Like many other people, I grew up with so much adversity and negativity, it would have been easy to get overwhelmed and give in. But by turning negatives into positives, losing into a journey to winning, I have been able to overcome the odds that were against me and change them into motivation for my success.
— Bobby Bones
I don't believe in luck. I don't believe in destiny. Instead, I believe that our lives are powered by countless microdecisions.
The medical protocol for poor people is, if something hurts, get over it. If something hurts real bad, put salve on it.
I've built a career on the survival skill I honed early on: being a smart aleck who is good with a fast comeback.
I don't have a real life. I just work all the time.
The radio show is absolutely the most important thing. It always comes first.
I worked in every format - pop, hip-hop, and alternative. I did a national sports show. When I finally got to decide what I wanted to do, country, to me, is the most authentic. I grew up on country music my whole life.
I would watch a lot of old tapes of David Letterman doing his talk show and a lot of interviews. I never had a mentor in my career because my approach has always been so different. Letterman stayed true to who he was, and his staff was always fantastic, so for me, that was always important.
Charlamagne Tha God on 'The Breakfast Club' is, in my opinion, the best personality on the radio right now. We talk weekly. We couldn't be any different format wise, but we have a very similar background and approach.
Authenticity in any format is important, so I try as hard as I can to stay as real as possible.
I think I felt very alone for a lot of my life, but once I was able to share my story more and more, and people wouldn't say, 'Hey, I felt sorry for you,' but, 'I get it, and I understand you,' it kind of encouraged me to tell it more. I just don't want people to feel alone.
Instead of the wacky morning show that sounds canned, my team is sitting over there, waiting for me to say something or ask something. And sometimes the reaction is awesome, and sometimes it's terrible. But they're reacting as humans instead of as DJs.
There are tons of talented people, and they might not even be the most talented, but they're the ones who were so resilient and learned in loss that it was winning by losing.
I think the role was great; I loved working with all of the people at 'Idol.'
For me, success isn't even about money. It's about getting to do what you love and supporting yourself. Everything that comes after that is bonus, unless your only goal is to be rich. If that's your goal, you're going to find out that once you have a little bit, you want a lot. Then once you have a lot, you want a lot more.
We can all pick a goal and find a reason to do it. Then some of us can actually do all the little things over and over again. That's definitely a harder step. Doing it again? That's where it gets to be a beast, when you have to repeat. It's the hardest part of it all.
If I put a statement about being the best interviewer into the universe, I must now live up to it, or at least be held accountable for it. Either way, I'm going to work that much harder.
A wise man once said, 'Instead of crying, I keep on trying.' And that wise man is me, because I just made that up. I think.
I'm not a guy who looks for signs in the universe to tell him things. I believe that if you search hard enough for the answer you already know, you will find it.
The way I look at it, every day that I'm moving forward is a day I'm not moving backward. Just the fact that I'm in the race at all is a miracle.
I've been doing stand-up since I was 19. There have been times I've had to step away because of my schedule, but now I'm able to go out and do theaters and not smoky little bars.
I fail at things all the time. I'm always being told no. I just get back up and try again.
I won because I was the people's favorite dancer, and that's what I work with these Idols on. There have been 1,000 singers before you that are as good or better than you, but you're not trying to be the best singer ever. You're trying to be the people's favorite singer.
At 13, I volunteered at the radio station. My first job was cleaning up when I was 17, and before I really started, they fired people for stealing station equipment, and I was on the air.
I'm from Arkansas, so I didn't even know who Howard Stern was until I was about 18 or 19. I only kind of knew what I had heard about him; then I saw him doing his thing. That's what I really liked about him.
I love Twitter. What a great tool to speak directly to people.
I think funny comes from tragedy and time. And I think that's where I get it. I'm able to take things that are serious and sad, and turn it into funny. In all honesty - this is after a lot of therapy - I think that, you know, I need love from something, and so now, I find it through performing.
I think that I represent people that sometimes don't have a voice because of how they grew up or where they grew up or the options that were given to them. I was able to kick my way out of that, but we have a real class problem in this country, where it's hard to jump classes.
I think my career has been instances of me trying to figure out ways to get around doing it the right way because I don't think I have the tools to do it the right way. There's a talent to that.
I usually work, like, 27 days in a row and then take one off.
The first book was a life story that I was hesitant to write anyway because I didn't feel like I had a real life story... It was a surprise hit.
Everything that I do should be wrong, but I started really young, and I just learned how to learn. I would fail, and I would figure out why that didn't go right and do it again.
By turning negatives into positives, losing into a journey to winning, I have been able to overcome the odds that were against me into motivation for my success.
I'm the best interviewer in the whole format. Except for Howard Stern, I'd put myself against anybody. Because I ask human questions.
I have figured out that you never completely figure it out.
Having grown up a trailer park kid on welfare and food stamps, becoming jaded is impossible, although now I make a good living, which I'm not ashamed of; when you've been poor, it never leaves you.
While I can hold my own with great talents and have an opinion in the face of big personalities, I'm just a regular guy. I've accepted my position in life: that I'm never going to be that cool. And I'm okay with that.
I have friends that are reps and run labels, but I don't like to get into that world. I just like to pick what I like with my ears and play it for no other reason, not because of the label or the rep.
I'm a decent writer, barely a decent guitar player, and a terrible singer.
My grandmother adopted me for a while, and I was bouncing around a bit. I was always helped by the PTA and church groups with food and Christmas presents. It's a hard cycle to break, because when you don't have the resources, it's almost impossible.
You can try to make the right decision all the time, but it's better to just make a decision. I have done wrong so many times, but nine times out of 10, I have learned from my failure. Don't wait for something; just go for it.
For me, it has always been about using my platform to help others.
As long as everyone is having fun, especially our listeners, that's what counts. I try to put my team in the best spot possible for them to win and to deliver a great show to our listeners.
Country music listeners really like genuineness, and I hope that's what we portray, and I think that's what we do.
I don't think I ever won't do radio. I feel like, between the radio, the podcast, the books, even social media, you have to be a personality eleven places now, or you're not a personality anywhere.
Every time we do anything, Austin's the No. 1 place of all that supports it. Austin is our biggest philanthropic helper, even for things that have nothing to do with Austin or Texas.
I have the best people around me. None of them have ever been on the radio. They're all such great people, and I found that I was able to be a better person when I was doing the radio show. It kept me from being a radio person.
I was seeing on the ground floor that labels weren't investing in females, and it trickled upward because I was in radio with none to play. I know that I can't change today, but what I can do is work on the culture for tomorrow.
My mom got pregnant when she was 15. She dropped out of high school. She died in her forties, but before she died, she went back and finished high school.
That's what the grind is, doing all the little things knowing that something may not come out of it. It probably won't. But the goal is to get a shot at it.
