Get Your Hustle On with Hotep

By Ava Simone Collier

Hustle University is not your ordinary school of higher learning. Actually it is what you may need after attending a traditional college or university. HU’s President and Founder, Hotep, is a trendsetter with an innovative and dynamic concept. Established in 2007, HU is an on line virtual institution of higher learning for today’s independent minded entrepreneurs. “We help people build businesses from in the street to industry,” says Hotep. He says he teaches people how to create opportunities for themselves instead of waiting for opportunities to present themselves. Through a series of on line presentations and monthly telewebinars, Hustle University is an institution where members can network amongst each other. These presentations and webinars can be accessed via phone or internet. “This is a way to filter through people who are not serious about their business and the ones that are. We utilize the membership system as a way to do that. If people invest in themselves, I’ll be more than happy to invest in them as well.”

This fifth grade elementary school teacher by day is not new to the concept of being independently successful. Formerly in the music industry, he was a hip hop musician, rapper and music producer. He says he used to sell albums out of the trunk of his car. “My journey started in 1996 when I released my first album. We decided to go the independent route instead of putting our destiny into someone else’s hands.” Hotep believes it’s important to think outside of the box and stated that he eventually transitioned into making a documentary entitled, “Independent- Doing Major Things.” This documentary can be found on one of several HU DVD’s, “The Hustler’s Guide to the Entertainment Industry.” Hotep says “I’m an entrepreneur full-time. Teaching is my part time job. Being an entrepreneur is a full-time business.”

His name, “Hotep”, means “peace” in Egyptian. This Morehouse College graduate stated that “Many people subscribe to what I consider a slave-like mentality, always waiting for someone to do something for them, things they can do for themselves. The first thing is to get people to understand that they are the masters of their own destines and can consistently create their own opportunities.” In addition, Hotep says that HU can help you take your ideas and turn them into income. Through a series of presentations, Hotep states at HU, they give you the right mindset. For example, this includes a process known as personal branding. He feels that everyone has a particular identity that they can brand and build into a business empire. “You can brand your swagger, identify with a particular audience. You can appeal to your target market.” Hotep believes that traditional college needs to be the expectation for every young person. “Be aggressive in getting your education. The problem is that people get the knowledge but don’t know how to get the job or what to do with the knowledge.” Hotep says that people come out of colleges without the knowledge of how to create opportunities for themselves. This is why he says that “HU can help anyone from the street to the white house suite.”

To find out more about Hustle University visit www.hustleuniversity.org