Good evening ladies and gentlemen, ladies and germ. Ladles and jelly spoons. All those things. Yes, I’m back to normal, I think. I wanted to talk about legacy. Now, why? Well, I went and saw The Lion King and … the new Lion King, that is. Cried. [Ellody 00:00:19] cried. We actually cried at different moments. I cried at all the like lovey dove stuff.
But it really brought home to me, legacy, and got me thinking about it. Legacy was one of those things I didn’t really … I’d actually don’t think I really understood, after all a dictionary definition of legacy is, let me give it to you. Legacy, an amount of money or property left to someone in a will or something left, or handed down by a predecessor. Now that all just sounds boring as bat shit really. And not very inspiring. But a few years ago I started to hear more about legacy in other terms, philanthropic terms, and in terms of businesses and what people were.
And I kind of starting going, “Oh, it’s not just what you get left in your will”, because you know someone’s don’t get lift up and wills. And The Lion King brought it home for me today. So if you don’t know the story of The Lion King, Mufasa’s the king, he’s got a son, Simba. There’s a really horrible uncle called Scar. There’s his true love, Nala. And then there’s Timon and Pumba who are the funny guys. [Singing 00:01:39] Great music. Elton John is a god in my mind. But there’s great quotes in it and I really loved this one, “A king’s true power is his compassion.” And to, me a lot of those words that Mufasa gave to Simba, that was his legacy. It was the legacy of love and compassion that he had to have for his kingdom to be handed down with each generation.
It was this legacy of love to me. And caring is the … what The Lion King is all about, regardless of the crap that goes on. Yeah, it’s got beautiful music and the CGI and hey, the new one’s got Beyonce in it. So you know, can’t go wrong. But to me, it’s a movie about legacy and love, and the intergenerational stuff. To me, legacies have to be good. I’m sure there can be evil legacies, but I look at legacies as having to be good. A legacy is something that is designed to outlast your life. It’s to provide value or help, or service to many, many generations after you. It’s that footprint. It’s that stamp that you leave on the world. And I remember a few years ago, I was in Paris and I rang a friend of mine, Brooke Alexander, who has a thing called The Legacy … Your Legacy Project, rather.
And I rang her, and oh my God, I get it. I kind of actually get what legacy is about now. And Brooke was the massive job creating Your Legacy Project. But I was sitting in Paris and I kind of got it. It was this history and the traditions and the culture and the architecture, and it felt like this whole city was a country’s legacy. And surrounded me. And I rang her, “Oh my God, I understand legacy finally.” Because we’d had conversations and I just didn’t kind of get it. So to me, your legacy is more than the wisdom you hand to your children. Or it could be a business that serves others. It could be a philanthropic zeal that your financial success allows. Can be many things. It could be building, a story, a song. But I encourage you to think about what you’re doing in your business and your life at the moment.
Because a legacy doesn’t have to be huge. You know, you don’t have to be Richard Branson or Elon Musk leaving a legacy that’s going to be in news articles and books for centuries. Not that there’ll probably be books and centuries, but that’s a whole other conversation. Your legacy can be what you’re imparting on your community, in your family. It could be the stories, the cookbook that you’re handing down through the generations, you know? That could be part of your legacy. So, I’ve thought about it a lot and to me, I don’t have a massive, great business idea that’s gonna fly someone to the moon, or save this planet from the destruction that unfortunately the idiots that stood before, came before us have allowed to happen. To my legacy, it might be a funny song, it might be a story.
It could be a business that lives beyond me. I don’t know. But mostly what I do every day when I think about legacy, and I really encourage you to do the same, is , what are the little things that you can imprint on someone and touch someone’s life that might become an intergenerational thing for them? Because we know studies proven that there can be intergenerational trauma, and there can be intergenerational good shit, good stuff. Is that the technical term for it? I’m not sure. But you know, if you’re gonna have something that goes inter generationally, make it good, make it powerful, make it beautiful. I hope that someone … I’d love to go to my grave knowing that someone out there in the world that wasn’t my best friend, or my child, or a relative … hi, yeah. You caught me on time and I’m kind of awaken and going for it.
That I’ve touched someone enough for them to be able to say, “Samantha helped me to think, or to laugh, or allowed me to cry or to grow. Encouraged me to be extraordinary.” That’s my personal legacy and that’s what I try and do every single day. Whether it’s a friend that I might be talking off a ledge, or if it’s the guy at the coffee shop and I can encourage him to do something in his business. That’s what I want my legacy to be. So what do you want your legacy to be? Because you get to choose. You get to make it something, you know? Is it a design? It can be anything. Truly, legacy is not what you hand to someone in a will after you’re gone.
Legacy is what you’re building and imprinting on people’s lives. To then have gone, you know? Notre Dame, Notre Dame, whatever you want to call it, that amazing church in Paris that three quarters of the world cried about when it sadly got burnt and destroyed, and all the world’s billionaires jumped in and coughed up all their monies, because to them that building was a vision of legacy.
I actually call bull crap on that now. It is a building. I think the legacy was actually what people felt about it, and how people came together and gone, “That building touched me.” You know? It’s the touching, it’s the love. It’s the faith that you might’ve had in it. That’s what the legacy is. Not The physical thing, but people might argue with me on that one. So … there’s a great, I had a quote, what did I do with it? When I go … when I don’t look at a script. Here you go, this was another one from The Lion King, because I’m in Lion King mode, and if you get a chance … thank you for saying that Johnny. I hope I am right because I’m … 100 year plan. Yes, absolutely, Sarah. What values would you like your great grandchildren to have? Because that’s so important. So important.
You know? I look at things my mother left me that I didn’t really realize were her legacy, but Ellody rang me a couple of weeks ago, and her plans had changed. And I said, “Well, why don’t all your friends come here?” And part of my mother’s legacy to me is this open heart that means my houses, Mi Casa, is Su Casa. And didn’t matter how many kids were lobbed on my doorstep, I was going to feed them and love them and care for them. And my mother and my father, bless their cotton socks, and wherever they are out there in the world, in the universe and they had no judgment of people of race, color, creed, size, religion. Our house was always a welcome house to anybody. And I’m crying. Oh my God, that’s really upset me thinking about it. [inaudible 00:08:36]
And their legacy to me is my life, and my house is always like that. Everyone’s welcome at any time, no matter the circumstances. Wow. Okay. It wasn’t just Beyonce that made me cry. So I’m going to leave you with this quote. Another one from The Lion King. Thank you. That’s so … oh my God, I’ve just cried on my first live. Too funny. See? I am real. And this is something Mufasa again said, and it’s so much better with James Earl Jones’ voice. Because he’s got that … I can’t do that. Oh, I so can’t do impersonations. I’ll leave that to Ellody. I’m hopeless. “While others look for what he can take, a true king gives back.” And that, to me, is The Lion King. So, I encourage you, go see The Lion King. Look at Beyoncé’s amazing video for the song. Oh my God, I forgot the name of the song.
Google quickly. Beyonce song. The Lion King. Can’t believe I’ve forgotten it. Spirit. It’s called Spirit, and beautiful song. Beautiful video, and her frocks are fantastic. So I have a look, check it out, and it’s also good in the movie. And think about it. Think about what you want to have been left behind when you go. Okay? I encourage you to do that tonight or tomorrow. Whenever. Shoot me message, we’ll chat about it. What is your legacy? Night, night. Yeah. I know. Ellody and I were sitting in the movie … That’s why I’m emotional. It’s not talking about my mother and brother. It’s the movie. Night.