Face to Face with Russell Simmons
WHITFIELD: Russell Simmons may be best known for co-founding DefJam Recording. It's a label that helped bring huge popularity to hip hop music but he's also had multi-million dollar success through fashion and philanthropy and his latest venture, a newly launched reality show, "Running Russell Simmons," plus a new book called "Super Rich" due out in January. Well, in a candid face-to-face interview, Simmons told me that being rich has nothing with do with finances.</s>WHITFIELD: It's not about money, rich because people see the word rich and they say OK, I want to be a billionaire like Russell Simmons, and you say that's not what this all is about?</s>RUSSELL SIMMONS, CO-FOUNDER, DEF JAM RECORDINGS: It's just a guide to having it all. Well, the first chapter is redefining rich. This is kind of a tricky chapter because I don't want people to throw the book out, right? But you know, it talks about rich being -</s>WHITFIELD: You want to rope them in, lure them in?</s>SIMMONS: I want to tell the truth. I want to get people to be more productive and to be greater givers. Good givers are great getters. So it's OK. But the idea of needing nothing, the state of needing nothing, that's what Christians refer to as Christ consciousness. Buddhist calls it nirvana. Yogis call it samadi (ph). You know, I couldn't write a book about</s>WHITFIELD: And I know you're very accessible and approachable, but people do see Russell Simmons and they say he's a mega guy. He's huge. How can he tell me I can operate with nothing?</s>SIMMONS: If you read the book, it will stick. It's written in such a way that people can digest this idea that operating from abundance is the greatest and that work itself is the prayer and that there's no payment. This sounds like a lot, but I have so many rich friends who are suffering rich in terms of worldly things, and so many people who don't have a lot who are happy. We are only here to be happy.</s>WHITFIELD: What should be at the root of someone's happiness?</s>SIMMONS: A peaceful state. You know, there's a lot of discussion about meditation in there. When the mind is still, everything surrenders.</s>WHITFIELD: How did you get there?</s>SIMMONS: It's a practice. To have faith in the practice. Went to a yoga class and I came out for a minute was at ease. I thought if I kept doing it, I would lose all my money. It was funny because after that I sold my company and started to really make money and create new companies.</s>WHITFIELD: Why did you think that?</s>SIMMONS: I thought the anxiety drove me, but it's the opposite that I take my half an hour in the morning, and I take my hour and a half in the afternoon for morning meditation, yoga practice in the afternoon and another 30 minutes at night. I take all that time out of my day, and I'm so much more productive and healthy because of it.</s>WHITFIELD: You're talking about peace?</s>SIMMONS: Well, you know, I'm struggling with that.</s>WHITFIELD: Really?</s>SIMMONS: More than I have been.</s>WHITFIELD: Why are you struggling with that?</s>SIMMONS: Well, I mean, what do you mean by peace? I mean, do you mean enlightened?</s>WHITFIELD: Meaning you're feel you have a center because you're using that what collectively about two hours to just concentrate on you and meditation.</s>SIMMONS: It certainly has changed my life dramatically in the physical practice of yoga we're told to smile and breathe in every pose no matter how difficult.</s>WHITFIELD: The person who is one of the millions who is unemployed, down on their luck and can't pay their bills, and they're looking for some inspiration. They're looking for how do I reclaim some of my happiness, because it seems like everything else is crumbling around me?</s>SIMMONS: If you make work your prayer and if you're present, as a giver, then the results not only are more fruitful but they become less valuable but they just keep coming. And the cycle of giving speeds up which is what people want to do. The cycle of giving speeding up that cause them the result, the cycle of getting speeds up. So you want people to be present and awake and focused, and that's what the book is about. The book is about the basic practices that promote happiness. Money doesn't make you happy, but happy makes you money.</s>WHITFIELD: Quite inspiring. Simmons built his multi-million dollar empire without ever making a business plan, he says. He reveals the secret to success in the third part of my face to face interview. That's coming up at 5:00 Eastern. You don't want to miss that. All right. America's most attractive people, they don't live in New York or L.A., according to this survey. You might be surprised by this year's top choice. That's straight ahead in the "Chat room."