Nearly seven years ago, when Jessica and I first launched Lup, the parent company of LupRocks.com, I was sitting in my newly sublet Brooklyn apartment, simultaneously having panic attacks about the fact that I'd just quit my job to embark on this unknown venture, and watching a VH1 special on the illustrious Russell Simmons. After a few minutes learning about the life and times of someone who was then known as simply a "hip hop mogul" my panic quickly subsided, tears came to my eyes, a swell of ambition entered my soul, and I called Jessica and said "I wanna be Russell Simmons!" She quickly quipped, "Okay, you can be Russell Simmons, I'll be Richard Simmons!"
Sure, his success and his connections and the absolute glamour that is him was the allure, not to mention the fact that he is never seen without a baseball cap and sneakers (a fashion and comfort statement few could pull off), but he also said something along the lines of "I just felt like I could be creative, hang out with creative people, have fun and make money..." and sure enough, he did just that. As he became more and more successful, he spent equal parts of his time both generating money, and giving back to the communities from which the money was flowing. With countless organizations to his credit such as DEF Comedy and DEF Poetry and his support of movements such as PETA and AIDS/HIV awareness, he is a philanthropist in the true sense of the word. When he entered the fine jewelry industry with the launch of the Simmons Jewelry Company (a LupRocks.com member), he didn't just benefit from the materials he was using in the way of diamonds, he went to the source and came back saying he wanted to "take what's good and make it better." And so he created the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.) which is "Helping Africans Help Africa" through education and empowerment. By creating this organization, Russell Simmons has utilized his influence and success to inspire the entire fine jewelry industry to embrace the idea of giving back to a continent that has made so much money for so many people in this country. His passion is contagious and his selflessness in promoting this organization makes me, more than ever, wanna be Russell Simmons.