Wayne Herring00:00:00 - 00:01:20
Really enjoy meeting people on LinkedIn. And this guy that I've interviewed today is not a business builder in the traditional sense, but he did have a really great brush with fame and fortune, and he took advantage of the opportunity that came his way, had a lot of fun, made a little bit of money, and now he continues to use the moment of fame that he had to do things like openings for music stores, which is actually coming up here in the Pottsville area in just a few weeks. So I had the opportunity to sit down with American Idol Starr. They will call him the Starr. He was on American Idol. He actually is most noted for having been made fun of by Simon Cowell, which is not that rare, as you know, from watching the show over the years. But this guy did a rendition of Ricky Martin's She Bangs and, if you're about my age you'll know who he is and that'll probably bring back good memories. The thing I really love about him, William Hung, is that he, went for it, took a chance, and after the whole thing was over, said, I did my very best.
Wayne Herring00:01:20 - 00:01:54
I have no regrets at all. And we all have, hard times and friction that comes our way, especially in entrepreneurship. And to be able to say, I did my very best and to keep going is something that we all could use. So he ended up getting a record deal. He ended up touring the country as a young man with other people who had been on the show and having fun and and performing on stage in lots of American cities. And so I met him on LinkedIn. I knew that I wanted to invite him to come create an episode with me. I hope you enjoy it.
Wayne Herring00:01:54 - 00:02:15
Here we go. Hey, business builders. Welcome to the Business Builder Way podcast. Today, we're joined by William Hung, and I'm excited to do this interview. I've connected with William on LinkedIn several years ago after a friend of mine met him at a little convention. And, William, you were there speaking. A guy named Jamie j is the one who said, oh, yeah. I met this school guy.
Wayne Herring00:02:15 - 00:02:40
You're never gonna believe he was on TV. And so, yeah, that was great to connect with you at that time. And in season 3 on the Business Builder Way, I've been focusing on business owners and interesting people who have something valuable to share that I've met on LinkedIn. And so here we are. And, William, we're just gonna spend a little bit of time talking about your story and journey and what you're up to today, and really good to have you.
William Hung00:02:40 - 00:02:41
Yeah. Thank you.
Wayne Herring00:02:42 - 00:03:05
Yep. So I'd sometimes like to start with the end in mind. And before we started recording, I just asked you, like, hey. What are you doing today? And if somebody reaches out to you, what kind of work are you doing? So what is your business in a sense? So could you tell us a little bit about what is the work you're open to do with companies and other I mean, I guess, really companies with what you told me. Right?
William Hung00:03:05 - 00:03:34
Yeah. So so so it could also be, you know, individuals, private parties. It just depends on the occasion. But I'm a entertainer and speaker. That's my identity. My my goal is to help bring smiles to people's faces. I I think that's my mission. I found myself reinventing myself throughout the years, and I think that's necessary because in the entertainment industry, it's almost impossible to stay at the top all the time.
William Hung00:03:34 - 00:04:09
That's not the norm. So when things slow down, maybe it's time for me to go get education. You know? I transitioned back to a day job. I work for the sheriff's department. I feel that now that's public knowledge already, which is, you know, it's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. And so to some of the listeners out there, if you feel like you have to go all in, like, like, quit your job to run your business, well, that's actually not true because you can still hold a job that you like, and then you can run the business on the side, and maybe you'd be even happier doing it that way.
Wayne Herring00:04:10 - 00:04:40
Yeah. Awesome. So you're doing speaking, you're doing entertaining, you're singing, maybe for corporate parties, things of that nature. And we're gonna get into your story and talk about that bringing smiles to people and how you made the the best and magnified the situations that have come in your life. Everybody most people would know that you were on American Idol, and you were on stage, and you sang Ricky Martin, 3 bangs, and Simon kinda gave you a hard time. And
William Hung00:04:40 - 00:04:41
you
Wayne Herring00:04:41 - 00:04:58
ended up right? You ended you ended up then going on tour and traveling all over the country, and you made the most of that situation and really capitalized on it. So could you take us back? And where does the story start? And what was it like to get up on stage at American Idol?
William Hung00:04:59 - 00:05:35
Well, I started enjoying karaoke with my parents since I was 10 years old in Hong Kong. Then I studied at UC Berkeley for civil engineering. I thought I was going to get to the end because I thought I was talented with math and science. But I was struggling with academics, and then I thought I need to try something new. Then one day, I saw this poster for a school talent show. I went for it with no expectations with She Banks by Ricky Martin. Surprisingly, I won. I won a DVD player.
William Hung00:05:35 - 00:05:39
That gave me the confidence to audition for American Idol.
Wayne Herring00:05:39 - 00:05:57
Mhmm. I went to school for civil engineering too, so that's cool. So he won that DVD player and decided to go to American and my understanding is, like, American Idol, when I would watch the show, that's a whole process, isn't it? Like, getting through, like, preliminaries and before we ever get in front of the judges. Right?
William Hung00:05:57 - 00:06:10
Yes. I went through 2 preliminary rounds. The first round was auditioning in front of staff members. The second round was auditioning in front of producers, and then eventually, I met Randy, Paula, and Simon.
Wayne Herring00:06:11 - 00:06:20
Yeah. That's great. Can you remember, like, what was going through your head in the moment? And when was that? Like, it's good to, like, put a date on that. It was, like, 20 years ago. Did I just see that?
William Hung00:06:20 - 00:06:22
Yes. It was back in 2004.
Wayne Herring00:06:22 - 00:06:39
It really shows I'm getting old. Seems like yesterday. Right. Well, can you remember anything? Like, I know it's hard to, like, remember, like, what's going through your head. You're on stage, and then Simon is kinda like of course, we we all know, like, he was a bully, and he would mess with people. Right?
William Hung00:06:39 - 00:07:09
Well, I knew that Simon was going to be the mean judge. Randy was very funny, because he was holding his white sheet of paper, and he couldn't help himself but laughing throughout the whole audition. And then Paula was smiling, and then it kept going. It was so crazy. I I I as I kept singing, I was so nervous. I had so much nervous energy. The butterflies in my stomach. And that's why I was dancing like a samba class, not my proudest moment.
Wayne Herring00:07:09 - 00:07:32
Yeah. And and so then that that happened. America saw it. Of course, they're kinda making fun of you, but then a whole lot of good things happened. Right? And then when they they aired the episode, you were a national sensation. People are like, we like this guy. He makes us all smile. He stands for all of us who lots of us aren't great singers, but he had the guts to get up on stage and do that deal.
Wayne Herring00:07:32 - 00:07:33
How much time passed in there?
William Hung00:07:34 - 00:07:59
Less than 1 month. It was so crazy. Yeah. Like like, I had a one of my fans, Don Chen, created the website, williamhong.net. It got millions of hits real fast. And then one of my former record companies, college records, they they gave me a $25,000 record contract. You know, 20 years ago, that was life changing money for a college kid like me. How can I say no? And that's why I I just took a chance.
William Hung00:07:59 - 00:08:04
I put school on hold, and I tried to make the most of it, and I did for about 4 years.
Wayne Herring00:08:05 - 00:08:09
Okay. And you did? You, like, traveled? You went on tour? You went to different cities? Right?
William Hung00:08:09 - 00:08:10
Yeah.
Wayne Herring00:08:11 - 00:08:33
Nice. And and so, you know, a thing that I remember when I first connected with you on LinkedIn, my kids being young, they didn't know. Right? They wouldn't have seen anything for when you're on stage. But in that audition, when Simon was, like, giving you a hard time, the thing you said that I think is, like, worth repeating and I love is, I did my very best, and I have no regrets at all.
William Hung00:08:33 - 00:08:48
Say more about that speech. What I said was yeah. What I said was I already gave my best. I have no regrets at all. I feel this is, life attitude. I this came from my mom, so I appreciate her teaching me about how to live life.
Wayne Herring00:08:49 - 00:09:10
Yeah. That's really great. So you had that, and you had 4 years of 4 years of capitalizing on that and running with it. And so that's 16 years ago, and you said it's, like, been a a journey since then. What has happened? What do you do after a period of rapid fame and travel and all that for 4 years?
William Hung00:09:10 - 00:09:51
Well, my entertainment career slowed down, but I never gave up on it. I still did it on the side to earn some extra money. But, yeah, I decided to go back to school, got my bachelor's degree in math, and a master's in business. And then I started working for a sheriff's department for about 2 years as a data analyst, and then, I got promoted, to work for a higher position in public health. And then I helped improve the business processes for about 6 years. Mhmm. I actually started my speaking journey after I started working for the sheriff's department because they had the Toastmasters club within the the workplace. Mhmm.
William Hung00:09:51 - 00:10:21
It's it's outside work time, but I it was it was, like, the library next door, very convenient. So, sure, I I I I I took on the the the the plunge. I took the chance. I I actually found, the speaking for Toastmasters quite fun. It it's like like speaking karaoke, you know, table topics. Every meeting, you get to talk about whatever he wants for 2 minutes. So yeah. I I, I I got that my interest in speaking from that from that.
William Hung00:10:21 - 00:10:29
And then gradually, you know, many years later, I decided to try to become a professional speaker, and I did.
Wayne Herring00:10:30 - 00:10:43
Nice. So when you go speak, when you work with a corporate group, let's say, a group of leaders or something that's gathering, What's your message, and how do you wrap in your journey and the things that have happened to you?
William Hung00:10:44 - 00:11:20
Well, you usually, I would share my American Idol background, and then depending on the the message or the goal of the conference, I would share some of the relevant stories. Now for example, one of the big companies as COVO that I spoke for is a semiconductor company, and they want to improve the sales for the people in the sales team. So, you know, I talk about how I put myself out there, and there'll be many failures. You know, people don't see that. They only see the successes on the screen. So so that's how I I just, adapt my message to the specific crowd.
Wayne Herring00:11:21 - 00:11:37
And in in your speaking to crowds, sort of like sales and just go ahead and do it and don't worry about failure, Is there a a a message to share with how to see opportunity and how to capitalize on things when it's in front of you or doing your very best?
William Hung00:11:37 - 00:11:54
Yeah. Of course. So I I remember that some of the other groups I've spoken for is like I mentioned that if you see the opportunity to contribute or ask a very insightful question or something like that, go for it. You know, put yourself out there. Don't be afraid of judgment.
Wayne Herring00:11:55 - 00:12:28
Yeah. For sure. So business builder camp is our community, and we've got business owners. It's a wide variety of businesses. They're not semiconductor companies. They're they're often doing what we would call, like I would call Main Street things. They help America turn around people that are doing construction work and people that are doing health care, chiropractic, things like that. And they're on this journey, and they sometimes, of course, worry about things or have fears and not sure what's next.
Wayne Herring00:12:28 - 00:12:35
What kind of advice would you give to people, like, that are building businesses like that based on your journey?
William Hung00:12:36 - 00:13:10
Well, I don't have, specific experience building those kind of businesses that you mentioned. From my experience building the entertainment business you know, entertainment is one of the most flexible, but also the challenging business to try to build and maintain. So I would say that be ready for anything. If something doesn't work out, like, I have my fair share of fear whether it's a at the sales call that I didn't do so well on or just having a slow year as nothing seems to be going right. You you know, you take a step back, reflect, see what adjustments you can make, and then go from there.
Wayne Herring00:13:11 - 00:13:27
I saw an article pop up about you recently. So it seems like at the 20 year anniversary, there's been some things that have been shared, and I guess you're working on social media and stuff. Right? You mentioned that if people wanna find you, that Instagram or LinkedIn are the best places. Right?
William Hung00:13:27 - 00:14:12
Yeah. For now. Because right now, I I I am still searching, exploring my identity, meaning what I want to be known for. Because this is something that doesn't come easily for me, and I'm sure that there'll be people out there that that, have a similar challenge. For me, it's same thing because, you know, one one of the stories I've been sharing recently is overcoming gambling addiction. So, you know, if money and resource is not an issue, it it was something that I'm passionate about helping people with is how to enjoy the the gaming and gambling, but, you know, without going overboard, without going crazy. Because, you know, a a problem that I see, you know, even I've been through the anti gambling classes myself. They will tell you, like, oh, you cannot gamble at all.
William Hung00:14:12 - 00:14:35
You have to stop doing it for the rest of your life. That's very extreme because, you know, what if I want to enjoy, you know, some poker, for example, with friends or or even charity tournament. Right? So it's more like if I can have an opportunity to educate people and teach you how to have fun, but don't go crazy at the same time, I feel that would be better for many people.
Wayne Herring00:14:35 - 00:14:45
I do recall that you were doing kind of some some of those, like, higher stakes poker tournaments that sometimes would be on TV and and things like that. Right?
William Hung00:14:45 - 00:15:06
Yes. I tried the worst years of poker, World Poker Tour. The problem was that I was doing okay with poker. Yeah. I'm not I'm not rich, but I was earning some extra money on the side. But I got greedy. I I feel like I couldn't be patient to grind out the the extra money. So I got into sports betting, baccarat, the whole gamut, and and that's how I got into trouble.
William Hung00:15:07 - 00:15:28
What I've what I've been doing is I've been proactive, putting myself out there, like, People's Magazine, ABC, Local News, about my recent story about overcoming gambling addiction. I feel that's gonna be way more effective. More people will see that. Right? So that's what I'm working on. And then in the near future, hopefully, I will develop content to share on the social media as well.
Wayne Herring00:15:29 - 00:15:56
Okay. So now you have this blended story where you've got the time on American Idol, and then the 4 years after where you got record deal and you're out there touring, and you're able to share the the things that have happened with your gambling, and you're combining that with being able to speak and help people and serve in that way. So how do you bring smiles? You said your mission is to bring smiles to people's faces. How do you do that?
William Hung00:15:56 - 00:16:45
Well, I I teach people that taking risk is part of part of the the happiness, defining that happiness within yourself. You know, if you don't do anything, you just follow the the same old routine, traditions, whatever that may be. At some point, you will feel like left out. You may feel, like, oh, they're so boring. I don't feel I don't feel joy following the same thing every day. But then, I I think the learning from the overcoming the gambling addiction part of it is that, like, oh, well, sometimes the risk you take maybe I took it too far. So it's one of the useful questions that I share with people is, like, what's the worst thing that can happen to you, and are you okay with that result? You know? Let's let's take it back to American Idol. The worst thing that could happen to me is I go back to school.
William Hung00:16:45 - 00:17:09
I I I I finish school. I do whatever. Not nothing that bad can happen. Yes. People may laugh at me for a while, but it's okay. But compared to the gambling one that's on the app, that's a very completely different issue because the worst thing that can happen to me is I I lose everything that I worked so hard for for the last 20 years, plus I lose my family and friends. You know, that I don't think that's a risk worth taking.
Wayne Herring00:17:09 - 00:17:17
Yeah. That's a pretty deep question to ponder. What is the worst thing that can happen? Or what's the best thing that can happen?
William Hung00:17:18 - 00:17:43
Of course. I'm the optimist. So American Idol, I mean, of course, if I'm lucky and I was lucky, then maybe I can earn some quite a bit extra money. I can provide for my family much better. Right? So that's the the the I think the best already happened for me for the entertainment. And then, you know, like the gambling, you know, the same thing. Right? Like, especially the poker tournaments, it's very appealing. Like, $10,000,000 first prize, life changing, whatever.
William Hung00:17:44 - 00:17:52
But the chance of winning that one is so small. It's like buying a lottery ticket. Yeah. Maybe the chance is higher than a lottery ticket, but the chance is still very low.
Wayne Herring00:17:53 - 00:18:00
Yeah. Gotcha. So then sometimes it's better just put in the work and do what needs doing instead of going for the big payday.
William Hung00:18:01 - 00:18:31
Yeah. I I what I would say is that it's not like you don't go for it, but I I think it's the the the the part that's helpful is the thing about the chance. Is there is there a realistic chance for you to do well, whatever you start with? Let's say I'm helping my mother in law's business, opening up a new massage store in Los Angeles area. Well, yeah, there's a lot of risk. She could lose everything, but the chance of success is very realistic. I can't walk with a number to it, but it's not buying a lottery ticket. It's way more than 50% to me.
Wayne Herring00:18:32 - 00:18:48
Without a doubt. So so you you brought some smiles to to my face today just to hang out with you for a little bit. And a couple years ago, you actually did a Cameo video for a friend of mine. Are you still doing that? Do you still offer that service?
William Hung00:18:48 - 00:18:50
Yes. I'm still very active on Cameo.
Wayne Herring00:18:51 - 00:18:55
So you're still saying she bangs for somebody's, birthday or something?
William Hung00:18:55 - 00:19:01
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's also part of, you know, aligns my mission. Because when they get that video, people are so happy.
Wayne Herring00:19:02 - 00:19:46
That's cool. So if anybody wants to follow you, they can just look up William Hung on Instagram or LinkedIn, and they could find you on Cameo. And I I and Business Builders wish you the best of luck. Different businesses, but we know what it's like to be trying to take a look at our whole life story and experiences and see how it all adds up to a place where today we're able to to package it and serve other people. So I wish you continued success as you see the gift that experience you've had can be for other people. And I've got no doubt you're gonna keep bringing smiles to people's faces. So thanks for being here, William.
William Hung00:19:46 - 00:19:47
You're welcome.
Wayne Herring00:19:48 - 00:19:49
Have a great day.
William Hung00:19:49 - 00:19:50
Alright. Thank you.
Wayne Herring00:19:50 - 00:19:52
K. Go get them. Bye.
