Today we’d like to introduce you to Delano Carson.
Hi Delano, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up as a kid in a neighborhood of Mobile, Alabama called “The Parkway”. The Parkway, or D.I.P. as most called it was your typical inner city community. Poor to middle class families struggled to survive, so when the crack epidemic hit it was quickly adopted as a means to survive and flourish by many people of the community. As a teenager, all I wanted was a way to make money. I started cutting the neighbors grass for a few extra dollars. One day while working, I was introduced to the world of hustling by the older adults in the neighborhood. The fascination of seeing money made so quickly without doing anything physically demanding was all I needed to see to quickly trade the lawnmower for the streets. I was headed down the path that leads to one of two places, prison or the graveyard, very fast. Seeing this, my mother remarried and moved 40 minutes away to a rural place known as Daphne, Alabama. Did the move help? I would say no because it only intensified my wants to make more so I could get back to my friends and neighborhood I loved. Fast forward, I’m a senior in high school with football scholarships on the table but money on my mind so playing football was out of the question because I wasn’t leaving the money behind. After talking with my uncle who was in prison, I decided maybe I’ll try to break the cycle and make something of myself so I signed up to join the Army during my senior year of high school. Yes a fresh start for me! I completed basic training, AIT and here I was barely eighteen years old landing in Frankfurt, Germany as a soldier of the United States Army. In the beginning things went well but old habits die hard. I begin to get into trouble, going to jail several times in the military and was eventually discharged for misconduct. What did I do then? You guessed it, back to the Parkway I went.
At this point, the money was all I wanted. I hustled nonstop and quickly amassed a nice amount of money. As the streets would say, I was “Hood Rich”. Then my first break came. I somehow found a talent of music that I didn’t know existed. Long story short my alter ego of Hittman was born. After making a nice buzz in the streets with the music, I linked up with the hottest rapper in Alabama at the time C-Nile the Frozen Child. We went on to make multiple street classics together, selling tens of thousands of albums independently and everything was running smooth until the alphabet boys showed up. For those who don’t know what that means it’s a slang term used for the FEDS. Just like that, the whole label was serving federal prison sentences and here I was back to square one.
Determined to break the cycle, I went to truck driving school and got my CDL LICENSE. Who would have ever thought that Hittman would go legit. While working for years, the money was just coming too slow. I went to Atlanta with my homie Cheeze(R.I.P.) and bought clothes, purses and whatever I thought I could come back to the city and sell for a profit. Fast forward four and a half years and C-Nile is home and it’s back to the music we go. Money is coming fast again but something begins to change in me. I’m not feeling the clubs anymore. Music isn’t fun anymore. Just like that, I decide to walk away.
Years later, I get a phone call from C-Nile at 3 in the morning. I’m informed that someone is saying that my real dad is in the hospital on his death bed and his last wish was for my family to find me and bring me to him. I went to the hospital that night to meet people I never knew existed and to see the man who gave me life for the first time. I walked into his I.C.U. room where he had been unresponsive for two days. My aunt who I had just met begin to sing gospel songs while saying Johnny, we found him. He opened his eyes barely as I grabbed his hand. A tear fell from his right eye and just like that he was back unresponsive. Two days later, he was gone forever.
Three months later, my mom comes down with A.M.L. which is a blood cancer. Long story short, I was able to give her a bone marrow transplant to keep her here on earth with us. After the transplant I was out of work healing up from the surgery. That’s when it hit me. What would I ever do if I couldn’t drive a truck for work again? I immediately enrolled in barber school. I worked 60+ hours a week driving trucks and attended barber school Tuesday – Saturday until 9 p.m. every night for 15 and a half months straight. Once I got my barber’s license the hustler in me saw another angle. No one was able to repair barber clippers or sharpen blades in my city. The hustle was on. I opened a company called Lava Cuts and grew it to a six-figure business in less than nine months. How you may ask? I flew to Des Moines, Iowa and trained for a week on clipper repair, blade sharpening, shear sharpening and begin wholesaling and retailing barber and beauty supplies. Everything was going lovely and then out of nowhere here comes COVID!
The hair store I was in the process of opening was now on hold. As a hustler, I had only one choice, keep hustling. I had to get tech-savvy because the world was going digital fast. I begin to study graphic design, marketing and content creation. This lead me back to writing. Once I picked up that pen again the ideas begin to flow. I helped build other’s businesses by doing all the paperwork, social media content and teaching them how to become visible in their field. This was it the money was back rolling and this time better than before. I had found my gift. My gift was writing. My gift was building successful businesses. My gift was my ability to communicate. My gift was A GIFT CALLED HUSTLING.
Once I realized my gift was hustling, I decided to share with the world my proven methods of making it out of any situation financially secure. I wrote the book “A GIFT CALLED HUSTLING”, self-published it and did what I did best, I hit the streets with it. No major outlet source to order my book from, just my Shopify site because I needed to build my email list for future upsells and digital courses that would follow up the book. With over 2,500 books sold by strictly word of mouth and a strong hustle, Delano Carson is quickly becoming the mouthpiece for those looking for a way to turn nothing into something.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all has it been a smooth road. I’ve dealt with being arrested several times for different things. I’ve been divorced along the way to my success. I’ve lost my closest friend to gun violence. I lost my biological dad after meeting him two days prior on his death bed. I went through battling cancer with my mom, in which I was able to give her a bone marrow transplant to save her life. After choosing God over the streets, I lost a lot of friends.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an author, marketing specialist and success planner for those who need guidance on becoming financially free with the gifts God has blessed them with. I help entrepreneurs and 9-5 employees escape the traps of working for others by teaching them how to find their gift(s) and turn what they are gifted at into money. I am most proud of my brand for helping others start businesses that allow them to quit their jobs and financially support themselves and their family. What I want the readers to know is that we work with all budgets because the goal is to see everyone accomplish their dreams. We offer one on one consultations via zoom or phone, goal setting strategies, social media content creations, book publishing, marketing and brand building services as well as digital courses coming that will focus on all of the topics mentioned.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along my journey is the ability to focus through all the distractions of the world and completing the most important task at that moment is key to success.
Pricing:
- A GIFT CALLED HUSTLING BOOK $14.97
- 30 MIN. CONSULTATION $25
- 1 HR. CONSULTATION $45
Contact Info:
- Email: delano@cloudsevenmedia.com
- Website: www.agiftcalledhustling.com
- Facebook:
