the Great Depression,” Larry explained on my radio show last week. “He grew up in Athens, Georgia during Jim Crowe.” Randolph didn’t know his own biological father; the name Elder came from the man who was in his mother’s life the longest. One day, that man thought Randolph was making too much noise and told him to leave. “His mother sided with the boyfriend,” Larry said, “and my father left, never to return.” He was 13. The rest of Randolph’s story is remarkable in itself; to hear Larry tell it, visit EdHoffman.net and click the iTunes link to listen to my show in podcast format.

As for Larry, his journey to success was not easy either. Larry was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Crenshaw High School. He went to college in New England, studied hard and attended law school in the Midwest. He worked in Cleveland for two years at a large law firm, where he was the fifth black associated in the firm’s 100-year history. It was a great job, but Larry wanted more – so he recognized an opportunity and seized it. Noticing that many corporations were in need of qualified attorneys, Larry started a small business that would fill that gap. For 14 years, his “headhunter” enterprise of matching lawyers with companies thrived – all because Larry took advantage of an opportunity. “It occurred to me that there wasn’t a single person doing it,” he said.

Throughout that time, Larry was interested in writing – and in the pre-Internet era, money-making opportunities for writers were slim. So while Larry worked on his business, he indulged his passion by writing op-eds in Cleveland’s newspapers. “I wrote a piece for the big newspaper there,” he said, and “a talk show host invited me on to talk about it.” The topic? “Racism was no longer a major problem in America.”

As you can imagine, the callers grilled him. “25 years ago, that was revolutionary to say,” Larry said. “I was called every name in the book.” But the station manager was impressed. “You have a good voice, a sense of humor, took difficult positions and didn’t lose your temper,” the manager said. “Have you ever thought about doing talk radio?” Other than that short guest appearance, Larry knew very little about radio at the time. But he seized the opportunity. 20 minutes into his first show, he knew radio was his calling. Fast forward to two years later, when he was given the opportunity to fill in for Dennis Prager in LA. The general manager was so impressed with Larry’s skills that he told him, “Turn your plane back around. I want to give you a two-day audition.” Before those two days were over, Larry was offered his own radio show on KABC, where he stayed for 20 years. What we can learn from Larry Elder – and more importantly, what those who believe they have been given the short end of the stick in life can learn from him – is that success is only possible if you look for it, and you seize those opportunities.

Ed Hoffman is the host of the Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30AM- 10:30AM and Sunday 4:00PM- 5:00PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.